''2 Fast 2 Furious'' is a 2003
action film directed by
John Singleton
John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...
from a screenplay by
Michael Brandt and
Derek Haas, from a story by Brandt, Haas, and
Gary Scott Thompson. It is the
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...
to ''
The Fast and the Furious
''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a ...
'' (2001), and is the second installment in the ''
Fast & Furious
''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heist films, heists, spy films, spies, and family. The franchise also in ...
'' franchise, which stars
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
as
Brian O'Conner
Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in '' The Fast and th ...
alongside
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
and
Eva Mendes
Eva de la Caridad Méndez (, ; born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and fashion designer. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in films such as '' Children of the Cor ...
. In the film, ex-LAPD officer Brian O'Conner and his friend Roman Pearce (Gibson) go undercover for the
United States Customs Service
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the Federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected borde ...
and the
FBI to apprehend a drug lord in exchange for the erasure of their criminal records.
A second ''Fast & Furious'' film was planned immediately after the theatrical release of its predecessor in 2001,
and was confirmed with the returns of Walker and producer
Neal H. Moritz.
Vin Diesel
Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Diesel began auditi ...
and
Rob Cohen
Rob Cohen (born March 12, 1949) is an American director and producer of film and television. Beginning his career as an executive producer at 20th Century Fox, Cohen produced and developed numerous high-profile film and television programs, inc ...
, the co-star and director of the first film, were unable to return; Gibson and Singleton joined the cast in their absence in 2002. To
canonically account for Diesel's departure, the short film ''
The Turbo Charged Prelude for 2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003) was produced and released.
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
for ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' commenced in September 2002 and lasted until that December, with filming locations including
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
and the surrounding areas in southern
Florida
Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, a ...
.
''2 Fast 2 Furious'' premiered at the
Universal Amphitheatre
Universal Amphitheatre (later known as Gibson Amphitheatre) was an indoor amphitheatre located in Los Angeles, California within Universal City, California, Universal City. It was built as an outdoor venue, opening in the summer of 1972 with a p ...
on June 3, 2003, and was theatrically released worldwide by
Universal Pictures
Universal Pictures (legally Universal City Studios LLC, also known as Universal Studios, or simply Universal; common metonym: Uni, and formerly named Universal Film Manufacturing Company and Universal-International Pictures Inc.) is an Americ ...
on June 6. The film received negative reviews from critics, with criticism for its screenplay, lack of returning cast from the first film (except Walker), and lack of originality, but received some praise for its lighthearted tone. ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' was a box office success, grossing over $236 million worldwide, making it the
17th highest-grossing film of 2003 and the then-highest grossing film in the franchise. The
standalone sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the ...
film, ''
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'', was released in 2006.
Plot
In
Miami
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
, ex-
LAPD
The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD), officially known as the City of Los Angeles Police Department, is the municipal Police, police department of Los Angeles, California. With 9,974 police officers and 3,000 civilian staff, it is the thir ...
officer turned fugitive
Brian O'Conner
Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in '' The Fast and th ...
makes a living participating in illegal street races organized by his mechanic friend Tej Parker. After winning a race against drivers including Suki, the police show up and Brian is arrested. He is given a deal by his former boss
FBI Agent Bilkins and
U.S. Customs
The United States Customs Service was the very first federal law enforcement agency of the U.S. federal government. Established on July 31, 1789, it collected import tariffs, performed other selected border security duties, as well as conducted c ...
Agent Markham to go undercover and bring down Argentinian drug lord Carter Verone in exchange for clearing his criminal record. Brian agrees on the condition that he choose his partner.
Brian heads home to
Barstow, California
Barstow is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert of Southern California. Located in the Inland Empire region of California, the population was 25,415 at the 2020 census. Barstow is an important crossroads for the In ...
, where he enlists the help of Roman Pearce, a childhood friend who had served jail time and is under parole. Roman agrees, but only for the same deal Brian was offered. In Miami, Agent Monica Fuentes, undercover with Verone for a year, assists them into his organization. After acquiring confiscated vehicles and being hired by Verone as his drivers, the duo returns to a Customs/FBI hideout, where Roman confronts Markham over interference with the mission. Brian informs Bilkins and Markham that Verone plans to smuggle the money into his private jet and fly off.
