live_tv
Livestream Starting Soon
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
Up next in 10
These days, the Fast & Furious franchise is more high-flying action spectacle than street racing, but there was a time when it wasn’t clear if the series had any gas left in the tank. When Vin Diesel stepped away after The Fast and the Furious, many thought the franchise was done. Then came 2 Fast 2 Furious—a movie often considered a lower-tier installment, but one that actually laid the groundwork for the billion-dollar franchise we have today.
Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:00
Ready, ready, ready, ready, go
0:09
This is Too Fast, Too Furious. Widely considered to be one of the worst fast movies
0:14
the sequel is uncomfortably voyeuristic, tonally erratic, and borderline unintelligible. Drop it, hell
0:21
I want to hear about this, homie. I said forget about it, cuz. But it's been more than 20 years
0:26
since the movie first raced into theaters, and with the full context of the modern Fast franchise in our rearview mirror
0:33
it might be time to pull the dust cover off this souped-up sequel and take it on the road to redemption
0:38
Banking off the box office success of 2001's The Fast and the Furious
0:42
the 2003 sequel may have made even more money than the original, but it didn't surpass it critically
0:48
Even today, it struggles to be any more than a middling success in the eyes of modern audiences
0:53
It's safe to say, Too Fast, Too Furious is the black sheep of Dom Toretto's family
0:57
Part of the reason for this struggle is that several members of that family are missing
1:02
including Dom himself. Vin Diesel has gone on record to say that he thought the script for Too Fast just didn't cut it
1:08
As he told Slash Film in 2022, I was an idealist, and to me, the script wasn't continuing the story
1:14
If you're going to do a sequel, do it like Francis Ford Coppola. Do it like one of the literary greats
1:19
And that wasn't what they were doing. Comparing the Fast franchise to Coppola's filmography was certainly a choice
1:25
though it does explain a lot about Dom's character as the series progressed
1:33
and Diesel was given more creative control. Nonetheless, Diesel had made up his mind
1:40
He would not be appearing in the Fast and the Furious sequel, neither would Michelle Rodriguez's Letty or Jordana Brewster's Mia
1:46
All three were omitted from Too Fast in favor of fresh, new faces
1:50
and while their presence was missed, the fresh faces behind the camera were seemingly just as responsible
1:55
for the sequel's burnout. The only returning creative voice was that of Gary Scott Thompson, who co-wrote the first
2:01
movie's screenplay along with Eric Bergquist and David Ayer. Everyone else, including director John Singleton, was brand new to the budding franchise, and
2:09
even Thompson is only credited for his contributions to the story and characters He left the actual screenplay to the up writing duo Michael Brandt and Derek Haas Essentially Too Fast Too Furious felt like a sequel in name only
2:22
with the late Paul Walker's Brian O'Connor being the only connecting thread. It looked cheap, felt totally disconnected from the established universe
2:29
and was a wreck from the word go. Or at least that's what fans thought in 2003
2:33
We've had two decades worth of Fast movies since then, and time has only been kinder to Too Fast, Too Furious
2:40
It's a deeply misunderstood movie, not just on the basis of its quality
2:44
but also its role in the franchise. An undeniable style permeates Too Fast
2:48
and its fresh Miami setting. There is both a heightened vibrancy and a grimy underbelly to the world
2:53
which feels right in line for the story they're attempting to tell. That's how they do what I am, man
2:58
Every day. We move through scenes with supercharged speed, never breaking long enough to contemplate
3:03
how thin the plot really is. Car stunts are massive in number and scope, which is to be expected, but there are a few memorable
3:10
moments in Too Fast that inject humor and personality into action sequences that would
3:15
otherwise be too bland to sit through. Though the CGI during racing scenes is reminiscent of a
3:23
Need for Speed game, there are plenty of practical effects to tangibly sink our teeth into. It's a fun
3:29
ride that justifies its runtime. Of course, the characters also help a lot with the overall
3:33
enjoyment of the movie. Even though audiences were outraged at the loss of Dom, Letty, and Mia
3:38
most of the new additions to the crew in Too Fast ended up being fan favorites, with one or two
3:43
notable exceptions. When introducing so many new characters in a sequel, it would be easy for them
3:48
to all feel like hollow replacements for those who came before. But as we've established, if
3:53
there's one thing Too Fast Too Furious had in abundance, it's personality
3:57
Devin Aoki's Suki only appears in a few scenes, but she made a deep impact on the fanbase
4:05
Her all-girl crew, cutesy animated graphics on her dash, and determined attitude set her apart
4:11
from the crowd from the very beginning of the movie. Ludacris' Tej felt like stunt casting at
