The
Fast and the Furious:
Tokyo Drift
The Fast and the Furious
was a bit of a novelty. It was interesting and different,
while still being a basic (if car happy) action flick. 2
Fast 2 Furious (from the previews I saw) wasn't
even worth my time to watch (when they replace words with
numbers, it's usually not a good sign).
The
Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift caught my interest
simply because Drift Racing was something I was curious
about, and had never seen before. I in no way expected anything
other than the racing to be at all good. I figured if I
watched Tokyo Drift, I would at least get an education
about a new sport, and maybe see some interesting looking
cars.
Now,
mind you, what I know about cars, if written down, would
probably fit nicely on a car air freshener. However, I do
appreciate a sleek, shiny modified racecar, the sound of
a finely tuned engine and an expertly manipulated racing
machine. Tokyo Drift has many fine examples of
all three, with the added bonus of having a decent story,
thumping musical baseline and some of the best drift racing
sequences you can imagine.
The
story is pretty simple: Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is a
bit of an outsider at school, and his love of racing cars
has gotten him into trouble too many times. After another
major incident, he's left with a choice. He can either be
sent to juvenile hall, or he can live with his estranged
father in Tokyo, Japan.
As you
can guess from the title of the movie, the latter happens,
and Sean, against the warnings of his father, follows a
fellow transplanted classmate, Twinkie (Bow Wow), and finds
himself in the world of Drifting, a form of racing where
flat out speed takes a back seat to the ability to skid,
or drift, around tight corners.
After
a poor showing in his first machismo induced race against
D.K. (Brian Tee), a member of the Yakuza and the titled
Drift King, Sean is in debt to his car supplier, Han (Sung
Kang), a quiet, powerful guy in the drift scene. Sean starts
out as a flunkie, but soons ends up as a type of protégé,
and in his attempts to win the beautiful Neela (Nathalie
Kelly) away from DK, ends up with a powerful enemy who is
determined to be the winner of more than just the drift
races.
The
storyline honestly wasn't anything to write home about.
It's a basic jealously/male bravado thing that, while better
done some other movies I've seen, wasn't spectacular. But
that wasn't the point. The focus of the movie is racing,
and that's where it stays, and the storyline weaves everything
together in a smooth, clean way.
The
acting also kind of took a back seat to the Drifting (yes,
that was an intentional car pun). I really like the fact
that they didn't use any major name actors in Tokyo
Drift; it actually made it less of a Big Hollywood
Thing and more believable. Lucas Black did a decent job,
though I have to say that his accent is twice as jarring
when heard among some of the softer Japanese accents, and
especially compared to the Japanese itself. But since part
of the film is the idea of the outsider, the gaijin, Black's
accent is almost a brick to the head, enforcing his gaijin
status.
On a
side note: Hollywood, please take note of the fact that
some people can't pass for high school students after a
certain age. Lucas Black, while admittedly a handsome fellow,
cannot pass for a high school student anymore. Bow Wow,
on the other had, can pass for a high school student, and
does so perfectly. Probably because he's still a teenager.
While I tend to be skeptical when I see a rapper's name
in a movie, Bow Wow was perfect as the comic relief side
kick. Serious when he needed to be, but still, perky, funny,
and perfectly suited to the role.
One
performance that I enjoyed in particular was Sung Kang's
portrayal of Han. Kang's portrayal was subtle, but still
very interesting to watch. During a quieter scene, a discussion
between Sean and Han about why Han was a drift racer, was
a great example of the quiet, thoughtful but strong character
Han is, and how well Kang can express that.
Of course,
the best part of the entire film is the racing. Drift racing,
at least here, is probably one of the most technically challenging
forms of racing I've ever seen, where speed is good, but
manuvering is better. There are a few shots in the movie
of the technical side of the race, and they show just how
many things have to be done to drift a car, including gear
shifting, braking, hand braking, and application of the
gas. But the end result? An incredible display of control
and precision. And it was caught beautifully in this film.
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Part
of me is absolutely certain that some of the scenes HAD
to be CG, but there's another part of me (that watches very
carefully) that realized that there was maybe one scene
in the entire movie that had CG enhancement. The rest of
it (whether it's CG or not) is as real, and clear, as can
be. The drivers have incredible control over their cars,
and know exactly how to manuver them around tight corners.
In this movie, turns are taken at extremely high speeds,
with barely an inch of clearance between the bumper and
the wall. And these are turns that I'd be nervous taking
at 5 miles an hour, in a parking garage.
The
first drift race in the movie is only a bare taste of what
can be done. One of the races at the climax of the film
takes place on the crowded streets of Tokyo, and shows off
what my amateur eyes can only assume is some of the best
drifting around.
And,
of course, some spectacular crashes, reminiscent of a game
of Burnout: Revenge. There's a level in that game where
the entire point is to crash your car in such a way as to
create the most damage to you and those around you, and
there are several scenes in Tokyo Drift where I
wonder if Justin Lin was inspired by parts of that game.
And with such beautiful looking cars, sometimes the crashes,
while gratifyingly cruchy, were still painful to watch.
Justin
Lin is definitely familiar with the Asian underworld, as
shown by in his first film, Better Luck Tomorrow.
While he stumbled a little bit in his sophomore stint with
Annapolis, this is a solid movie for him. While
probably not as meaningful as Better Luck Tomorrow, it's
still a job well done. He's managed to utterly exceed my
expectations, and created something fascinating and exciting
to watch.
An enjoyable
flick, with a good enough story to be interesting, decent
acting, shiny cars, and some of the most amazing racing
you'll see on the big screen. The Fast and the Furious:
Tokyo Drift is a fun one, and while not a deep thinking
film, it's certainly a lot of fun.
If you'll
excuse me now, I need to try a few things with my Honda...
Rating:
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