Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Season 2 Review

October 18, 2020 at 4:07am
By Jason Stettner

The Fast & Furious franchise never seems to stop and this second season builds further on the younger audience focused effort. This time around there’s the subtitle of Rio, and that’s where the squad heads. It’s a self contained narrative which is fine, that also somewhat continues the events of the first season. It’s more like a smaller adventure after the antics that happened last time around.

It worked here, and I could see this global adventure functioning well in regards to having a single region per season. This was all about infiltrating the local scene, and trying to figure out what’s going on with some special chemical. It’s an interesting premise that finds the squad pushed to figure out what’s happening as they use tech and combative moves to their advantage.

There are some scenes where the entire squad is working together, and others where everyone splits off into smaller groups or even lone ventures. The strengths of the various characters are on full display this time around, and they definitely lean into the fantasy action element of these super spy kids to the max. It’s been boosted in a similar way to what the regular live action films provide.

The animation work on this was very interesting, the push towards a realism while still being animated was unique. More depth within the areas this time around as well, yet some emptier moments. It reminded me of “Into the Spider-Verse” to a degree visually.

It worked well for the visuals on the high speed racers that were in action. It was a sort of motion blur, it’s hard to describe but it makes the vehicles come across as very fast. This also brings in some fun tech, with a varied cast that should hit many individuals on different levels.

The crews have their own unique quirks and I found the focus of their goals to be interesting. The voice acting was fine, the leads worked well and this is a varied group. They had an interesting villain, yet the plot wasn’t quite as complex as the initial season’s. It goes off in a neat way, and I’m curious to see where they’ll take things next time around.

The Conclusion

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Season 2 in Rio delivers a generally solid follow-up to the first season that embraces the spy elements further and is shifted entirely from the realms of realism. It gets wild at times, and a bit over the top. It’s generally a fine viewing, it did go by fairly quickly since the action was always flowing. They also throw in some comedic bits, definitely meant for the younger ones.

They’ve got a neat squad here, it works on what the first season did well and branches outwards. It’s not necessarily as compelling, but it has an interesting set of stakes and works towards making the team member’s individual skills come into play. They’ll each have moments to shine, but they don’t necessarily get any individual character growth here.

They’re just super spies, and when you think about children doing this sort of stuff it’s kind of funny. That aside, it’s meant for the younger ones and I’m sure they’ll find it to be a thrilling build-up from what happened last time. At least they’re focused on providing a set narrative arc which is always appreciated. It has a definite starting point, mission and then eventual conclusion.

Fast & Furious: Spy Racers Season 2 Review at Home with Streamed Viewing
Screening was Provided by Netflix

Rating Overall: 7.0