Fast and the Furious – Tokyo Drift is a slick “popcorn” movie that is entertaining to watch, but features an extremely predictable plot and less than stellar acting. Still, the cars are the real stars of the movie, and Tokyo Drift has plenty of fast action, great camera angles that capture the races, and a full throttle pace throughout the film.
The movie (which breaks away from the first two Fast and the Furious films with a new cast of characters) is directed by Justin Lin (Annapolis) and was written by Chris Morgan (Cellular). It features a cast of young actors including Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights and Jarhead), Nathalie Kelley, Bow Wow, Brian Tee, and Sung Kang. The film also has martial arts legend Sonny Chiba, but only in a few scenes.
Like I said, the plot is pretty predictable from the start, and borrows from past films – including the Karate Kid. It follows bad boy Sean Boswell (Black) who quickly gets in trouble when a street race with some rich kids goes really bad. Boswell is then shipped off to Tokyo to live with his father. Once there, the father puts his foot down and demands Sean not even touch a car. Of course, it takes about five minutes before Sean is involved in another street race against the famous Drift King (Tee). The race is to settle a dispute over Sean talking to the Drift King’s girl Neela (who has actually gotten tired of her thug mobbed up boyfriend, and wants to break away from him).
While Sean might be the terror of street racing back in the states, he finds out he doesn’t know anything about Tokyo’s style of street racing – called drifting. Sean’s new buddy Twinkie (Bow Wow) gives him a crash course in how to drift, and Sean borrows a car from Han (Kang). Naturally, he destroys the car in the race, and now owes Han a ton of money. This leads to the two men becoming friends and Sean learning how to drift so he can beat the Drift King and get the girl.
Sean challenges the Drift King
Like I said, the plot is predictable, but the movie does have several things that make it worth watching. Even though we know what is going to happen next, Lin makes sure that we want to keep watching thanks to his fast paced races, and slick filming that literally take you into the driver’s seat. The director does quick edits from the drivers shifting gears to the cars spinning by at lightening speeds. The stunts are amazing to watch, and help lift the film up from some of its many flaws. If you are a fan of drifting or cars, the racing sequences (and believe me there are a lot of them) make the movie worth your time.
Lin also makes sure that Tokyo Drift has a completely different look and feel to it than the past Fast and the Furious films – which helps you not mind that you basically watching another version of the first movie. Other than a brief cameo from Vin Diesel at the end, Tokyo Drift really has no connection at all to the first two Fast and Furious movies. This change sometimes can ruin a franchise, but I think it helped Tokyo Drift – a third film about a street-racing cop would have been just too much to take.
Although I enjoyed Tokyo Drift more than I thought I would, the film does have some problems (such as how Black can suddenly speak the language) that weigh it down. The acting at times is extremely stiff, and at other times it is down right bad. Black does a good job in the lead role, but he isn’t enough to carry the movie.
Lin packs plenty of stunts in the movie
While Kang does a good job in the film and Chiba is a nice touch, the dialogue between Kelley and Tee sometimes falls a little flat, and even slows the movie down. Bow Wow also does a good job in the film, but he doesn’t have enough of a role to really matter. Again, this isn’t a film that you watch for plot. You watch this movie for the racing and the stunts.
What the movie lacks in plot, the DVD makes up for in special features. Fans of racing and drifting will love the features that take you into the sport and shows how the film was made.
“Underground Drifting” takes you on the streets with real-life drifters. “Drifting School” shows what the stars went through to learn how to do some of the drifting, and how to look like they knew what they were doing. “Cast Cam” gets a bit annoying but shows behind the scenes fun with footage shot by the actual cast.
“The Big Breakdown: Han’s Last Ride” goes into the filming of the massive chase scene towards the end of the movie. “Tricked Out to Drift” shows how the filmmakers customized more than 230 cars for the film’s stunts and races. “Welcome to Drifting” is a look at the new sport that is “revolutionizing” racing. “The Real Drift King” is an interview with the driver who helped make drifting hot. “The Japanese Way” takes an on-location look at filming in Tokyo with the cast and crew from the movie.
Sean's first drifting race doesn't go too smoothly
Although the movie is predictable, it is still fun pretty much from start to finish. Lin packs a ton of stunts into an hour and 45 minutes, and makes sure that the film’s pace stays at full throttle from the time the opening credits roll. If you are a racing fan or a fan of the past two films, Tokyo Drift won’t let you down. I would recommend the movie to anyone simply wanting a fun film that you can watch with the brain turned off.
Fast and the Furious – Tokyo Drift is now available at Amazon . It is available for pre-order at AmazonUK for an October 30th release. Visit the DVD database for more information.
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