In theaters

2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, directed by John Singleton, written by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, 94 minutes, rated PG-13.

John Singleton’s new street-racing movie, “2 Fast 2 Furious,” a sequel to the surprise 2001 hit “The Fast and the Furious,” offers audiences solid answers to that age-old question: Exactly how does one become too fast and too furious?

Apparently, doing so involves more than just having the right muscle car or, for that matter, the right muscles. There’s a dress code involved: Miami-tramp contemporary seems to work best for the ladies, as does cabana-boy casual for the men.

Regardless of gender, hair should be tipped, teased and tousled, as if you just hopped out of bed – preferably somebody else’s. Tattoos and implants are encouraged, as are piercings, but nothing is ever as important as having the proper orthodontia. Indeed, to be truly too fast and too furious, one must have the sort of pearly whites that sparkle handsomely against one’s sun-kissed skin.

As directed by Singleton from a script by Michael Brandt and Derek Haas, “2 Fast 2 Furious,” set in south Florida, deserves a dressing down. It’s too much of a dim bulb to live up to its title, too long-winded to be considered quick, let alone fast.

Initially, it seems as if it’s going to continue the fun, cartoonish ride offered in the first movie, but it doesn’t go the distance. By its midpoint, it gets bogged down in a silly drug cartel plotline that’s taken so seriously, the film loses the giddy spunk that made its predecessor so enjoyably dumb and over-the-top.

In the film, Paul Walker reprises his role as Brian O’Connor, a ruined ex-cop who lays to rest any questions about his masculinity in the hilarious opening scene, which finds him showing up for an illegal street race in an elaborately festooned muscle car that snorts great bursts of steam from its vented hood. It’s an inspired touch, one of only a few in the movie.

After Brian crosses the finish line, he’s busted by the cops and quickly – too quickly – is offered a deal: If he agrees to help the impossibly curvaceous undercover cop, Monica (Eva Mendes), nail the impossibly swarthy drug lord, Carter (Cole Hauser), his record will be wiped clean. Brian agrees, but only after enlisting the help of his childhood friend-cum-enemy, Roman (Tyrese), an ex-con with an attitude the size of a semi who takes the place of Vin Diesel as Brian’s main man.

The problem with “2 Fast 2 Furious” isn’t just that it’s no longer running on Diesel, but that it’s well-intentioned – it wants to be about something, which is sweet, but a shame. The first film never wanted to be anything more than just a throwback to the hot rod films of the 1950s; its kitschy embrace of a forgotten subculture was part of its charm. Worse for “2 Furious,” there’s nothing about it that sets it apart from the pack. It’s just sort of there, revving its engines and racing around street corners with no place to go.

Singleton (“Boyz N the Hood,” “Poetic Justice,” “Shaft”) probably wasn’t the best choice of directors. He’s too literal-minded for this sort of thing, too earnest. In the end, the story he tells feels like a ho-hum version of “Miami Vice.”

Grade: C-

On video and DVD

THE RECRUIT, directed by Roger Donaldson, written by Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer and Michael Glazer, 105 minutes, rated PG-13.

Roger Donaldson’s “The Recruit” stars Al Pacino as Walter Burke, a senior instructor at the Central Intelligence Agency who finds in young computer whiz James Clayton (Colin Farrell) the perfect recruit for the CIA.

Brilliant, brash and brooding, his five o’clock shadow as formidable as anything that ever clouded the jawline of Bruce Willis, Clayton is Grade-A CIA stock – even if he initially doesn’t know it.

What he has going for him beyond his brains and his smoky espionage looks is his need for a father figure, which Burke immediately recognizes as he takes Clayton under his wing and convinces him to become the CIA agent his father never was. You know, the type who doesn’t get killed in the line of duty.

The film, from a script by Roger Towne, Kurt Wimmer and Michael Glazer, is slick entertainment that’s surprisingly restrained, initially forgoing the genre’s usual penchant for fantastic explosions and chase scenes to focus on character, a welcome reprieve that serves to tighten the suspense.

The film complicates matters for Clayton when he agrees to take Burke up on his offer. Indeed, when Clayton is shipped to The Farm – the infamous CIA training facility in Virginia where spies aren’t hatched, but grown (and apparently bullied and bludgeoned) – he meets and falls hard for Layla (Bridget Moynahan), a hot-to-trot spy in the making who might not be who she seems.

To Donaldson’s credit, he makes “The Recruit” seem reasonably fresh and limber in spite of its plot holes and pat ending. When he does employ the conventions of the espionage thriller – car chases, mistaken identities, gunfights – he doesn’t overdo it and, as a result, his movie works better than you might expect.

Grade: B

Christopher Smith is the Bangor Daily News film critic. His reviews appear Mondays and Fridays in Style, Thursdays on WLBZ 2 and WCSH 6, and are archived on Rotten Tomatoes.com. He can be reached at BDNFilm1@aol.com.

The Video-DVD Corner

Renting a video or a DVD? NEWS film critic Christopher Smith can help. Below are his grades of recent releases in video stores. Those in bold print are new to video stores this week.

About Schmidt ? A

Adaptation ? A

Analyze That ? C-

Antwone Fisher ? A-

Biker Boyz ? D

Catch Me if You Can ? A-

Comedian ? B+

Die Another Day ? C+

8 Mile ? C

The Emperor?s Club ? C+

Frida ? B+

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets ? B+

The Hot Chick ? C-

Lilo & Stitch ? B+

Minority Report ? A-

Old School ? D-

One Hour Photo ? A-

Tears of the Sun ? C-