4:16
the time Similar to Ja Rule in the first movie but his self and enterprising nature made him iconic enough to cement his place as a series mainstay And that not even mentioning his iconic contribution to the movie soundtrack And then there Tyrese Gibson Roman Pierce
4:37
who's about as recognizable as Dom and Brian after all these years. Roman, in particular
4:42
may have one of the best introductions in the history of the franchise with the Barstow
4:47
Demolition Derby, a scene that demonstrates that, when they want to, this creative team is capable
4:51
of some pretty solid filmmaking. After being name-dropped as the only man capable of helping Brian pull off an undercover operation
4:59
we quite literally smash cut to a demo Derby Roman is participating in
5:02
We meet him through quick shots of his hands, the back of his head, and his house arrest ankle monitor as he steps on the gas and kicks out a windshield
5:10
He makes quick work of the competition with ruthless precision and a reckless disregard for the safety of onlookers
5:16
We get a full understanding of who this character is and what he's capable of
5:20
before we ever see his face. The writing of Roman's character is especially impressive when you consider he was shoehorned in after Vin Diesel refused to do the movie
5:28
He and Brian felt more like brothers in Too Fast than Brian and Dom ever did throughout the entirety of the Fast franchise
5:34
Their dynamic was believable and hilarious, particularly thanks to Gibson's natural on-screen charisma
5:39
It's true that Too Fast could never quite decide whether it wanted to be a buddy cop romp
5:49
a heist movie, a crime thriller, a straight-up action flick, or a light-hearted comedy
5:55
It committed to one or the other depending on the scene, leading to some serious whiplash
5:59
when we jump from an unserious street race and a cheaply staged club scene to rat bucket torture
6:05
Audiences in 2003 were confused by these bizarre tonal swings. They made the story feel bloated and uneven when compared to Too Fast's straightforward predecessor
6:15
Today, we can see that this inconsistency actually worked in the Fast franchise's favor
6:20
Though the first Fast movie may have put on airs of gritty realism with a plot copy and pasted directly from Point Break
6:26
it was just as unbelievable as its sequel. Too Fast leans harder into the outlandishness and drifts seamlessly into full-on camp
6:34
elevating the movie to something more than a down street racing story This tonal shift would follow the franchise for the rest of its days so audiences have too fast too furious to thank or blame for the bank vaulting airplane chasing car skydiving and dam driving turn these movies took
6:51
The current fast franchise is a different beast than the one we had come to know in the early 2000s
6:56
The modern movies are glossy and overproduced. They're part of a soap opera style universe of amnesiac episodes, long lost relatives, and miraculous resurrections
7:05
erections. The characters have been distilled down to smart-talking reflections of their former
7:09
selves. With this knowledge, we have to recognize the pivotal role that Too Fast had in their
7:23
continued success. Still, despite the unreality that Too Fast would set the stage for, it's very
7:28
much rooted in the real-life car culture and underground world of street racing that appealed
7:33
to fans in the first place. There's an edge to the movie, which it proudly displays like a hood
7:37
ornament. We only dull that edge with every new addition to the franchise. There's something to be
7:42
said for Too Fast's ability to straddle the line between the self-serious first movie and the
7:47
absurdity of the rest of them. The team behind Too Fast clearly cared more about the movie and its
7:52
audience than we gave it credit for on release, and that has only become more apparent in recent
7:56
years. Which brings us back to that Vin Diesel quote from earlier. Do it like Francis Ford Coppola
8:02
do it like one of the literary greats. But that wasn't what they were doing. They were capitalizing on the brand
8:07
and milking the success of it as long as they could. Considering there are 10 mainline fast movies
8:12
a Hobbs and Shaw spinoff, a retroactive prequel, and an animated series with another movie on the way
8:18
you might say Vin Diesel's criticism of Too Fast, Too Furious feels a little insincere
8:22
or maybe just misdirected. We didn't know how good we had it in 2003
8:27
While fans were expecting another street racing adventure in line with 2001's The Fast and the Furious
8:32
critics were frothing at the mouth to point out the sheer stupidity of the escalated action
8:37
and rough around the edges production. Too Fast Too Furious was getting hit from all sides
8:41
but it didn't deserve the abuse. In many ways, Too Fast Too Furious
8:45
is a more reserved entry in the franchise, and yet it still manages to be just as fun
8:50
as any other installment, maybe even more fun. Not despite, but rather because of its less polished nature
#Movies
#Action & Adventure Films