Drive away fast from this one

In the lobby, after “2 Fast 2 Furious:”

“Whose do you think was the best performance?”

… In the lobby, after “2 Fast 2 Furious:”

“Whose do you think was the best performance?”

“I don’t know. Maybe the BMW M3. Or the 2003 Viper.”

That about sums up the film. If it’s just cars you want, you might leave happy. The racing is done with little excitement, but the cars are technically on the screen. If you’re looking for more – a plot, maybe – steer clear.

Estranged cop Brian O’Conner (Paul Walker) gets busted for illegal car racing. Of course, he can have the charges dropped – and his sins of the first “Fast” film forgiven – if he helps the FBI by infiltrating a drug lord’s operation as a “driver.” Apparently, in Miami, boyish speed freaks in fluorescent racecars are the preferred couriers of drugs and money.Brian agrees to do it on the condition that he can bring along his boyhood pal, Roman (Tyrese), to get his back. The guys wrestle, drive around doing obnoxious road stunts, and say “bro” a whole lot. And they almost never wear seatbelts.

Walker is consistently uninteresting; he’s like a parody of Keanu Reeves. Tyrese, on the other hand, is surprisingly capable when the material is half-decent. It’s a shame the script only offers lines like, “All right, let’s see what this thing can do.” Rapper Ludacris does little more than show off a ‘fro and perform on the soundtrack.

The most interesting thing on the screen is the remarkable face of young Devon Aoki, who plays the film’s one female racer.

What has become of director John Singleton? Isn’t this the man who made “Boyz N the Hood?” His fall to these commercial depths is appalling.

It would have been cute to say, “‘2 Fast, 2 Furious,’ 2 stars,” but that would be more than the film deserves. Proceed with caution.