The Fast & The Furious: Tokyo Drift
Any fans of this instalment brace
yourselves. I’m going to diss this flick, but just a little. Seriously, why
take the franchise to Japan, even leave Paul Walker out of it and have one of
your main actors be Lil Bow Wow? The series wasn’t looking good at this stage,
but I suppose the filmmakers were looking to widen the fan base. I deliberately
missed this one at the movies, but gave it a shot on DVD. Okay, complaint over
now time for the review.
High school student Sean (Lucas
Black) is out of control. In a drag race he takes part in against the
guy-who-played-the-eldest-son from “Home Improvement”, he stuffs up and faces
the law. Instead of jail, he’s shipped off to Japan to live with his dad, a
Naval Officer stationed in Tokyo. The old man’s rules are simple; go to school,
come home, stay out trouble – no exceptions! Sean goes to school and quickly
befriends Twinkie (Bow Wow) but it’s not long before Sean finds himself in
trouble again.
Being exposed to the Tokyo illegal
street racing scene by Twinkie, Sean discovers “drifting”; a sleek, smooth
driving move in which specially modified cars race through car parks, missing
walls and barriers by mere inches. Thinking he’s Hot Shit, Sean gives it a go
and realises how far removed from his own country and style of driving he
really is, and wrecks the car loaned to him by local racer Han (Sung Kang).
After that mistake, Sean is kept on a short leash by Han and his mentor
Takashi, who has links to the Yakuza. But their watchful eye over him isn’t all
bad, as it lets Sean get closer to Takashi’s hot girlfriend and quickly ascends
him up the social ladder of Tokyo’s cool, sexy youth.
With the distraction of a very good
looking girl, the novelty of being a fish out of water, as well an insatiable
appetite for adrenaline and trouble, Sean soon finds himself in too deep with
the drifting scene and the associated crime that surrounds it.
I often wonder why certain
franchises go in completely different directions mid-way? It happened with the
“Halloween” franchise, where part 3 completely ignored the plot of Michael
Myers, and the results were disastrous. By this third instalment, the Fast
& Furious looked certain to be on a very quick decline. When Vin Diesel
declined to return for part two, leaving it to Paul Walker to carry the film,
who then wasn’t invited back for this one, the original die-hard fans almost
gave up hope. Saying that though, the film wasn’t terrible. The drifting scenes
were cool to watch, and I’ll admit I found the Tokyo setting somewhat
interesting.
The character of Han saved Tokyo
Drift, acting as the emotional arc for the entire film. Despite the way he
exited this film, he would appear in later instalments of the series, creating
an interesting link between this third film and the later entries, which
although were filmed years after and used more advanced cars and technology,
actually took place before the events of Tokyo Drift. This instalment also
launched the career of Justin Lin who would be the series biggest contributor
to date, directing FF 4, 5 and the upcoming 6.
Aside from its many flaws, this instalment
redeemed itself right at the very end. Sean is now the Drift King of Tokyo.
Twinkie appears, telling him a guy wants to a race. A guy who knows Han. Sean
takes the offer, and pulls his vehicle up alongside an American muscle car. The
driver says “I’ve got nothing but time” and it’s revealed this mysterious
driver is Dom Toretto.
Audiences were surprised and asking
if this could this mean a return to the series for its original star, Vin
Diesel? That’s what most were hoping for, and our wishes were granted three
years later…
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