The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift / 2006 / DVDRip / 700 MB
In my review for 2 Fast 2 Furious, Tokyo Drift's immediate predecessor, I praised the film for indeed being fast and furious but lambasted it for being ridiculously idiotic and poorly-made. This proved to be the film's biggest problem and mired it significantly; naturally I had fears that its sequel, Tokyo Drift would suffer from the same problem and henceforth kill the Fast and the Furious franchise. My fears, I'm happy to say, were vanquished and erased as I watched Tokyo Drift, and I'm also happy to say that it's an improvement from it's vapid predecessor.
None of the original cast returns for this third instalment in the series, and whilst that may seem like a downer (I was starting to warm up to them) the movie surprisingly doesn't suffer much from their absence. The guy in the driver's seat this time around is Sean Boswell, a racing and car enthusiast just like our old friend Brian O'Connor. In the film's opening we're introduced to Sean and his infatuation with the world of driving, evident from his immediate desire and eagerness to race when offered. A typical scenario is played out where Sean talks to the girlfriend of the hunky school captain; he notices his foreplay, gets angry, clenches his fist and commences to mow Sean down in a sea of moronic rage typical of jocks. However, they decide to settle this with a good old-fashioned race, and from this moment on Tokyo Drift puts its foot on the accelerator and fails to let up.
It's a thrilling race to say the least, and watching this scene I could tell this movie wasn't going to be as moronic or mindless as its predecessor. The race scene was very well-made, frequently using rapid shots and cuts but using them well; in fact, the entire scene was exceptionally well-shot, as well as being well choreographed and not too dependent on CGI. As a result of this newfound 'intelligence' and craftsmanship in the movie, I immediately started to take a liking to the film, and could enjoy it to the full.
Sean ends up winning the race; however it isn't without wrecking the good part of a real estate housing development and being caught on camera. The police pick him up, and we learn of Sean's troubled past; having been arrested thrice in the past, Sean and his mother have always avoided his conviction by moving to another town; however, Sean's run out of 'get-out-of-jail-free' cards, and it looks like Sean is either going to jail or moving in with his estranged father – naturally, he takes the latter option without hesitation. The catch is that Sean's father lives in Tokyo, Japan. Here Sean is completely exposed to a whole new culture, including a whole new underground driving scene which revolves around a concept known as 'drift'. Sean inevitably becomes caught up in this whole new racing world, and experiences both the good, the bad and the ugly of this whole new world.
The technical excellence that I was so fortunately exposed to in the opening moments of the film remained with Tokyo Drift for its entirety, and from start to finish I thoroughly enjoyed the well-made and thrilling action scenes. That said, Tokyo Drift isn't anything special or outstanding, and is under par to the action-packed and exhilarating ride that was the original Fast and the Furious film. However, the movie still manages to overcome its faults – it's major one being the highly clichéd story, you'll see what I mean when you watch the film – and in the end its entertainment value is the movie's greatest asset.
