All spoilers for The Fast And The Furious are unmarked. You Have Been Warned!
Brian O'Connor: You ready for this?
Roman Pierce: Come on, man. Guns, murderers and crooked cops? I was made for this, bro.
Roman Pierce: Come on, man. Guns, murderers and crooked cops? I was made for this, bro.
2 Fast 2 Furious is the second film in The Fast and the Furious franchise. Starring Paul Walker and introduces Tyrese Gibson into the series as Roman Pierce as well as Tej, played by Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges, who would gain more prominence in the fifth movie and beyond. The film was directed by John Singleton and released in 2003.
Brian O'Conner has long since left the LAPD and fled to the streets of Miami, but is coerced to infiltrate a local drug lord's money laundering operation as a runner. He recruits his childhood friend Roman "Rome" Pearce (Gibson) for a second driver, and both of them work to undermine the bad guys and get their criminal records wiped clean while trying to stay alive in the process.
Tropes:
- Action Film, Quiet Drama Scene: Roman admitting that going to prison was never Brian's fault, and that he needs to take responsibility for his own actions.
- Animesque: The designs on Suki's car in were indeed inspired by Anime. Director John Singleton
even states in the DVD commentary that the tone and feel of the film was partially inspired by Anime. - Arc Villain: Carter Verone is the drug lord who Brian and Roman go undercover with as runners.
- Beleaguered Childhood Friend: Rome did three years in prison and ended up on house arrest prior to the events of the movie. He blamed it on Brian for not helping him, but Brian didn't hear about his arrest until after he had already been sentenced to do time so there was nothing he could do.
- Big Eater: Lampshaded and justified. Roman says he's eating as much as he is because prison food sucks so he's having as much on the outside as he can...and also that his doctor says he has a high metabolism.
- Bluff the Imposter: Brian checks the racing credentials of the cop Bilkins wants to be the backup driver by asking him a question about car engines, and then pointing out that the company he mentioned doesn't make car parts at all - it's the name of the pizza place where the cop had lunch.
- Cold-Blooded Torture: Verone subjects a Dirty Cop on his payroll to this by putting a rat on his stomach, then a tin pail over it and heating it with a blowtorch. According to him, when a rat is trapped and frenzied enough it'll chew through its surroundings to get out. Ouch.
- Did Not Get the Girl: Brian and Monica don't hook up in the end, but leave on good terms.
- Driver Faces Passenger: So much so that if this weren't a movie, they would have both already been killed in a collision.
- Enemy Eats Your Lunch: After a blow-up with Markham when he nearly blows Brian and Roman's cover, Roman stalks around and decides to vent his frustration by swiping Markham's lunch from the table.Markham: Hey! That's mine!Roman: [angrily] So?![cut to everyone going over the operation while Roman silently eats in the background]
- Extreme Sports Plot: An undercover cop and an ex-convict become street racers to get hired as drivers for a drug lord so they can infiltrate his operation.
- Faux Affably Evil: Carter Verone. While the guy's a drug lord, he acts polite to Brian and Rome, but the guy also tortured a man with a rat and acted like a Yandere over Monica talking with Brian, threatening to kill her if he sees her with another man.
- Flat Character: Verone's not on screen much and we don't really know much about him beyond being a Faux Affably Evil drug smuggler.
- Good Cop/Bad Cop: Bilkins and Markham.
- Hollywood Density: Those gym bags full of unlaundered drug money should have weighed at least 200 pounds each, yet people pick up multiple bags at once without any sign of encumberance.
- Idiot Ball: Markham nearly blows Brian and Roman's cover when he thought they were running and later completely blows Monica's cover when he sends the SWAT team in to raid the airstrip, which nearly gets her killed.
- I Never Said It Was Poison: Verone finds out that Brian and Monica are both working undercover after he learns that Brian knows about the airstrip, something he only told Monica about.
- Jerkass: Markham is really rude and disrespectful to Brian and Roman.
- Letters 2 Numbers: More like "2 Letters 2 Numbers" with the film being titled 2 Fast 2 Furious.
- Like an Old Married Couple: Brian and Roman spend most of the movie bickering with each other.
- Lighter and Softer: This film is lighter in comparison to the previous film's dark themes; also, Roman Pierce is a humorous character in this film compared to the much serious Dominic Toretto in the original film.
- Needle in a Stack of Needles: Part of Brian and Roman's plan to get away from the police with the money is to drive their cars to a garage, move the money to different cars, then have several dozen racers leave the garage in various cars - including the ones they drove in on - making it impossible for the police to tell which cars to stop.
- Nerves of Steel:
- Brian earns the respect of Carter Verone, since he can admit to Verone's face that Monica Fuentes is gorgeous without hesitation.