To evade their
GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navstar GPS, is a satellite-based radionavigation system owned by the United States government and operated by the United States Space Force. It is one of the global navigation satellite sy ...
traces, Brian and Roman challenge a pair of
muscle car
Muscle car is a description according to ''Merriam-Webster Dictionary'' that came to use in 1966 for "a group of American-made two-door sports coupes with powerful engines designed for high-performance driving." The '' Britannica Dictionary'' ...
drivers they raced earlier for
pink slips. Despite engine and power output handicaps, Brian and Roman manage to win the race and the other two cars. Roman confronts Brian about his attraction to Monica and the constant threat of Verone's men, but they patch up their differences. At a nightclub, Brian and Roman witness Verone torturing
MPD Detective Whitworth into giving his men a window of opportunity to make their getaway. The next morning, Monica warns them that they will be killed once the drop is made. Despite this, Markham refuses to call off the job, claiming that it is their one chance to catch Verone.
On the day of the mission, Brian and Roman begin transporting duffel bags of Verone's money with two of Verone's men—Enrique and Roberto—riding along to watch them. Before the 15-minute window is set, Whitworth, the detective in charge, decides to call in the police to move in for the arrest, resulting in a high-speed chase across the city. The duo leads the police to a warehouse, where a "scramble" by dozens of street racers organized by Tej disorients the police. Following the scramble, the police manage to pull over the wanted cars, only to find out that they were driven by Tej and Suki.
As Brian approaches the destination point in a
Yenko Camaro, Enrique tells him to make a detour away from the airfield to the Tarpon Point Marina exit. Meanwhile, Roman gets rid of Roberto by using an improvised
ejector seat in his
Dodge Challenger
The Dodge Challenger is the name of three different generations of automobiles (two of those being pony cars) produced by American automobile manufacturer Dodge. However, the first use of the Challenger name by Dodge was in 1959 for marketing ...
powered by
nitrous oxide
Nitrous oxide (dinitrogen oxide or dinitrogen monoxide), commonly known as laughing gas, nitrous, or nos, is a chemical compound, an oxide of nitrogen with the formula . At room temperature, it is a colourless non-flammable gas, and has ...
. At the airfield, Customs Agents have Verone's plane and convoy surrounded, only to discover they have been duped into a decoy maneuver while Verone is at a boatyard miles away. Verone reveals he knew Monica was undercover, and gave her the wrong destination point and plans to use her as leverage. When Brian arrives at the marina, Enrique prepares to kill him; Roman appears and helps incapacitate Enrique. Verone escapes aboard his private yacht, but Brian and Roman drive the Yenko Camaro off a ramp, crashing on top of it. The duo apprehend Verone and save Monica.
As part of the deal, Markham clears Brian and Roman’s criminal record, and in return Roman turns over the second half of Verone's cash. The two agree to stay in Miami, and Brian suggests opening a garage—funded by a cut of Verone's cash Roman kept for themselves.
Cast
*
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
as
Brian O'Conner
Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in '' The Fast and th ...
: A former
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...
cop who became a fugitive after letting Dominic Toretto escape in the previous film who has now settled in Miami. He drives a 1999
Nissan Skyline GTR R34 and a 2002
Mitsubishi Lancer Evolution VII.
*
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
as
Roman Pearce: Brian's childhood friend who is on house arrest after serving time in prison for which he still blames Brian. He drives a 2003 Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GTS.
*
Eva Mendes
Eva de la Caridad Méndez (, ; born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and fashion designer. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in films such as '' Children of the Cor ...
as Monica Fuentes: A U.S. Customs agent working undercover as Carter Verone's aide and Brian's love interest.
*
Cole Hauser as Carter Verone: A ruthless
Argentinian
Argentines (mistakenly translated Argentineans in the past; in Spanish ( masculine) or ( feminine)) are people identified with the country of Argentina. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Argentines, ...
drug lord whose organization the Customs Service sent Monica and later Brian and Roman to infiltrate.
