Movie Info
Movie Name: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Studio: Relativity Media
Genre(s): Action/Adventure
Release Date(s): June 16, 2006
MPAA Rating: PG-13
Drive…angry!
Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is a trouble teen that can’t seem to keep himself out of trouble. When his mother sends him to Tokyo to stay with his father, Sean finds himself in a culture he doesn’t understand. Discovering Japan’s illegal racing circuits, Sean finds he has to learn an entirely different way to drive where cornering is done by drifting. With the help of Han Seul-Oh (Sung Kang) and an American kid named Twinkie (Bow Wow), Sean starts to move up in the racing world. Sean catches the eye of Neela (Nathalie Kelley) and finds himself in conflict with the Drift King (DK) Takashi (Brian Lee) whose family is involved in the Yakuza…and this could mean danger for Sean.
Well this is an awkward love triangle….
Directed by Justin Lin, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (also known as The Fast and the Furious 3: Tokyo Drift) is the third film in the popular series. Following 2 Fast 2 Furious in 2003, the movie was released to largely negative reviews, but still managed to be a big box office draw.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is largely unrelated to the previous two Fast and the Furious films. None of the regular characters returned in any large capacity except a small uncredited role by Vin Diesel who reprised his The Fast and the Furious role of Dominic Toretto. This does lead to some appearances by the Han character in the sequel films which indicates that The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift comes sometime after Fast Five…despite having older cars.
That’s right…I’m back…sort of…
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is essentially The Karate Kid…with race cars. Sean is the new rebel kid and in love with the wrong girl. It isn’t a very original story, but I do admire that it tried something different from the previous The Fast and the Furious…It just doesn’t seem like The Fast and the Furious…more like Thrashin’ (complete with a downhill race at the end).
Don’t get up all in Bow Wow’s face?
Sadly, despite the weaker plot, the acting is a little bit better in this film. It might be due to a more character based story as opposed to the ton of racing in the previous entries. Lucas Black is better than Walker…despite being young he’s been in the game for a long time so that might help. The supporting cast is also ok. Nathalie Kelley isn’t bad as the romantic interest and Brian Lee makes an ok bad guy. Sung Kang is nice in his scenes so I wish Bow Wow was the one who went up in flames instead of him.. The opening sequence features an appearance by Home Improvement alum Zachary Ty Bryan as the jock challenger.
The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a different entry into The Fast and the Furious series. While it doesn’t have the most original plot, it keeps moving like the other films in the series. The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift was followed by Fast & Furious in 2009.
Related Links:
The Fast and the Furious (1955)
