Well we'll be a monkey's uncles. Outperforming all expectations, Vin Diesel-less sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious proved a powerful draw for American audiences this weekend, taking $52.1 million and winning this week's gold star as the box office number one. A surprise hit back in 2001, The Fast and the Furious revealed Vin Diesel's star potential (to anyone who'd missed the phenomenal Pitch Black) as he drove fast cars alongside hot chicks and generally concocted the ultimate boys' movie under director Rob Cohen. Slapping together a sequel without its charismatic anti-hero and enlisting Shaft director John Singleton may seem like an economy ticket to stright-to-video-ville but, in a bizarre twist of fate, the film actually appears to be rather good. Paul Walker reprises his role as (ex) undercover cop Brian O'Connor, returning to the world of street racing to root out criminal activity. Not high-art, that's for certain, but with the same winning mix of scantily clad women and gratuitous V16 engine shots, they've definitely got their finger on the male audience's pulse.
Please Note: In reparation for last week's Finding Nemo story - and acknowledging that people are far too exhausted for tyred language abuse first thing on a Monday - we resisted the urge to brake out yet more word-play and steered away from using a single automotive pun anywhere in the above story.