*
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as Tej Parker: A race host and a friend of Brian's. He arranges high stakes street racing events in which Brian often races and wins.
*
James Remar
William James Remar (born December 31, 1953) is an American actor. He has played numerous roles over a 40 year career, most notably Ajax in '' The Warriors'' (1979), Albert Ganz in ''48 Hrs.'' (1982), Dutch Schultz in '' The Cotton Club'' (198 ...
as Agent Markham: A U.S. customs agent in charge of the operation against Verone and Monica's superior.
*
Devon Aoki
Devon Edwenna Aoki (born August 10, 1982) is an actress and fashion model. Aoki's film roles include supporting roles in ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003) and ''Sin City'' (2005) and lead roles in '' DOA: Dead or Alive'' (2006) and ''Mutant Chronicles ...
as Suki: A friend of Brian, Tej, and Jimmy. She is the only named female racer in the movie, and her crew is made up entirely of women. She normally drives a hot pink custom
Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 is an open top sports car that was manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda, from 1999 until 2009. First shown as a concept car called the SSM at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1995, the production version was launched on ...
.
*
Thom Barry
Thom Barry is an American former actor who was born in Cleveland, Ohio. In the 1980s, he was a disc jockey for WUBE-FM in Cincinnati. He appeared in television advertisements for The Home Depot, Sears, and United Parcel Service, and did voi ...
as Agent Bilkins: Who Brian first met during his undercover work in the first movie, who has come to Miami to oversee the situation. As before, he holds a grudging respect for O'Conner's driving and street racing skills.
* Edward Finlay as Agent Dunn: A U.S. Customs agent who is Markham's number two in the operation.
*
Mark Boone Junior
Mark Boone Junior (born Mark Heidrich; March 17, 1955) is an American character actor, best known for his TV roles as Bobby Munson in '' Sons of Anarchy'' (2008–14) and Patrick "Pat" Brown in '' Last Man On Earth'', and film roles in Christop ...
as Detective Whitworth: A Miami detective who is forced by Verone to give Pearce and O'Conner a window to deliver his package.
*
Mo Gallini as Enrique: Verone's bald henchman.
* Roberto Sanchez as Roberto: Verone's henchman and Enrique's partner.
*
MC Jin as Jimmy: A mechanic who works for Tej and is a close friend of Brian.
*
Amaury Nolasco
Amaury Nolasco Garrido (born December 24, 1970) is a Puerto Rican actor and producer, best known for the role of Fernando Sucre on the Fox television series ''Prison Break'', and for his role in ''Transformers''.
Early life
Nolasco was born i ...
as Orange Julius: A street racer who drives an orange
Mazda RX-7
The Mazda RX-7 is a front-engine, rear-wheel-drive, rotary engine-powered sports car that was manufactured and marketed by Mazda from 1978 until 2002 across three generations, all of which made use of a compact, lightweight Wankel rotary engine. ...
.
*
Michael Ealy
Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973), professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Barbershop'' (2002), ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003), '' Takers'' (2010), ''Think Like a Man'' (2012), '' About Last N ...
as Slap Jack: A street racer who drives a gold
Toyota Supra
is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name " supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond".
The initial four generations of the Supra were p ...
.
* John Cenatiempo as Korpi: A street racer who drives a 1969
Chevrolet Camaro Yenko S/C.
*
Eric Etebari as Darden: Korpi's friend who drives a
1970 Dodge Challenger.
Producer
Neal H. Moritz makes a cameo appearance as a police officer during a chase scene.
Production
Development
Plans to make a
sequel
A sequel is a work of literature, film, theatre, television, music or video game that continues the story of, or expands upon, some earlier work. In the common context of a narrative work of fiction, a sequel portrays events set in the sam ...
came about after the box office success of ''
The Fast and the Furious
''Fast & Furious'' (also known as ''The Fast and the Furious'') is a media franchise centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family. The franchise also includes short films, a ...
