The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

And we’re here moving the Fast and the Furious series to Japan with no one of consequence from before.  Nothing but cars and they don’t even do drag race, they just drift.

Before we start, for me to rewatch this one is ONLY because Furious 6 decided that it was going to loop by to make this one relevant in Furious 7.  This one was my most despised from this entire series and if you think otherwise, I’ll just look at you and blink in confusion but that’s okay.  I give second chances, and here is Tokyo Drift’s second chance to impress me, now that its become relevant. Kind of.

Let’s check it out! *hesitates before pressing play*

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

Director: Justin Lin

Cast: Lucas Black, Nathalie Kelley, Sung Kang, Brian Tee, Shad Moss

Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is a rebellious kid.  His actions and desire to mostly street race in a destructive way has caused him to be in a lot of trouble and because of all this, him and his mom has had to move from city to city so that he can actually go to school. When his lastest illegal street race against his school rival destroys a housing project along as totalling his car, his mom sends him off to Japan with his father who is in the military to avoid jail time. Although his father sets rules for him to follow and forbids him to ever touch a car, he ends up messing with the nephew of the mafia and his girl.  To his surprise, Tokyo racing is all about drifting and he knows nothing about that.  When he totals Han’s car, Han takes him in to not only recover his debt to pay off the car he destroyed but also, to teach him a thing or two about how things work in Tokyo.

What the hell did I just write? Before we do this, let me tell you, watching this movie took a whole lot of junk food and writing those previous two Fast and Furious posts to get through it. Because it just wasted my time and I ended up hating it even more.  I’m keeping this short with a few points…

THE GOOD #1 : HAN

Han is one of my favorite characters in the Fast and Furious franchise.  I didn’t feel relevant because in the next one, he shows up again, making it seem like they wanted to forget the existence of Tokyo Drift.  I wonder if Justin Lin intended for this the whole time.

THE BAD #1: SEAN

There is no part of me that likes this character. For one, that accent is atrocious and he kind of loses it in parts (at least it seems like it). And then he’s not even good looking enough for all these hot chicks to go for.  Is it because he totals car that makes him attractive?  Bad boys are great because they have charm or something, this guy has nothing.  Nothing at all. I hate his face, his character, his voice….and I had to watch him throughout this entire thing. His main fault: not learning from his mistakes. Stop falling for the wrong girls! Just STOP!

THE GOOD #2: THE CARS

Being set in Japan, the cars were all really great.  They just looked awesome.  I think my boyfriend said that some things didn’t make a lot of sense during the racing but the cars were quite good? I could be wrong but the racing sequences were alright.

THE BAD #2: D.K.

According to me, Tokyo Drift has no villains.  This DK character was a villain? Why? Because he was trying to keep a girl that his family took care of after her mom passed away? Or because his uncle was the mafia? He is a nobody.  Not intimidating.  His crew wasn’t either.  You know what he was? He was annoying…

THE GOOD #3: VIN DIESEL CAMEO

This was the highlight of this movie.  It was knowing that Vin Diesel was coming back to the franchise.  Vin Diesel is the Fast and the Furious franchise and he makes everything awesome even if he shows up for like 10 seconds. At least now we know why he showed his face, right? (or you do if you saw Furious 7)

THE BAD #3: NEELA

Neela & DK

Neela and DK are at similar levels of emptiness for me. I wonder what these two boys see in her. I mean, she’s the reason ALL OF THIS *waving the movie DVD case around* happened.  If she didn’t go and chat up Sean knowing her own boyfriend’s possessiveness, the rival wouldn’t have started. Plus, she was nothing special.  Because she can drift cars? Or she has amazing personality? Not really.  The story didn’t develop her character (or any other ones much). Look, I can be really forgiving of random people being attracted to each other and love stories.  I enjoy Nicholas Sparks movies, okay? I can believe almost anything, as cliche as they get.  This one…I just don’t think she’s all that great.

Why did I never pick this for Shitfest, right? The story was pretty much nothing.  The characters weren’t developed and I really dread watching this again.  I guess its because I didn’t want to put Sung Kang (aka Han) into the crap pile.  He deserves more than that.  Plus, Vin Diesel’s cameo makes up for a lot of unhappy feelings.

Anyways, point is: Tokyo Drift is my least favorite in the Fast and Furious franchise.  Even though, its made relevant now because of Furious 6 and 7, its still not exactly relevant.  I’d forego it if I were to watch this series. I’m done with this one. I have nothing else to say.

Have you seen Tokyo Drift? Did you like it? If you did, please tell me why.