The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Release Date: June 16, 2006

Director: Justin Lin

Stars: Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Bow Wow

Runtime: 104 min

Alabama teenager Sean Boswell becomes a major competitor in the world of drift racing after moving in with his father in Tokyo to avoid a jail sentence in America.

The plot isn’t very strong. It’s a new kid in town formula, with a lot of car racing and drifting. This makes me want to play a video game. The movie manages to feel fresh and somewhat intriguing, and that’s refreshing to see after a poor first sequel. Lucas Black is very bland in this. He has an equally bad chemistry with his love interest, Neela (Nathalie Keeley), the girlfriend of D.K. (Brian Tee), the Drift King. He is the main antagonist, and the son of a high figure within the Tokyo Mafia. Brian Tee isn’t such a good actor, he just goes around looking angry. Hopefully he will be good in this year’s The Wolverine. Sung Kang and Bow Wow are decent. Brian Goodman isn’t good as Sean’s father. Anyway, Black has a better chemistry with his car than he does with Keeley. By going after her, he’s really just asking for trouble.

Paul Walker’s slightly better than Black, and viewers will miss his presence. This is out of place in the Fast and Furious narrative. The only connecting factors are the name, the cars, Han, and a star cameo. The star cameo is one of the only things worthwhile about this bland endeavour. The drifting feels fresh and fun. The cinematography looks the most pristine out of the first three. The setting is great and the Asian pop soundtrack is pretty fun. This works as a below average new-kid-in-town action drama, and there are a lot of fun racing sequences. However, when having a Fast and Furious marathon, either skip this or watch it after Fast Five.

52/100

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