'',
which grossed over $200 million worldwide.
John Singleton
John Daniel Singleton (January 6, 1968 April 28, 2019) was an American director, screenwriter, and producer. He made his feature film debut writing and directing '' Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), for which he was nominated for the Academy Award for ...
had seen the first film and was awed by it, saying: "When I saw ''The Fast and the Furious'', I was like, 'Damn, why didn't I think of that?' Growing up in
South Central L.A.
South Los Angeles, also known as South Central Los Angeles or simply South Central, is a region in southwestern Los Angeles County, lying mostly within the city limits of Los Angeles, south of downtown.
It is "defined on Los Angeles city maps as a ...
, we had street races all the time." Singleton's rave reaction of the film as well as the culture of
street racing
Street racing is typically an unsanctioned and illegal form of auto racing that occurs on a public road. Racing in the streets is considered an ancient hazard, as horse racing occurred on streets for centuries, and street racing in automobiles is ...
in general influenced his decision to direct the sequel. The director also claimed that the concept of street racing could be something young audiences can relate to.
The
screenplay
''ScreenPlay'' is a television drama anthology series broadcast on BBC2 between 9 July 1986 and 27 October 1993.
Background
After single-play anthology series went off the air, the BBC introduced several showcases for made-for-television, ...
was written by
Michael Brandt and
Derek Haas, along with
Gary Scott Thompson (the co-writer from the first film).
There were two
film treatment
A film treatment (or simply treatment) is a piece of prose, typically the step between scene cards (index cards) and the first draft of a screenplay for a motion picture, television program, or radio play. It is generally longer and more detailed ...
s submitted early on, one of which did not involve
Vin Diesel
Mark Sinclair (born July 18, 1967), known professionally as Vin Diesel, is an American actor. One of the world's highest-grossing actors, he is best known for playing Dominic Toretto in the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Diesel began auditi ...
's character in the event the actor would not return for the sequel.
Singleton credited ''
Top Gun
''Top Gun'' is a 1986 American action drama film directed by Tony Scott, produced by Don Simpson and Jerry Bruckheimer, with distribution by Paramount Pictures. The screenplay was written by Jim Cash and Jack Epps Jr., and was inspired by ...
'' as a major influence for the film, particularly with regard to the action sequences.
Pre-production

Vin Diesel was offered $25 million to return in the sequel as
Dominic Toretto
Dominic "Dom" Toretto is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Vin Diesel and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Brian O'Conner, in '' The Fast and ...
.
However, he refused after reading the screenplay as he felt that its potential was inferior compared to that of its predecessor; rather, he chose to appear in ''
The Chronicles of Riddick''.
According to ''
Variety'' magazine in 2015 he was less taken with what the screenwriters had in mind for the film, "They didn't take a
Francis Ford Coppola
Francis Ford Coppola (; ; born April 7, 1939) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. He is considered one of the major figures of the New Hollywood filmmaking movement of the 1960s and 1970s. Coppola is the recipient of five ...
approach to it. They approached it like they did sequels in the '80s and '90s, when they would drum up a new story unrelated for the most part, and slap the same name on it."
However, Diesel reflected on his decision in a July 2014 report from
Uproxx
''Uproxx'' (stylized in all caps) is an entertainment and popular culture news website. It was founded in 2008 by Jarret Myer and Brian Brater, and acquired by Woven Digital (later renamed Uproxx Media Group) in 2014. The site's target audienc ...
, saying: "I would've said, 'Don't walk away from it just because the script sucked in ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' because there's an obligation to the audience to fight, no matter what, to make that film as good as possible.' ... I might have had a little bit more patience or belief in the long-term of it."
Paul Walker
Paul William Walker IV (September 12, 1973 – November 30, 2013) was an American actor. He was known for his role as Brian O'Conner in the ''Fast & Furious'' franchise.
Walker began his career as a child actor in the 1980s, gaining recogniti ...
, who had just finished ''
Timeline
A timeline is a display of a list of events in chronological order. It is typically a graphic design showing a long bar labelled with dates paralleling it, and usually contemporaneous events.
