Starring: Lucas Black, Shad Moss, Sung Kang, Nathalie Keeley, Brian Goodman, Brian Tee, Zachary Ty Brian, Vin Diesel
Directed By: Justin Lin
Plot: A teenager on a path to juvie gets sent to Japan with the hopes of him becoming a model citizen. Instead, he discovers drifting.
Leading up to my eventual review of Furious 7, which is coming, I promise, I decided to rewatch all the Furious movies. Tokyo Drift is the one that originally didn’t quite fit into the puzzle. It bombed at the box office, and some people consider this to be the worst of the series (due to a lack of original cast members). However, that statement is rather unfair. Lucas Black does a good job handling the series, and Shad Moss aka Bow Wow is less annoying than Tyrese. I think people were programmed to hate this film, but it is not the worst film in the Fast franchise. That would be 2 Fast 2 Furious.
Of course, it’s still not a great film. The main girl is boring, and she has zero chemistry with anyone. Brian Goodman is underused as the father, and Brian Tee is far too angry in every scene he’s in. Calm down a bit dude, your head is going to literally explode.
It’s not a well written film, but it’s a ton of fun. It’s that fun that Justin Lin brought into the next three Fast and Furious films, and it’s the first glimpse we get of the “world” when Han (a character we had never met) was linked directly to Dominic. You knew a fourth was coming, we just had no idea the series was going to get as crazy as it did. Give this movie a second chance. It’s not a perfect film, but I doubt it’s nearly as bad as you remember it.
FINAL GRADE: B
(Probably only my second viewing of the film)
