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EUR DVD REVIEW: The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift
Stunts Again Trumps Plot in High-Octane Franchise
*The original Fast and the Furious featured Paul Walker along with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez and gangsta' rapper Ja Rule in a practically plot-free adventure which explored the underworld of L.A. street racing.
FF2, another action-oriented thriller, starred Walker once more, but shifted from Los Angeles to Miami, and introduced a few new faces in important roles, including Tyrese, Eva Mendes and Ludacris.
FF3, The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, has the most coherent plot of the lot, though that still really isn't saying very much. Fans of the franchise shouldn't expect to recognize any of the actors, since the cast has been totally overhauled again. This time, it's topped by Lucas Black as Sean Boswell, a rebel with his pedal to the metal whose divorced mom (Lynda Boyd) ships her delinquent teen overseas to live with his father (Brian Goodman) in Japan so he can avoid jail time for totaling his auto in an
illegal drag race.
But between bad parenting and a bad attitude, Sean is back on the street before you can say sushi, and mastering a new form of driving known as drifting where the cars appear to defy gravity during their high-speed, spin-out-inspired slides around hairpin turns. Sean also soon has an army brat buddy (Bow Wow), a nefarious Nippon nemesis (Brian Tee), and a femme fatale (Nathalie Kelly) to fight with his archrival over.
That's about all one needs to know to about the formulaic storyline, which isn't worth recounting any further. Just remember that the hot rods burning rubber are the real stars of this spectacular, high-octane tribute to testosterone.
Good (2 stars)
Rated PG-13 for sex, expletives, violence, and reckless and illegal behavior
involving teens.
Running time: 105 minutes
Studi Universal Studios Home Video
DVD Extras: Deleted scenes, director's commentary, a couple of
"Behind-the-Scenes" featurettes, and more.
