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The Movie: Despite having just about all of the main cast exit the franchise after two installments, "The Fast and the Furious" keeps its wheels spinning for a third entry, "Tokyo Drift". Taking the helm is Justin Lin, the director whose terrific "Better Luck Tomorrow" was a Sundance hit and whose follow-up, "Annapolis", is probably one of the worst movies I've seen this year. "Tokyo Drift" focuses on Sean (Lucas Black) who is barely moments into the school day when he's challenged by a bully (Zachary Ty Bryan - yes, that kid from "Home Improvement") to a race. The winner gets the bully's girlfriend who, in a remarkable display of self-respect (not), offers herself up as the trophy. After a race throughout a housing development, some houses get wrecked and both cars get totalled. In order to get out of going to juvenile detention, Sean goes to live with his father in Tokyo. Little time goes by before he finds himself deep in the city's racing scene, one of the stars of which is D.K. (Brian Tee). Big in the scene is "drifting", which, Sean finds out in his first race, is as difficult as it looks, as he ends up smashing up someone else's car. In debt to the Yakuza (you see, Sean is not bright), he ends up going further into Tokyo's underworld and falls for (once again, Sean = not bright) a gangster's girlfriend (Nathalie Kelly). When he isn't going through the clubs, he's on the streets, trying to improve his racing, with help from a pal (Bow Wow, seen in a few scenes.) The original "Fast and the Furious" was ridiculous, but at least it completely bought into its philosophies on racing, making a line of dialogue like, "I live my life a quarter mile at a time" not seem as silly as it could have been. Director Rob Cohen's sleek racing scenes in the original also managed to capture the feeling of speed without making the scenes feel too heavily edited. While neither offered a performance that one would call award-worthy, Paul Walker and Vin Diesel actually had decent chemistry. The second film was simply forgettable, but the third film does at least earn some points for a new location. Lin captures the Tokyo scenery well and the new surroundings do give this entry into the series some freshness. However, Walker's character in the first two films was an undercover cop who got pulled into the world of street racing, and that at least gave the character some minor depth. Here, Sean (and Black does look rather like Paul Walker here) is simply a rather arrogant kid who doesn't seem that smart as he gets himself in deep. Whereas Walker's character was trying to get information, Sean doesn't really have much to do, making the middle of the movie not particularly compelling (the dialogue is also quite clunky here, which doesn't exactly help.) One also wonders if Black was the best choice, as while he once was considered a talented actor, here he almost seems blander than Walker did. On a positive note, fans may be interested to know that martial arts legend Sonny Chiba does have a cameo as a gangster. Lin manages to make the film's occasional action look relatively nifty, with one particular moment shining above the rest: as the cars zip through the middle of a crowded, neon-soaked Tokyo street, Lin slows down the action and cuts down the loud soundtrack for a moment, as the cars sweep past. It's a surreal, rather beautiful moment in a movie that otherwise delivers pretty standard action, ending with the predictable big race. Neither very good or very bad, "Tokyo Drift" simply falls into the catagory of "time waster". It's too bad that a more interesting story couldn't have been developed for the franchise's move to a new location. The DVD VIDEO: "Tokyo Drift" is presented by Universal in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. Aside from some mild edge enhancement in a few scenes, the picture remained clean and clear throughout. Sharpness and detail remained consistently strong, as small object details were often clearly visible. No artifacting or print flaws were seen and the neon colors were rich, well-saturated and bold throughout. Black level remained solid and flesh tones looked accurate and natural. SOUND: "Tokyo Drift" is presented in Dolby Digital 5.1. The film's soundtrack doesn't match the detailed and enveloping sonic assault that was the sound mix for the first film, but it does offer some thrilling moments, as surrounds frequently kick in during the races to provide sound effects, ambience and the bassy score. Dialogue, effects and score sounded crisp and clear throughout, with no distortion or other concerns. EXTRAS: Commentary from director Justin Lin is included for the movie, as well as for a set of deleted scenes. Also included are a series of featurettes that are mildly better than these sort of pieces usually are: "Tricked out to Drift" is a featurette that looks at how the cars were picked for the picture; "Drifting School" has the cast learning how to drive; "Cast Cam" offers some behind-the-scenes footage filmed by the cast; "The Big Breakdown: Han's Last Ride" looks at the details of the film's big chase scene; "The Real Drift King" takes a look at a famed driver and finally, "The Japanese Way" takes a look at filming in Tokyo. There's also a music video, but no trailer. Fans can also sample interviews (each link is to a different segment) with Lin Here, Here, Here, Here, Here, Here and Here Final Thoughts: "Tokyo Drift" has some moments and I liked the new location, but the middle of the film drifts a bit too much and Black's performance doesn't carry the movie. Overall, it's a timewaster. The DVD presentation offers very good audio/video quality and a nice set of supplements. Those interested should try a rental. 
Film Grade The Film C DVD Grades Video 91/A Audio: 92/A Extras: 82/B |