- When Monica's cover's blown and Verone's got her at gunpoint and captive, she doesn't flinch at all.
- Oddball in the Series: This is the only film in the mainline series (Hobbs & Shaw is a spin-off film) that Dom never shows up in. Even Tokyo Drift had Dom make a cameo at the end. This is solely Brian's movie.
- Oh, Crap!: The look on Roman's face while lining up alongside one of the muscle cars, the driver revving the engine causing the car to actually shake.
- Only in Miami: The movie takes place in Miami. The opening scene has the characters drive by the American Airlines Arena, home to the NBA's Miami Heat. That should be a tipoff.
- Parental Bonus: Brian is called "Bullitt" once. While in that context it could just be considered a nickname based on how fast he drives, it doubles as a reference to Bullitt, a movie about a cop that has one of the most famous car chase scenes in the history of cinema.
- Pass the Popcorn: Bilkins' initial reaction to Brian and Rome getting into a fight during their first meeting in years.
- Pink Means Feminine: Suki's Honda S2000 is colored hot pink.
- Prison Rape: Roman tells Verone not to drop the soap as he's carted away.
- Product Placement: Mitsubishi contributed to the movie by supplying the Eclipse Spyders, the Evo VIIIs (which weren't out in America at the time, so they were told to disguise them as VIIs - a Japan only model) as well as Lancer O.Z. Rally Editions (though these weren't used). As Chrysler was partnered to Mitsubishi at the time, Dodge Rams were also provided. Also, the yellow Dodge Viper SRT-10 in the movie - actually four were used - were amongst the first batch of that generation produced. They (originally red) were loaned to Universal on condition that they mustn't crash.
- Reasonable Authority Figure:
- Instead of dismissing Brian as a fugitive cop, Wilkins seeks out his assistance and allows Brian to recruit Roman to take down Verone.
- Markham lets Brian and Roman off the hook at the end of the movie as they held up their end of the deal and wishes them well.
- Replacement Goldfish: Eva Mendes as Monica Fuentes replaces Mia as Brian's love interest.
- Reusable Lighter Toss: Rome tosses one on a henchmen's car after covering it with lighter fluid.
- Shout-Out: The unusual method of torture is probably lifted from Italian 1970 Spaghetti Western Compañeros.
- Surprisingly Realistic Outcome:
- For all his cleverness getting to Miami undetected by law enforcement, Brian quickly becomes involved in the illegal street racing scene in Miami. Needless to say, when the Feds need him for their job, he's incredibly easy to find and gets arrested less than 10 minutes into the film.
- Likewise he's been fired from the force since the events of the first movie due to letting Dom get away.
- A guy in a red Mustang attempts to do a stunt shown in the first film (driving under a semi-truck trailer). But when he bumps into another truck, his car gets knocked under the truck's trailer, then dragged and crushed under the trailer's wheels, killing him and causing an accident. Apparently, that little disclaimer that tells the idiots at home not to do shit like that in the real world at the end of each of these films wasn't enough, so The film makers decide to go for a Scare 'Em Straight example.
- Temporary Substitute: Vin Diesel was busy starring in XXX, so Dominic Toretto's role was assigned to Roman Pierce, who would eventually become a series regular.
- To the Pain: Verone lures Whitworth (a corrupt Miami PD detective) away from his party and tortures him using a rat, a metal pail and a blowtorch until he agrees to give Brian and Roman a window to deliver Verone's package for him; he then warns Whitworth that if he fails, his rat will visit his entire family as well.
- Took a Level in Kindness: Bilkins is noticeably nicer to Brian more than in the first movie to contrast with the new Jerkass Agent Markham.
- Undercover Model: Monica poses as Verone's girlfriend/mistress in order to investigate him.
- Under the Truck: One of the auditioning drivers accidentally gets knocked under a tractor trailer, but is crushed under the wheels.
- Waxing Lyrical: Roman's line "Why do I chase the cat?" during the audition chase scene is from George Clinton's song "Atomic Dog".
- We Will Meet Again: Verone claims this as he's being hauled off, but we haven't seen him since.
- What Happened to the Mouse?: Suki disappears after the movie, not appearing back in other films like some cast members of this one did. Potentially justified; she didn't bring much to the table that wasn't already covered, so to bring her in in Fast Five would have only added another cut to the take and put her in danger for no particular reason.
- What the Hell, Hero?: Brain and Roman to Agent Markham when the latter almost messes up their plan of catching Verone. Roman also gets one from Markham in the same scene for shooting at him.
- You Have Outlived Your Usefulness: What Carter Verone had planned to do with Brian and Roman after they had delivered his money.
