Review of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) by Ben J — 22 Jul 2014

Just to preface this review, I have never watched any entry in this franchise before this point. I decided to give them a go in the series entirety after being convinced that I will enjoy at least "one" of them. I've now watched part 3 and here is what I thought.

Tokyo drift is a lot of things. A direct sequel to 2 Fast 2 Furious it is not. Nor is it trying to be. It appears that the franchise was trying to branch out into different sub genres of racing here. This time it takes us to the underground world of "Drift" racing in Japan. It gives us a new cast of characters and an entirely new direction. Lucas Black plays the protagonist "Sean" who is a trouble kid from, somewhere in the south who is good with fixing up cars and charming the girls. This is all discovered in the first 5 minutes of the film through action, prologue, and dialogue. Now, am I saying that this is all amazing and great? No. But its the first one of these films to give us a character that has an "arc".

After a near fatal car race crash with some local stereotypes, Sean is sent by his supposed "hooker" mom to live with his military father in Tokyo. By this point we already know pretty much everything we need to know about who he is going in, so its up to the audience member to decide whether he's worth rooting for or not. I for one was just pleased that I had a character who was identifiable and relatable to watch. The dynamic with his dad is cheap and short, but the film takes off and become a fully different animal from the depressing melancholy opening montage and set up once he meets the people who would introduce him to "drifting".

Here, he meets squirrelly "Twinkie" played pretty terrible by Lil Bow Wow, a rich kid who for some reason is allowed to hang with the top dudes in this underground gang. His character is annoying, loud, and rather pointless. The real star of this film for me was Sung Kang who plays "Han" the quick-minded, cool-talking street racer and underground badass of the community. He's by far the closest thing to the original cast in this movie and shines as he takes Sean under his wing to teach him how to "drift". Though its unclear exactly why anyone would give this white boy the time of day or not kick his ass for even walking into one of these races, we accept that its all taken as part of the story.

Once the action starts and the cars "drift" the film feels more like it belongs in this series and feels as if its still shares the same universe. "Drifting" is not as cool as the regular street racing from the first 2 nor is it as easy to follow on camera so the film suffers much from that. The plot is loosely taken from such theme movies as "The Karate Kid Part 2", "North Shore", and even "School Ties". It has love triangles, local mayhem, mafia, and even the powerful uncle you don't want to f#*k with. Its refreshing at times and only really get's boring with its love story. The characters all have arcs, things to accomplish, and conflict. For instance, the conflict between DK and Han is truly highlighted here as they are partners/friends who have completely different ideals and different life circumstances. Sean starts out as one thing and becomes another (arc) by overcoming circumstances, taking responsibility, and learning how to be a man. All things Brian O'Conner never felt the desire to do.

Call this film what you want. Say its not a "Fast and Furious" movie if you want. One thing it is though is a better and more confidently made film than the previous installments. Its hits the story beats well, keeps things moving, actually has a story that you can follow and care about, and it has characters to root for. Dare I say its a step up from the previous storyline of Brian O'Connor. In my opinion, its not about staying loyal to the original cast. If there's a better story to be told in Japan with different characters, than I am in. Its its own film with its own motivations and action. The set pieces are incredible and the camera work around Tokyo is mesmerizing to look at. I'm still not going as far as to call it a good movie, but in my humble opinion its the best one so far even though it is completely different. Oh yeah, and there's a decent cameo done right at the end.