Review of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) by Gabe S — 19 May 2013

Tokyo Drift marks a point in this franchise where the filmmakers have had to broaden their horizons by venturing to other parts of the globe to keep making new movies. Maybe after this, we'll get The Fast and the Furious: London Meltdown, or The Fast and the Furious: Autobahn Speed. Lucas Black plays Sean, an American sent to live with his father in Tokyo to escape a jail sentence for street racing. So what does he do in Tokyo? He finds the street racing circuit. Japanese racers practice a style called drifting, which he quickly finds out is nothing like American street racing and ends up having to work off a debt to Han, who takes Sean under his wing to race for him to pay down the debt as well as beat Han's rival, DK, who happens to be the nephew of the Yakuza boss.

While the story is weaker than the previous installments, director Justin Lin displays a fine attention to detail. He authentically captures Japanese society by emphasizing the intricate differences that separate their culture from ours. He also creates amazing race sequences. The stunts performed in this movie are not only performed with minimal CGI, they are filmed from angles that show the entire thing uncut, which makes the visual effect that much cooler. If you simply turn off your brain and just try to enjoy the film for what it is, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a guilty pleasure that somehow manages to sustain the franchise.