2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
In which we meet: Roman Pearce (Tyrese Gibson), an old friend of Brian O’Connor’s who harbors some resentment about Brian becoming a cop, and Tej Parker (Chris ‘Ludacris’ Bridges), an ex-racer and gifted mechanic that runs the street racing scene in Miami.
The Plot: O’Connor is a fugitive from the law after helping Dominic Toretto escape at the end of Fast 1, but the law catches up to O’Connor after a street race in downtown Miami. Rather than putting him in jail though, they give him a mission: help the Feds put away a drug kingpin named Carter Verone and he gets to walk away from all charges. Brian recruits Roman, who is currently under house arrest, to be his wingman in exchange for clemency on past crimes.
What Happened to Everyone? You’ll note that the only person to return from the first Fast and the Furious is Paul Walker (and I guess Thom Barry as FBI Agent Bilkins, if we’re getting technical). After the 2001’s surprise hit, director Rob Cohen and star Vin Diesel tried to reinvigorate the spy genre with xXx, a film about an extreme sports star who’s turned into a James Bondian super agent by the NSA. Ironically, the Fast and the Furious franchise was later turned into a big action franchise featuring huge stunts and global stakes also starring unconventional heroes with checkered criminal pasts.
Too cool for school line: During the climactic chase, Verone’s henchman Enrique is riding with Brian and after a particularly harrowing near miss…
Enrique: [in shock] You’re a really good driver.
Brian: [beat] Thanks, bro.
Who’s that guy? Mark Boone Jr., who in 2 Fast plays Detective Whitworth, Verone’s guy in the Miami PD, would later play a corrupt cop again as Jim Gordon’s partner Detective Flass in Batman Begins. He also played Bobby Munsen in Sons of Anarchy, and was featured in Seven as “Greasy FBI Man.” So he definitely has a type…
Signature Stunt: Brian and Roman have to run Verone’s money from where it’s kept to an airstrip where Verone is waiting to take off and leave the country. But when Whitworth double-crosses Verone by sending the Miami Police force after the bag men and the money on a freeway chase, Brian and Roman switch cars and use every street racer in Miami as a distraction. However, Verone is not getting out of town on a plane, he’s leaving on a boat, and when he takes off from the dock, Brian launches his car off a bridge and crash-lands it into the getaway yacht.
In the end: Brian and Roman stop Verone, who swears revenge against the two, but is never seen or heard from again. Bilkins keeps good on his word and the duo’s record is expunged, which prompts Roman to turn in *almost* all of Verone’s money to the FBI. As he and Brian walk into the sunset, Roman reveals that the waist band of his pants are filled with as many bills as he could get away with.
