Tuesday, March 31, 2015

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) movie review

I would make a comment about how stupid it is that they quit numbering the sequels, but this film is only so loosely connected to the rest of the franchise, I can’t blame them.




This is regarded by audiences and fans alike to be the odd one out of the whole series. It’s so distant from the other installments. The only thing that ties this with the others is a brief cameo at the end. That’s it. But how is the movie by itself?

It’s decent. By decent, I mean it’s the most ‘okay’ of the bunch. It’s so plainly ‘okay’ that I really can’t figure out another word to describe it. It’s simply okay. The acting is okay, for the type of movie it is. The characters are okay, again, for the type of movie it is. The story is actually a little less than okay. It’s kinda like The Fresh Prince of Bel Air, where the main character is sent away to live with a relative after an incident. But instead of Bel Air, he goes all the way to Tokyo, Japan. Of course, this guy can’t stay out of trouble. He gets involved with some drift racers and a mafia gang. Since everything is done through racing in these movies, it’s up to the guy’s new friends to teach him how to drift race in order to prove himself. It sounds a little interesting, but I think the execution could have been a lot better. The beginning is good, the middle is all over the place, and the final act is… pretty awesome.

The awesome part is all the car stunts. By far, out of the three movies so far, Tokyo Drift’s car scenes are the best. The races, the chases, the wrecks, and everything else are absolutely amazing. Drift racing is something I’ve never been familiar with. From what I saw in this movie, I can tell you that I was impressed. It can only be described as “wow” and “don’t you dare try this at home”. On that note, the end of the movie tells you that ‘these stunts are really dangerous and should not be attempted at home’. Really? It chooses THIS movie to tell us? Wouldn’t it have been appropriate in the first one? Or the second one, too? I guess not.

The cars they got to do these stunts look a thousand times better than the cars from the other two films. They don’t look like crazy, technicolor hotwheels (that much). They look like actual cars. Cool looking ones.

But as always, the stunts and cars aren’t enough to save the movie. Like I said, the story was weak. It’s definitely the weakest installment out of all of them. The characters aren’t all as memorable as Paul Walker or Vin Diesel. I will say that the main character of Tokyo Drift is okay. His friends are okay, Han is pretty cool, but the guy who plays the antagonist is my favorite out of all of them. He always looks really intimidating, and I have to give him credit for doing the best he could in that role. Other than him, everyone else was alright.

Other than the brief cameo at the end, it doesn’t tie in to the other films that much. It is the odd one out, it feels very distant from the rest, but it’s not entirely a bad movie. If anything, it’s only worth watching for the car stunts, which are the best in the series so far. Just take Tokyo Drift for what it is, and you may get some enjoyment out of it.

FINAL RATING: 26 / 50
STORY: 2 / 5
ACTING: 2 / 5
CHARACTERS: 3 / 5
STUNTS: 5 / 5
ACTION: 5 / 5
SOUNDTRACK: 2 / 5
TONE: 3 / 5
ENJOYABILITY: 3 / 5
REWATCH VALUE: 1 / 5
OWNING VALUE: 0 / 5

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