The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2006
	Director: Justin Lin (Fast & Furious 4-5-6-9-10, Star Trek Beyond)
	Actors: Lucas Black, Zachery Ty Bryan, Shad Moss
	Country: USA, D, J
	Genre: Action
	Conditions of visioning: 12.09.2019, Blu-ray, 42" TV screen.
Synopsis: Being too dangerous as an addict to car races, Sean (Black) is sent to live with his father in Japan. At school and outside, he inevitably meets characters introducing him to the world of Drift races.
Review: After a first The Fast & the Furious that was only original at the time and a cheap sequel 2 Fast 2 Furious, this third movie may be the best in the series up to that point. Instead of trying to tell yet another undercover cop story with any of the original characters, it goes a whole different way and looks for a fresh atmosphere in Japan like other American movie, action or other, did before it: Rising Sun, Lost in Translation, Kill Bill, The Wolverine, a tiny bit of Avengers: Endgame... Having been there myself and familiar with Japanese cinema, I can tell that as those other movies I quote, Tokyo Drift does manage in depicting properly what it feels like to be in the country (or watch a movie from there), in a few aspects at least. No stereotypes like in other less well-informed westerner productions, but a feeling that the director Justin Lin knows about the culture he is showing us. Only negative points are the rare occasions when Japanese characters speak English between themselves even when alone. After dragster-style races and city circuits, the third movie cleverly introduces yet another type of auto-action: Drifting, performed with smaller cars in cramped parking lots or winding country roads, all well-adapted to the island-country. At first I though weird to have a Car chase movie in Japan (not known for muscle cars) but as the story and car-fandom style is adapted to the country, it all fits relatively well. Or course the chases, cars, bimbos, villains and main characters reaction are all over-the-top but what did you expect? At least the movie traded the light-speed effects and over-use of Nitrogen Oxyde for more readable races and decent special effects, even at night. The small role given to Sonny Chiba (The Bullet Train, Kill Bill) in the third act and the link to the other movies in the epilogue are nice bonuses. I am looking forward to watching the fourth movie which I heard is a turning point in the series.
Rating: 5 /10