Timelines can use any suitable scale represen ...
'' at the time, reprised his role in the second picture as
Brian O'Conner
Brian O'Conner is a fictional character and one of the two main protagonists of the '' Fast & Furious'' franchise. He is portrayed by Paul Walker and first appeared on film, alongside the other protagonist Dominic Toretto, in '' The Fast and th ...
.
Tyrese Gibson
Tyrese Darnell Gibson (born December 30, 1978) is an American actor and singer. He released his self-titled debut album in 1998, which featured the single " Sweet Lady", peaking at number twelve on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100. His second ...
, then known
mononym
A mononym is a name composed of only one word. An individual who is known and addressed by a mononym is a mononymous person. In some cases, a mononym selected by an individual may have originally been from a polynym, a word which refers to one o ...
ously as Tyrese, also became a part of the cast having previously acted in Singleton's ''
Baby Boy'', which was the singer's feature film acting debut; he portrayed
Roman Pearce.
Ja Rule
Jeffrey Bruce Atkins (born February 29, 1976), better known by his stage name Ja Rule (), is an American rapper and actor. Born and raised in New York City, he debuted in 1999 with '' Venni Vetti Vecci'' and its lead single " Holla Holla". Dur ...
, another prominent rap artist who appeared in ''The Fast and the Furious'', was originally tapped for the role of
Tej Parker. Ja Rule was offered $500,000 for the role, which was more than what he had been paid to appear in ''The Fast and the Furious'', $15,000. According to Singleton, "Ja got too big for himself. He turned it down. He turned down a half a million dollars. ... He was acting like he was too big to be in the sequel. He wouldn't return calls." The director then hired
Chris "Ludacris" Bridges as a substitute.
Bridges would later rise to prominence for appearing in the film and star in later films such as ''
Crash'' and ''
Hustle & Flow
''Hustle & Flow'' is a 2005 American drama film written and directed by Craig Brewer and produced by John Singleton and Stephanie Allain. It stars Terrence Howard as a Memphis hustler and pimp who faces his aspiration to become a rapper. It als ...
''.
Additional cast also included
Cole Hauser as key villain Carter Verone, who appeared in Singleton's ''
Higher Learning'';
Eva Mendes
Eva de la Caridad Méndez (, ; born March 5, 1974), known professionally as Eva Mendes, is an American actress, model and fashion designer. Her acting career began in the late 1990s, with a series of roles in films such as '' Children of the Cor ...
as undercover agent
Monica Fuentes
''Fast & Furious (also known as The Fast and the Furious)'' is an American action film series centered on a series of action films that are largely concerned with street racing, heists, spies, and family.
The following is a list of characters ...
; and
Devon Aoki
Devon Edwenna Aoki (born August 10, 1982) is an actress and fashion model. Aoki's film roles include supporting roles in ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003) and ''Sin City'' (2005) and lead roles in '' DOA: Dead or Alive'' (2006) and ''Mutant Chronicles ...
as
Suki, the sole female driver in the film.
Filming
Principal photography
Principal photography is the phase of producing a film or television show in which the bulk of shooting takes place, as distinct from the phases of pre-production and post-production.
Personnel
Besides the main film personnel, such as a ...
began in the fall of 2002,
and
Matthew F. Leonetti served as the
director of photography
The cinematographer or director of photography (sometimes shortened to DP or DOP) is the person responsible for the photographing or recording of a film, television production, music video or other live action piece. The cinematographer is the ch ...
. Filming was done mostly in various parts of
South Florida
South Florida is the southernmost region of the U.S. state of Florida. It is one of Florida's three most commonly referred to directional regions; the other two are Central Florida and North Florida. South Florida is the southernmost part of ...
such as
Miami Beach
Miami Beach is a coastal resort city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. It was incorporated on March 26, 1915. The municipality is located on natural and man-made barrier islands between the Atlantic Ocean and Biscayne Bay, the latter of which s ...
,
Seven Mile Bridge, and Homestead Air Reserve Base.
