The third entry in the Fast and the Furious series is a bit of an odd duck as it has neither Paul Walker or Vin Diesel returning in starring roles (Vin does make a small cameo at the end), but the cast change as well as moving the action overseas gives the series a refreshing shot in the arm, with Justin Lin stepping in as director for the first time in the series.
This time around the film focuses on troubled high school student Sean Boswell (played by Lucas Black), who after getting arrested for taking part in street racing against the school alpha male jock Clay (played by Zachary Ty Bryan) that results in two cars being totaled and some hefty property destruction. In an effort to keep him out of prison, Sean is shipped off to Tokyo to stay with his Dad (played by Brian Goodman).
Despite his father's stern rule that Sean is to not even get near another car, he finds his way to the Tokyo street racing scene in record time courtesy of classmate Twinkie (played by Bow Wow). He finds himself on the wrong side of a wannabe gangster D.K (played by Brian Tee), whose uncle Kamata (played by Sonny Chiba) is a member of the Yakuza. D.K has a problem with Sean because he was flirting with D.K's girlfriend, Neela (played by Nathalie Kelley). D.K challenges Sean to a race and an associate of D.K's, Han (played by Sung Kang) loans Sean his car. D.K easily beats Sean due to his inexperience with the art of drifting, causing him to wreck Han's car in the process. Sean finds himself now indebted to Han and performs errands for him while the two become fast friends. In return, Han teaches Sean how to drift race so he can rematch D.K. Meanwhile, D.K finds out from his uncle that their business is not meeting expectations, leading D.K to realize that Han is stealing from him.
This third outing in the series isn't a perfect film, but I do have a certain amount of admiration for it. By introducing new characters and a new location, it pumps plenty of fresh air into a franchise that was already dying by it's first sequel. The character of Sean is a fairly bland tough guy role by all indications, but Lucas Black does the best he can with it. The character that stands out for me is Han, who has a quiet, introspective presence that is the direct opposite of the role Vin Diesel played in the first film, but fills a similar capacity in this outing. He's a fascinating character and it's no wonder they brought him back for Parts 4, 5, and 6.
Director Justin Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan inject the film with a certain tongue in cheek sensibility. They know this film is a naff bit of nonsense and set it up from the very beginning as they establish in the opening shot both Sean and the school's mascot being stopped at the high school metal detectors in a surreal, funny moment that starts the film off on the right note. If you weren't convinced by that, you were for sure when you first see Twinkie's absurd Incredible Hulk themed ride. From then on, the film is content to be a super-charged, revved up piece of gear head entertainment and succeeds on that simple level.
The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift is probably still one of the lesser entries in the series, but it is also one of the more interesting. It may be light on plot and have a lack of a commanding or interesting villain, but the central friendship between Sean and Han, as well as the Tokyo locale used to it's fullest extent help breathe some much needed life into the series. While it has it's faults, I have to admit I still dug it quite a bit.
This third outing in the series isn't a perfect film, but I do have a certain amount of admiration for it. By introducing new characters and a new location, it pumps plenty of fresh air into a franchise that was already dying by it's first sequel. The character of Sean is a fairly bland tough guy role by all indications, but Lucas Black does the best he can with it. The character that stands out for me is Han, who has a quiet, introspective presence that is the direct opposite of the role Vin Diesel played in the first film, but fills a similar capacity in this outing. He's a fascinating character and it's no wonder they brought him back for Parts 4, 5, and 6.
Director Justin Lin and screenwriter Chris Morgan inject the film with a certain tongue in cheek sensibility. They know this film is a naff bit of nonsense and set it up from the very beginning as they establish in the opening shot both Sean and the school's mascot being stopped at the high school metal detectors in a surreal, funny moment that starts the film off on the right note. If you weren't convinced by that, you were for sure when you first see Twinkie's absurd Incredible Hulk themed ride. From then on, the film is content to be a super-charged, revved up piece of gear head entertainment and succeeds on that simple level.
The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift is probably still one of the lesser entries in the series, but it is also one of the more interesting. It may be light on plot and have a lack of a commanding or interesting villain, but the central friendship between Sean and Han, as well as the Tokyo locale used to it's fullest extent help breathe some much needed life into the series. While it has it's faults, I have to admit I still dug it quite a bit.
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