The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

I'm a sucker for movies about or dealing with cars. It doesn't even have to be the main storyline, I just need a good chase like Bullitt or The French Connection. One of my favorite movies as a kid, and I do still like it, was The Love Bug. I know little to nothing about cars other than hitting the gas pedal makes them go, but that doesn't mean I can't appreciate them. Like the Fast and the Furious series, which I can admit are not good movies but they sure are entertaining.

Since its release in 2006, I avoided The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift like the plague. None of the original cast was in it, but rapper Bow-Wow was, and it seemed like a cheap ploy to capitalize on a hugely successful franchise. Well, after hearing a couple positive reviews from people I typically agree with on movies and seeing the 4th movie in the franchise this week, I gave Tokyo Drift a shot. It's not as good as the other three movies in the series and could easily be it's own stand-alone movie but with the 'Fast and Furious' title it will always be compared to the others.

Credit is due though for not just doing the same old thing with street racing. Director Justin Lin, who also directed Fast and Furious, introduces us to a new style of driving/racing called drifting which if you've played any number of racing games you should be familiar with it. It can be odd to watch cars drift because it seems they're totally out of control, but as the special features on the DVD point out, the driver is actually more in control to get the car to move like that. Drifting is quite a visual sport for fans as drivers make crazy turns around corners and into places you'd assume they could not fit.

The racing sequences here are pretty good and not overly reliant on CGI and green-screen shooting. The special features show how the cast went through drift training so that even if they weren't required to do the actual driving in the movies, it looked realistic when they were actually filmed in the car. Here's a great example from the movie of some drifting with one big SPOILER though at the end. Another positive is that Lin doesn't cut these scenes so quickly that the images become incoherent. I've bitched and moaned about it before with the quick-cutting fight/chase scenes so I won't go over it all again, but if you want the viewer to be impressed with what's going on on the screen, show it to us. Don't cut so quickly that we can't tell what's going on. Tokyo Drift is a prime example of how good a sequence can be when done right.

With no Vin Diesel, Paul Walker, or Tyrese here, the story focuses on Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), a high school student sent to live with his Navy dad (Brian Goodman) in Tokyo after he's gotten in trouble with the police again. His options? Tokyo or juvy. Adjusting to his new life in Japan, Sean gets involved with street racing, drifting, right away. But in his first race, he destroys the car and has to work for the owner, Han (Sung Kang), a top of the line drifter/racer who's also into some seemingly shady business deals with D.K. (Brian Tee). D.K. is low-level Japanese mafia working for his uncle. Bullheaded and stubborn as always, Sean wants to learn how to drift with the tension building to the inevitable confrontation with D.K. after some shenanigans.

The only cast connection to the other movies is Kang's Han character who is in the 4th one too. Tokyo Drift is actually the 4th movie in the timeline, coming after 'Fast and Furious.' I've liked Black a lot since I saw him in Friday Night Lights, and he's a good lead, if not great, as Boswell. With his Southern drawl, Black comes across naturally onscreen and looks to handle a lot of the driving himself. Bow Wow is surprisingly good as Twinkie, another American who becomes friends with Sean. Not much is required of the part, but if done poorly it could have been really bad. Kang and Tee provide some tension as the good and bad opposites, especially Kang's Han as Sean's drift teacher. And as the requisite love interest, Nathalie Kelley plays Neela, D.K.'s girlfriend of sorts who Sean sets his targets on. Like Bow Wow, she makes the character likable/sympathetic instead of being the whiny, helpless girl in the background. And it never hurts, looks good doing it.

SPOILERS ahead. Stop reading if you don't want to know about a cameo at the end. One other connection worth mentioning to the other three movies. Sean defeats D.K. (I was surprised too *wink*) and prior to racing gets a message that an old friend of Han's wants to race him. Cue Diesel's very brief appearance as Dom Toretto. It doesn't really serve a purpose, but it is cool to see him come back since leaving after the original. The connection is made early in the 4th movie if you're dying to know.

Which brings me to hopefully the fifth movie in the series. How about Diesel, Walker, Tyrese and Black team up? I don't know how it'd work or where the story would go, but it would definitely be cool to see all four team up. Final thoughts on Tokyo Drift though, entertaining movie that while not as good as the other three, is a worthy entry into the Fast and Furious series. It doesn't deserve some of the abuse its taken since it was released in 2006.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift <----trailer (2006): ***/****