Hauser's character's mansion was shot in
Coral Gables
Coral Gables, officially City of Coral Gables, is a city in Miami-Dade County, Florida. The city is located southwest of Downtown Miami. As of the 2020 U.S. census, it had a population of 49,248.
Coral Gables is known globally as home to the U ...
, in a house owned by
Sylvester Stallone
Sylvester Enzio Stallone (; born Michael Sylvester Gardenzio Stallone, ) is an American actor and filmmaker. After his beginnings as a struggling actor for a number of years upon arriving to New York City in 1969 and later Hollywood in 1974, h ...
.
A
car enthusiast
A car club or automotive enthusiast community is a group of people who share a common interest in motor vehicles. Car clubs are typically organized by enthusiasts around the type of vehicle (e.g. Chevrolet Corvette, Ford Mustang), brand (e ...
himself,
Walker drove a
Nissan Skyline GT-R
The is a sports car based on the Nissan Skyline range. The first cars named "Skyline GT-R" were produced between 1969 and 1972 under the model code KPGC10, and were successful in Japanese touring car racing events. This model was followed by ...
model R34 borrowed from the film's Technical Advisor, Craig Lieberman, in the film's opening scenes.
Aoki did not have a driver's license or any driving experience prior to the film's production, and took driving lessons during filming; she drove a pink 2001
Honda S2000
The Honda S2000 is an open top sports car that was manufactured by Japanese automobile manufacturer Honda, from 1999 until 2009. First shown as a concept car called the SSM at the Tokyo Motor Show in 1995, the production version was launched on ...
AP1 in the film.
Gibson drove a convertible
Mitsubishi Eclipse
The Mitsubishi Eclipse is a sport compact car that was produced by Mitsubishi in four generations from 1989 until 2011. A convertible body style was added during the 1996 model year.
The first two generations share the automobile platform and ...
Spyder, while
Michael Ealy
Michael Brown (born August 3, 1973), professionally known as Michael Ealy, is an American actor. He is known for his roles in '' Barbershop'' (2002), ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' (2003), '' Takers'' (2010), ''Think Like a Man'' (2012), '' About Last N ...
drove a
Toyota Supra
is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by the Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The name " supra" is derived from the Latin prefix, meaning "above", "to surpass" or "go beyond".
The initial four generations of the Supra were p ...
Turbo MkIV model JZA80 that had been used by Walker in ''The Fast and the Furious''.
Music
The musical score was composed by
David Arnold
David Arnold (born 23 January 1962) is a British film composer whose credits include scoring five James Bond films, as well as '' Stargate'' (1994), ''Independence Day'' (1996), ''Godzilla'' (1998) and the television series '' Little Britain'' ...
. The soundtrack was released on May 27, 2003 on
Def Jam Recordings
Def Jam Recordings (also simply known as Def Jam) is an American multinational record label owned by Universal Music Group. It is based in Manhattan, New York City, specializing predominantly in hip hop, contemporary R&B, soul and pop.
The l ...
, the same record label that Ludacris was signed to.
Release
Box office
''2 Fast 2 Furious'' earned $52.1 million in its U.S. opening in 3,408 theaters, ranking first for the weekend, taking the number #1 spot off of ''
Finding Nemo
''Finding Nemo'' is a 2003 American computer-animated comedy-drama adventure film produced by Pixar Animation Studios and released by Walt Disney Pictures. Directed by Andrew Stanton with co-direction by Lee Unkrich, the screenplay was w ...
''. It went on to score the fourth-highest June opening weekend, behind ''
Batman Forever
''Batman Forever'' (on-screen title is simply ''Forever'') is a 1995 American superhero film directed by Joel Schumacher and produced by Tim Burton, based on the DC Comics character Batman by Bob Kane and Bill Finger. The third installment ...
'', ''
Scooby Doo'' and ''
Austin Powers: The Spy Who Shagged Me''. In its 133 days in release, the film reached a peak release of 3,418 theaters in the U.S. and earned $127.2 million in domestically. The film had the 15th largest US gross of 2003 and the 16th largest worldwide gross of 2003; combined with the international gross of $109.2 million, the film earned $236.4 million worldwide.
