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Luckily, since the plot is marginal it makes a story synopsis easy to write. Hot cop Brian O'Conner (Paul Walker) is back, but stripped of his badge after giving such bad attitude in the first flick. Of course, great street racers never die, they just hit the pavement of Miami, selling their skills for cash. (The movie remains silent on the capitalist inner workings of such a profession, but nevermind.) Then he inadvertently teams up with ex-con Roman Pearce (Tyrese) to transport a shipment of dirty money for the ultra-shady badass Carter Verone (Cole Hauser). Oops! Lots of action ensues, and oh, there is also the obligatory love interest, undercover agent Monica Clemente (Eva Mendes). Do you think Walker might get his badge back, plus a little booty? Quick! You only get one guess...

If you want to be cynical about it, the original The Fast and the Furious wasn't a particularly hard act to follow. That Rob Cohen-directed masterpiece of stunts and stupidity delivered some silly thrills but hardly felt authentic. Cohen, in his mid-50's, continues to be obsessed with a youth culture he is far removed from, which gives all his flicks the slightly seedy, teenie-porn feel of a Calvin Klein underwear ad. But for the follow-up, John Singleton - apparently in search of a hit - takes over and at least gives the sequel some street cred and a more vibey pace. (Even if it is still ridiculous.) He is also more skilled at wringing decent performances from his actors, although the monosyllabic Paul Walker remains hopeless, despite his extensive training at the Keanu Reeves School of Acting. Best of all is his feel for believable action; as in Shaft, he stages some pretty good car crashes, all set to a pseudo-rockish, hippity-hoppity beat.

2 Fast 2 Furious is not a great movie (or even a pretty good one) but it does deliver on the bottom line. There are a couple of genuinely cool, adrenaline-charged action set pieces, it looks good and sounds even better. And since this whole film is really just one long race scene, you can turn it into a drinking game, chugging one down anytime someone says, "Shit, girl!," "Whoa, daddy!" or "Hit it!" Yes, this is a really stupid, utterly needless movie, but do you really care?

Video: How Does The Disc Look?

Presented in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen, like the first flick this one looks pretty sweet. With a pristine print, the sun-drenched Miami landscapes come through with wonderful clarity. And the nighttime scenes are awash in some of the most rich, vibrant and well-saturated colors I've ever seen. All are reproduced here with terrific clarity, stability and accurate fleshtones. Blacks are rock solid and contrast smooth, although the transfer can look a tad dark. Edge enhancement is also present if minor, which makes the transfer nice and sharp but a bit artificial. Given the lack of a DTS track and an overabundance of extras, compression artifacts aren't a problem. Despite a few caveats, this is a pretty great transfer.

Audio: How Does The Disc Sound?

Alas, Universal Studios Home Video has elected to not include a DTS track this time around, so 2 Fast 2 Furious can't quite compare to the original, which is still one of the best-sounding DVDs ever. But it is pretty dang good anyway.

Get ready for lots of vrooms and tire skids, as the surrounds are almost constantly engaged whenever a car is on the screen (which is just about the whole movie). If there is not some sort of effect flying around, then the almost near-constant song score fills out all of the speakers. Channel separation and imaging is near- transparent and highly engaging. Frequency response is very robust, with sweet and clear highs and very strong low end. A great subwoofer is instrumental to really appreciate this soundtrack. Crank it up and let the fun begin.

Alternate French and Spanish Dolby 5.1 dubs are also included, along with subtitles in French and Spanish and English captions encoded as subtitles. True Closed Captioning is not included.

Supplements: What Goodies Are There?

Pop the disc in and be greeted by some pretty slick 3-D animated menus and three navigation options: drive "Brian's Car," "Roman's Car" or "Suki's Car." All are basically laid out the same but you can access different extras in each menu. Since none are particularly exciting, it is not to much of a drawback.

First the good news. Director John Singleton provides a new screen-specific audio commentary, and it is pretty good if spotty. The bad news is that it is by far the only extra on the DVD that delivers even a glint of insight into the making of the movie. Singleton suffers from the usual symptoms of commentary-itis: long gaps of silence, simply reciting what is on the screen and cute little antecedents that mean little if you weren't a part of the crew. But there are a few interesting bits here and there, and if you flick on the Animated Antecedents subtitle fact track, it takes up the slack for Singleton. None of these factoids are particularly deep unless you are a car porn aficionado, but then neither is the movie. For true fans only.

Next up is Inside 2 Fast 2 Furious, a dull 10-minute EPK that is all fluff but little substance. Another long commercial, there's some glossy on-set footage but little else that is memorable. The 5-minute Supercharged Stunts is a little better, as the movie is just one long car crash. However, the thrill of watching green screen before-and-after footage has worn off since the early days of DVD, so this one isn't that interesting. Making Music with Ludacris also runs 5 minutes and is just a making-of the video, shot in the usual hyper-fast-cut MTV style.

Universal has also ripped-off a couple of extras from the previous Fast and the Furious Tricked Out Edition, regurgitating them here. Tricking Out a Hot Import Car clocks in at 19 minutes is hosted by Playboy Playmate Dalene Kurtis, who joins the flick's stunt coordinator Craig Lieberman to show us how a "hot car" is outfitted. Kurtis is, like, really smart, and likes "hot guys with hot cars." Truth be told this is actually kinda interesting and comprehensive, taking us step by step as the bad-ass vehicle is retooled and upgraded. Whoa, daddy! The 5-minute Turbo-Charged Prelude to 2 Fast, 2 Furious can be viewed on its own or in front of the film proper. Apparently shot exclusively for the Tricked Out Edition, this "electrifying" short is supposed to bridge the original flick with the sequel. However, this montage of Walker on the run post-Furious feels like outtakes and is not particularly exciting.

Next up is 6-minute compilation of 5 "thrilling" deleted scenes, hosted by Singleton and his editor Bruce Cannon. (Why are deleted scenes always billed as "thrilling?") Alas, no major chase or crash scenes were excised, so this is all mostly dialogue exchanges, but we do get another chance to watch that master thespian Paul Walker at work. All of the scenes are presented in non-anamorphic widescreen and of only fair quality, complete with timecode. And the 3-minute outtakes reel is not very funny.

Now let's check out the various "exclusives." Riding the Suki's Car menu gives you "Spotlight on Devon Roki" (3 minutes), "The Ride" (2 minutes, just a look at Suki's hot-pink car) and "Driving School with Devon" (2 minutes, and kids, don't try this at home!). Slide into Roman's Car and get pretty much the same thing: "Spotlight on Tyrese" (3 minutes), "The Ride" (2 minutes, again a look at Roman's car) and "Driving School with Tyrese" (2 minutes). And go for a ride in Brian's Car and, ditto: "Spotlight on Paul Walker" (3 unintentionally funny minutes), "The Ride" (2 minutes, more car stuff) and "Driving School with Paul" (2 minutes).

Rounding it out is a 2 Fast 2 Furious video game trailer, but none of the actual theatrical trailer or teasers are included.

DVD-ROM Exclusives: What do you get when you pop the disc in your PC?

Like the DVD-Video-based extras, the PC enhanced material for 2 Fast 2 Furious also isn't as impressive as the first flick. The custom interface is certainly slick and cool. You've got your basic DVD controls and weblinks plus a few downloadables including screensavers, wallpaper and some icons. You can also tool around with a few additional production notes and stills. Not too much, though.

Parting Thoughts