2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)

After the success of Rob Cohen’s The Fast and the Furious in 2001, it was only natural that someone would decide that it was necessary to make a sequel. That someone was John Singleton. Singleton, with the help of more than a few writers (including some who played a role in helping to create the first film), began adding more to the Fast and Furious universe with the introduction of this film. Everyone’s goal was to help expand the universe using the first film’s main participants (Paul Walker and Vin Diesel). When Diesel decided not to take part in the second installment and Ja Rule chose his hip-hop career over continuing his role of Edwin, the crew was left with decisions to make on how to make this film as much fun and as accessible as Cohen’s film. They chose to introduce numerous new characters (including two that would play an integral role in the Fast and Furious franchise for years to come). Ludacris’ (Tej Parker) and Tyrese Gibson’s (Roman Pearce) step into their roles flawlessly and allow audiences to connect with them as they did with the original group of characters. These two had wonderful chemistry with Paul Walker and, while instant favorites such as Dom Toretto and Letty would still be missed, Pearce and Tej held their own and became fan favorites in their own right. There were two major changes in this film that helped pave the way for the rest of the franchise. The first change was the villain. Rick Yune’s Johnny Tran and Reggie Lee’s Lance Ngyugen were small-time criminals; the threat that they posed to the film’s protagonists was minor compared to what Cole Hauser’s Carter Verone (this film’s antagonist) was capable of doing. Verone was a big time drug dealer that had eyes and ears everywhere, strengthening his ability to threaten Brian O’Connor and Roman Pearce. This allowed for the franchise’s villains to grow in new and exciting ways as the series progressed. The other major difference between the first and second films was the heightened action sequences. The first installment was fairly tame compared to the second. Singleton and the writers prepared to provide high-octane action sequences including running a car into a yacht and lifting a bridge to allow cars to essentially fly over one another. These scenes were some of the first steps into the high-level action that would be present throughout the rest of the franchise. While this film is often regarded as one of the worst of the franchise, it played a pivotal role in helping move everything forward. Stepping up the action and antagonists, as well as introducing characters that would be present throughout most of the films, gave the future writers for the franchise new material to play with and more leeway in terms of what would be accepted by audiences in the sequels. Even with its mediocre success, this film may have played the biggest role in what was to come from Diesel, Walker and the rest of the Fast and Furious franchise.  https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0322259/?ref_=nv_sr_srsg_0