Critical response
On
Rotten Tomatoes
Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wan ...
, ''2 Fast 2 Furious'' has an approval rating of 36% based on 160 reviews and an average rating of 4.75/10. The site's critical consensus reads: "Beautiful people and beautiful cars in a movie that won't tax the brain cells." On
Metacritic
Metacritic is a website that aggregates reviews of films, TV shows, music albums, video games and formerly, books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created by Jason Dietz, Marc ...
it has a
weighted average
The weighted arithmetic mean is similar to an ordinary arithmetic mean (the most common type of average), except that instead of each of the data points contributing equally to the final average, some data points contribute more than others. The ...
score of 38 out of 100, based on reviews from 36 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews". Audiences surveyed by
CinemaScore
CinemaScore is a market research firm based in Las Vegas. It surveys film audiences to rate their viewing experiences with letter grades, reports the results, and forecasts box office receipts based on the data.
Background
Ed Mintz founded Ci ...
gave the film an average grade of "A−" on scale of A+ to F.
Todd McCarthy of
Variety magazine wrote: "While this John Singleton-directed sequel provides a breezy enough joyride, it lacks the unassuming freshness and appealing neighborhood feel of the economy-priced original."
Scott Tobias of
The A.V. Club wrote: "Singleton abandons the underground racing subculture that gave the first film its allure, relying instead on lazy thriller plotting that's only a bag of donuts and a freeze-frame away from the average TV cop show."
USA Today
''USA Today'' (stylized in all uppercase) is an American daily middle-market newspaper and news broadcasting company. Founded by Al Neuharth on September 15, 1982, the newspaper operates from Gannett's corporate headquarters in Tysons, Virg ...
's Mike Clark gave film 2 out of 4, and wrote "The movie is all about racing, and character be damned, though the still dazed-looking Walker and Tyrese finally get a little rapport going after a worn-out story's very rocky start." He concludes "Lack of pretension helps the viewer get over the fact that this is just another retread. "
Roger Ebert
Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...
of the ''
Chicago Sun-Times
The ''Chicago Sun-Times'' is a daily newspaper published in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Since 2022, it is the flagship paper of Chicago Public Media, and has the second largest circulation among Chicago newspapers, after the ''Chicago T ...
'' gave the film 3 out of 4 and said, "It doesn't have a brain in its head, but it's made with skill and style and, boy, it is fast and furious."
In 2018, Derek Lawrence of the ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cult ...
'' called it "the forgotten Fast and Furious gem" and praised the chemistry between Walker and Gibson and John Singleton's direction.
In 2019, Bilge Eberi of Vulture also praised the movie especially Singleton’s direction.
In 2014, John Singleton said:
“It was awesome. The heads of the studio at the time were just like, just make it fun, make it cool, make it this gen. I didn’t do all that techno music that they did in the first movie. I used nothing but Southern Hip Hop which was like the rage at the time. I just funked it up, I made it more multi-ethnic. They kind of followed the paradigm that I set up. What we’re going to do here is Paul alker��s character—God bless his soul — Paul Walker is going to be edgy. He’s going to be more like a bad boy. That was the film where he was the star. That was the movie where he was the star of the picture because we didn’t have Vin iesel It was a real fun experience.“[https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/general-news/john-singleton-says-studios-aint-690486/]
Accolades
References
External links
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2003 films
2003 action thriller films
2000s chase films
2003 crime thriller films
2000s heist films
2000s road movies
American action thriller films
American chase films
American crime thriller films
American heist films
American road movies
American sequel films
2000s English-language films
Fast & Furious films
Fictional portrayals of the Miami-Dade Police Department
Films about automobiles
Films directed by John Singleton
Films produced by Neal H. Moritz
Films scored by David Arnold
Films set in California
Films set in Miami
Films shot in Miami
Original Film films
Films with screenplays by Gary Scott Thompson
Universal Pictures films
2000s American films