The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift



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Review #158 of 365
Film: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift [PG-13] 90 minutes
WIP™ Scale: $11.75
Where Viewed: AMC Theatres Pacific Place 11, Seattle, WA
When 1st Seen: 19 June 2006
Time: 9:15 p.m.
Review Dedicated to: Jon 'Southy' H. of Nashville, TN

Brian Tyler - The Fast and the Furious - Tokyo Drift
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Click for 'Review Lite' [a 150-word review of this film]

It was pretty obvious from the preview that The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (FF3) was not going to be a real sequel to the popular Fast and Furious Franchise. No Paul Walker. No Vin Diesel. Instead, we get Lucas Black and Bow Wow in Tokyo? A lot of prognosticators might have suggested this film should go straight to video and earn what ever it might be able to earn on the shelves of Blockbuster® or the queues of Netflix®. Fortunately, someone got the idea that a hugely powerful soundtrack and adrenaline level-elevating Japanese mountain drift racing would not have been half as dynamic and heart pounding on the small home theatre system as it would be on the big screen. Getting any allegiances to the 'franchise' out of the way, let me say that when they failed to sign Vin Diesel for 2F2F, then there really was no franchise. So, purists, take the back seat and chew a bit on some Toyo rubber to calm down. There is a secret little cameo at the end of FF3 that will ease some pain—that's all I'll say. The funny thing is that FF3 starts off nearly a carbon copy of another recent movie called Stick It. Maybe you didn't see it? It was the girls gymnastics movie that came out this spring about a troubled, young, former gymnast named Haley with divorced parents who grandstands her trick bike through a plate glass window of a house under construction in Arizona landing herself in a pile of trouble and choice between "Juvvy" or being sent off to gymnastics school as punishment? Well, FF3 starts off with a troubled, young, car nut named Shawn Boswell (Lucas "The War, Sling Blade, Cold Mountain" Black) with divorced parents getting into a drag race with the local, Arizona, high school football player, tough guy (Zachary "Home Improvement" Ty Bryan) which ends with Shawn crashing through a house under construction and landing himself in a heap of trouble with the choice between "Juvvy" or being sent to Tokyo to live with his father. Hmm? I always find it curious when movies released not that far apart start off with such similar, if not identical, premises. In any case, Shawn's father is a military officer stationed in Tokyo where he lives off base(?) in a tiny little Tokyo apartment that seems about 25 square feet in size, and he looks to be about as happy to have his son there to visit as, well the gymnastics coach in Stick It was to have gymnast-dropout Haley back on in his gym. So, Shawn, with a huge chip on his shoulder, sets out to school figuring it'll be a few days before his dad kicks him out, and he's on his own.
"…this summer's caffeinated, energy-drink, roller coaster ride movie…"
Fortunately, Shawn meets Twinkie (rap artist turned actor Bow Wow) who sort of hooks him up to the underground teen racing circuit where rich Japanese teenagers spend thousands of dollars tricking up their custom-built racecars and drift racing them in parking garages and the local mountains. Unfortunately, Shawn also meets and falls head over heels for Neela (Nathalie Kelley) a girl of Australian descent whose mother left for Tokyo to find a better life and was brought into a Japanese mafia family to which now poor Neela is beholden. Which means poor Shawn likely doesn't have a prayer of ever getting a hold of this girl. First, he has no car, second, he doesn't know drifting from snowboarding—so he can't impress her with his racing, third his dream girl is the girl friend of DK (short for Drift King) played by Brian Tee--the nephew of the head of the mafia family to which she is beholden—whom he'd have to beat in a race to impress Neela, and fourth DK is protected by his mafia uncle's wealth and power. Well, that doesn't stop Shawn. Sir, no sir, and neither do his father's "You live under my roof" rules. In no time at all, he shoots off his confident, but not cocky, mouth, and gets himself in a race. Han (Sung Kang) loans him his car to race DK, knowing full well, there's no way the kid can win, but wanting to see what kind of character he has. Shawn trashes the car and subsequently puts himself in deep debt to Han who captures the moment to bring him on board as his debt collector in all of his underworld dealings. Things get really complicated fast for Shawn, however, as he continues to pursue Neela at his own peril. The entire film, climaxes with a showdown, as you may have predicted, between DK and Shawn drifting in the mountains of Tokyo. If you thought the stunt driving in the previous FF movies was fierce, you've seen absolutely nothing yet. These stunt drivers do some truly amazing things from the streets of Tokyo to the panoramic mountain sequences, this movie is race-car paced, ready, set-ah, Go!.

So, while the plot is recycled and derivative on the one hand, the racing scene and action sequences, on the other, are thrill-a-minute stuff. My heart was pounding for about the last 30 minutes of this 90-minute film. Shawn makes for a good protagonist in that he seems to have incredible loyalty and honor despite his apparent lack of regard for the destruction of cars in drag races—hopefully, that does not sound too incongruous—and despite the fact that he immediately sets his sights on stealing Neela away from DK. Well, that's just the kind of guy he is. He believes in himself and he believes he is the better man. Taiwanese director Justin "Annapolis" Lin did a really great job of ramping up the caffeine in this energy-drink-like film. The heart-pounding, Bryan Tyler sound track and the quick cuts juxtaposed with the floating of the drifting cars made for a potent combination. These things made it a little easier to overlook the recycled plot. If you are looking for this summer's roller coaster ride movie, this looks like it.

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Review-lite [150-word cap]
No Paul Walker? The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (FF3) looked barely like a worthy successor to the popular Fast and Furious franchise. Instead, we got Lucas Black and Bow Wow in Tokyo with a powerful soundtrack and adrenaline level-elevating, Japanese, mountain drift racing. FF3 starts off with a recycled plot as troubled, young, car nut Shawn Boswell (Black) gets into a drag race with the local, high school football player, tough guy that ends with him crashing through a house and having to choose between "Juvvy" or life in Tokyo with his father. Turns out, Tokyo is only the beginning of a 'beautiful' career for Shawn as he gets in with Twinkie (Bow Wow) and the underground drift racing circuit. The racing scene and action sequences are thrill-a-minute stuff, and director Justin Lin did a fantastic job of amping up this caffeinated, energy-drink, roller coaster ride movie.
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