The racing scene shares certain elements the world over - lots of 6-inch skirts, curvaceous models and nice headlights... and then, of course, there are the girls. Throw in the rims and sub-woofers battling for size and some tasty Nitrous and you've got yourself a racing scene. The difference is, in Tokyo, they do it sideways. Some of the drifting in The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is beautiful to watch; the sight of such skilled drivers intentionally losing traction and then maintain precise control over these high-powered sportscars while sliding around is truly amazing.
In The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, a young (and very restless) street racer, Sean Boswell (Lucas Black of Jarhead and Friday Night Lights), has one (or so) too many run-ins with the law and tries to start a new life in Tokyo, Japan where his father is stationed. It doesn't take long, however, for his obsession with racing to get him tangled up in the Japanese underground (and illegal) racing scene. Sean finds that he's a small fish in a big pond when he finds out that this racing scene is all about Drift racing - something he's never heard of before. He'll have to be a quick learner if he hopes to win races, respect and his life.
Shad Bow Wow Moss plays "Twinkie", everyone's hookup for things-you-want-but-can't-get-around-here, whether it's Twinkies, American Jeans or Racing Tires - cheap.
Nathalie Kelley plays "Neela", the love interest / fuel for rivalry between Sean and the local underground thug, "D.K." (played by Brian Tee).
Fans of drifting will be excited to know that the real Drift King, Keiichi Tsuchiya, participated in the making of The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. Actually, he did so in a couple of ways. First, when you see the drifting that Sean does when he's out on the Mountain roads, trying to learn how to drift, that's actually Keiichi Tsuchiya; he was the only one good enough to be able to control a car so well that he could actually make a car seem to drift so out-of-control without actually losing control of the car. The included feature, The Real Drift King, shows Keiichi Tsuchiya working with Stunt Coordinator Terry Leonard to get the car to do exactly what is needed for each shot. The Second way Keiichi Tsuchiya participated is that he is actually seen in the film - as the Japanese man who's fishing with a friend down at the wharf and comments on Sean's driving skills.
I'm not the world's greatest drifting fan, although I do find it quite interesting and Racing (including Drift-Racing) is among my favorite genres of video games. I found The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift to be a very good movie, with a lot of exciting racing, some believable character interactions and lots of enticing visuals, from the cars to the women, to the shots of Tokyo. If you enjoyed the first two movies in the series, just sit back and let The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift stand on its own, and you'll enjoy it.
If you want a little extra Tokyo Drift lovin', check out the official website here where you can learn more about the movie and play a free online game.
