Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Lucas Black
Shad ‘Bow Wow’ Gregory Moss
Nathalie Kelley
Sung Kang
Brian Tee

Directed by Justin Lin

Plot: Sean Boswell is an outsider who attempts to define himself as a hot-headed, underdog street racer. Although racing provides a temporary escape from an unhappy home and the superficial world around him, it has also made Sean unpopular with the local authorities. To avoid jail time, Sean is sent to live with his gruff, estranged father, a career military-man stationed in Tokyo. Now officially a gaijin (outsider), Sean feels even more shut out in a land of foreign customs and codes of honor. But it doesn't take long for him to find some action when a fellow American buddy, Twinkie, introduces him to the underground world of drift racing. Sean's simple drag racing gets replaced by a rubber-burning, automotive art form with an exhilarating balance of speeding and gliding through a heart-stopping course of hairpin turns and switchbacks. On his first time out drifting, Sean unknowingly takes on D.K., the "Drift King," a local champ with ties to the Japanese crime machine Yakuza. Sean's loss comes at a high price tag when he's forced to work off the debt under the thumb of ex-pat, Han. Han soon welcomes Sean into this family of misfits and introduces him to the real principles of drifting. But when Sean falls for D.K.'s girlfriend, Neela, an explosive series of events is set into motion, climaxing with a high stakes face off.

Review: I thought the first 2 Fast and the Furious movies were ok, but nothing special. When I heard they were making this film I thought it was just a stupid idea. After seeing the trailer I thought, that actually looks kind of interesting. My son begged to see this and I finally gave in and gave it a chance.

To my surprise, I really liked this film. The visuals in this movie are really cool. Most of the film is in Tokyo, hence the name, and is cool to see the different culture fit in with an American film. The car scenes are like nothing I have ever seen. I had never heard of drifting, but after seeing this movie would love to see some in real life. Some of the things done with cars in this film make it all worth it. It was good to see Lucas Black (Sling Blade) in a more adult role. His performance was really good and I hope to see him in more roles. Bow Wow, although a small role, gives another good acting performance and I believe he gets better in every film he is in. If you like action or car movies, I think you will enjoy this film.
 

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