The characters are so cardboard I was afraid they'd be blown over by the breeze of speeding cars.
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"The Fast and the Furious" franchise burst onto the scene under the direction of schlock-meister Rob Cohen, the man who brought us "XXX" and "Stealth." Cohen has a lot to answer for. Despite some critical panning, "The Fast and the Furious" did big business and spawned the unfortunately titled, "2 Fast 2 Furious", with John Singleton at the helm. It's somewhat ironic that Justin Lin is now succeeding Singleton as their careers have followed similar paths.
Singleton made a huge impact with his debut film, "Boyz n the Hood" about the lives of young black men in South Central L.A. After more personal films such as "Poetic Justice" and "Higher Learning", Singleton has found a niche with action films like his "Shaft" remake with Samuel L. Jackson and "Four Brothers." Lin had his own hot debut with "Better Luck Tomorrow", telling the story of affluent Asian teens in Orange County. Lin's sophomore effort, "Annapolis", fell flat and "Tokyo Drift" finds Lin trying his hand at your standard glossy, Hollywood action flick.
The series began with Paul Walker as an undercover cop infiltrating a gang of street racers led by Vin Diesel, who hijacked truck shipments on the side. The second film followed Walker and Tyrese Gibson as a latter-day Crockett and Tubbs, battling smugglers in Miami. "Tokyo Drift" severs all ties with the past, starting fresh with an all-new cast, but a somewhat familiar story. Those who haven't seen the previous films will have no worries about playing catch up.
Lucas Black is the new hunk of the month as Sean Boswell, rebel without a clue. Boswell is a good ol' boy from Alabama who has had plenty of run-ins with the law. Because of that Boswell and his mother have been forced to move numerous times. A challenge from the typical meathead jock, leads to a trashed construction site, two wrecked cars, and plenty of cuts and bruises. It also leads to Boswell's third strike. To save him from jail time, mom ships him off to Tokyo to live with his wayward father (Brian Goodman), a career Navy man.
Sticking out like a sore thumb, Boswell makes fast friends with fellow military brat, Twinkie, played by rapper Bow Wow, who isn't so Lil' anymore. Twinkie rides in a Hulk-themed van and makes money by selling everything from iPods to sneakers. Boswell soon finds himself in a heap of trouble when his wandering eyes land on the beautiful Neela (Nathalie Kelley), the girlfriend of D.K., the reigning "Drift King" and the nephew of a powerful Yakuza crime boss.
From here, Boswell discovers the world of drifting, a driving technique in which the cars are allowed to glide around turns. After an embarrassing loss to D.K., Boswell is taken under the wing by Han (Sung Kang), an expatriate and business partner of D.K. Han has a fleet of cars and lots of money, but what he does and where the Yen comes from, we never learn. Tensions build as the relationship between Boswell and Neela heats up, while Han's affiliation with D.K. sours. Sure enough, all the stakes are put on the line in one final race.
"Tokyo Drift" is basically a few car chases strung together by a bunch of worn-out ideas. It seems as if the filmmakers wrote up every cliché on a wall, then threw darts to see which ones they would use. The bad boy looking for a chance at redemption? Check. The girl with a heart of gold that needs to be rescued from the bad guy? Check. The wise-cracking best friend? Yup. Plenty of beautiful women in tight outfits and short skirts? Sure, why not? Soundtrack with loud rock and hip-hop? Done.
The characters are so cardboard I was afraid they'd be blown over by the breeze of speeding cars. Lucas Black captures the country-fried attitude of Boswell, but never convincingly carries any emotional weight. He has pretty much the same range as his predecessor, Paul Walker, a man who must have graduated from the Keanu Reeves School of Acting. It certainly doesn't help when Black is obviously older than the underaged high schooler he's supposed to be portraying.
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[release]19593[/release]