Series Review 1.3: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift(2006)

Series Review 1.3

'Series Review' is Movie Freak 77's new type of Post where a Review of a series's films will be done. Each couple of months films of a certain series will reviewed . 

The first series to be reviewed will be 'Fast and Furious' series. Movie Freak 77 has already reviewed 'The Fast and the Furious(2001)' , '2 Fast 2 Furious' and 'Fast and Furious 6'(click on them to check them out). Expect Reviews of the sequel movies to come soon.

Review: The Fast and the Furious:Tokyo Drift(2006)
Do NOT forget to rate this post when you finish.

Official 'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' Poster.

      The third installment of 'Fast and Furious' film series may not be the most loved but is still a hell of a ride and essential for the cinematic universe created.

"Lucas Black".

"Nathalie Kelley".

      After getting into so much trouble for high speed racing back at home, Ms. 'Boswell'(Lynda Boyd) sends 17 year old high school student 'Sean Boswell'(Lucas Black) to his father Lieutenant 'Boswell'(Brian Goodman) in Tokyo. Once there, 'Sean' challenges 'Takashi'(Brian Tee) the 'Drift King' to a race that he eventually looses after he talked to his girlfriend 'Neela'(Nathalie Kelley). But after 'Sean' wrecks the car that is owned by ‘Han Seoul-Oh’ (Sung Kang), during the race he is forced to work for him in order to pay him back for the damages that the car endured. From here 'Sean' life will take a new turn and witness stuff that he hasn’t witnessed before such as love, friendship and trust in others. Other characters include 'Sean''s first friend in Tokyo 'Twinkie'(Bow Wow), 'Takashi''s friend and right hand man 'Morimoti'(Leonardo Nam) and a very special cameo at the end of the movie from 'Dominic Toretto'(Vin Diesel).

"Sung Kang".

"Brian Tee".

      In this installment, the studio and producer took a very different turn. In addition to including new characters, the 'Fast and Furious' universe was further more expanded by exploring new territories. From one perspective this was a very clever path to go through, which allows the expansion of the series if someday the main stars of the franchise couldn't or wanted to quite the franchise. At the same time, it was a very huge risk trying to up the series standards without the usual faces, and that affected the movie in terms of the critic's point of view, the fans as well as in the box office (which is the only 'Fast and Furious' movie not to reach the $ 100 million mark at the US box office). But the entertainment and adrenaline rush that fans got in the first two movies still exists.

"Lucas Black" and "Nathalie Kelley".

"Lucas Black" and "Bow Wow".

      This was the first big budget movie that director "Justin Lin"('Better Luck Tomorrow') and also a huge turning point in the series. What people didn't realize at the time is the impact that "Justin" will have in the series and change in direction. His directing style merges in a beautiful way the character's stories as well as highlighting the action sequences of the movie, which was mainly what helped this movie. Writer "Chris Morgan"('Cellular') is also his first involvement in the franchise, and his work was acceptable yet it failed to give us more depth in the characters and raise the stakes for this movie. Composer "Brian Tyler"('The Hunted') was also a first timer in this franchise, where his score beautifully complemented the movie's overall energy and theme.

      The story of this movie was very basic: a lost kid who is moved to a new place where his life will change to the best. The simplicity of the story and making it to a certain extent independent from the two previous movies was probably the best idea. But fans will soon realize that the events of the movie will affect the franchise in the future since in the chronological order, the events of 'Tokyo Drift' takes place after the sixth movie 'Fast and Furious 6'. But at the time this idea wasn't known and wasn't planned to begin with. The best scenes of the movie included the opening drag race, the events that leads to the fate of 'Han' and the penultimate drag race. The cameo appearance of "Vin Diesel" was super exciting and gave hope at the time for the continuation of the series and its linkage.

      Casting "Lucas Black" in the lead role was a good choice due to the compatibility of his character with his overall physical and psychological characteristics. "Nathalie Kelley"'s character lacked the necessary depth, yet her chemistry with "Lucas" was a credible one. "Bow Wow" surprised me with his attractive and funny portrayal of one of the comic relief characters. "Sung Kang" was perfect for the role of 'Han' and was the star of the movie, which helped his inclusion in later sequels. "Brian Tee" gave a modest performance of a villain, along with all actors who portrayed his character's sidekicks. The inclusion of "Brian Goodman" as 'Sean''s father was very minimal and could have endured further development. The remaining actors gave decent portrayals of the supporting characters. 

      In the end, 'Tokyo Drift' may be the least loves movie of the franchise but was a huge turning point for the whole series.

'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift'.

-'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' Info:
-Release Date: June 16, 2006.
-Starring: Lucas Black, Sung Kang, Bow Wow, Nathalie Kelley, Brian Tee, Leonardo Nam, Brian Goodman and Lynda Boyd.
-Studio(s): Relativity Media, Original Film and Universal Studios.
-Directed by: Justin Lin.
-Written by: Chris Morgan.
-Music by: Brian Tyler.
-Running Time: 104 minutes.
-Budget: $ 85,000,000.
-Box Office: -Domestic(US): $ 62,514,415.
                    -Foreign: $ 95,953,877.
-Ratings: -IMdb: 5.9/10.
              -Rotten Tomatoes: 36%.
              -Metacritic: 46%.

              -PERSONAL RATING: 6.5/10.

-'The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift' Trailer: