joshua-c-s-63903 If it wasn't for this movie being incorporated into the franchises overall story I think I might be less enthusiastic about it. Because other than the character of Han and a few good races there's not a lot I like about Tokyo Drift. Sure it's easy to just say this movie sucks because it lacks most of are favorite characters, and I'd be hard-pressed to disagree with that. But even this movies story is kinda lame. I know people praise this movie for really giving you a feel for the culture, but I'm not a car guy so that doesn't really matter to me. What matters to me when I watch a F&F movie is great, exciting action/racing scenes and a half decent story. I know it's F&F so asking for an elaborate story is comical to say the least. But Tokyo Drifts story is really hindered by that fact that 90% of the characters are in high school. So the result is a movie that feels smaller than the ones that came before it, and with far less stakes for it's characters than the ones that come after it. All in all if you stack it up against some of the others it doesn't compare, but as a standalone movie it's alright.

EBJ Directed by Justin LinStarring Lucas Black, Natallie Kelley and Sung KangPlot Overview: ​Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) always feels like an outsider, but he defines himself through his victories as a street racer. His hobby makes him unpopular with the authorities, so he goes to live with his father in Japan. Once there and even more alienated, he learns about an exciting, but dangerous, new style of the sport. The stakes are high when Sean takes on the local champion and falls for the man's girlfriend.After two very successful movie(commercially not critically), Justin Lin had a tough time trying to continue the franchise with none of the original cast members in it and I respect how good this movie is in spite of that. That doesn't make the movie 'good' however. It's a perfectly passable movie that I can see myself watching maybe every once and a while but it lacks a certain intrigue the first one contained and a neat charm the second possessed. The transition of directors in a franchise can be difficult and I understand that. I will also admit that it's better than '2 Fast 2 Furious' but that doesn't make it a very good movie. I imagine you will be entertained, and it is definitely for fans of the street racing aspects of these movies but I can't really say you'll be blown away by anything in this movie.The story isn't generally the thing you focus upon in these movies but if you do genuinely care then you'll be satisfied. It's a more grounded, race driven story that is very centered around one specific thing and sticks to that thing throughout the entire movie. The ending is actually pretty decent and I like how they stitch the franchise together.It's honestly quite hard to be the worst actor in a franchise that included Vin Disel but Lucas Black steals the only thing Disel had going for him in this franchise. I get he had no professional training but then in that case he shouldn't even be there if he possesses no ability to act. Sean's backstory isn't that interesting and he possesses no traits that make him a genuinely enticing character. Nattalie Kelley was also pretty poor as Neela and her character was pretty irrelevant. Sung Kang was good as Han and is this movies main saving grace. He's cool but you don't know WHY he is cool and that is really interesting. Bow Wow was meh as Twinkie but I can see the reason he hasn't been featured in any more movies up until this point. Brian Tee was also really weak as DK and wasn't a very good villain at all either. Brian Goodman was fine as Major Boswell.From a technical standpoint, the movie is fine. The cinematography was mostly fine and the actual race sequences were handled infinitely better than in the first two. Costume design was fine but the Set Design was really cheap, lazy and not natural.The actual action in this movie is extremely weak and the set pieces are awful. I get that wasn't the primary concern of this movie but that doesn't excuse it being weak. It is more enjoyable than '2 Fast 2 Furious' but inferior to 'The Fast and the Furious'.In conclusion, this movie is fine. It is a perfectly passable, average sequel that exists for the sake of existing. It is better than it's predecessor but inferior to the original. There is some enjoyment value to be had and I do sort of recommend it but I am blown away this movie was as successful as it was.6/10Would Recommend

andrbdeea *** This review may contain spoilers ***When I first heard about Tokyo Drift and realized that it would feature none of the original cast members, I was hesitant to see it. Can you imagine what a risk the producers took to make this one? At that time we did not know it was the ONE movie of the franchise connecting all others with one of its major characters.Sung demonstrated a lot of talent, making his heartbroken character believable. We see his emotions throughout the movie and we want to know what happened to him, to understand him a little better. After watching Fast 6 come back and see this one. It will all add up.I've seen so many reviews saying that character development was too hurried, for those saying that I only want to say this: Have you watched all the movies???? It annoys me so much seeing people review without knowing what these movies are about.Tokyo Drift takes place after 6, which shows how much effort the writers and producers put into this franchise. It was all written way back. To have that imagination is effing amazing. When I first saw Tokyo Drift, I could not see what it had to do with The Fast and Furious series. I got mad. I just couldn't get it. Funny thing is that the character I loved the most was HAN. My brain was blow away when I saw the other movies. I was like "What's happening? Isn't he dead?" "What? How? When?"So you can imagine that after knowing he's going to die seeing the relationship developing with Gisele was killing me. Now I could see why he wasn't giving a s**t. Like, he was the coolest out there without showing it. Why wasn't he claiming his spot? Because he lost everything that really mattered to him. Ride or die, remember?What a way to blow our minds. You killed it with the whole plot dear writers. I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THE 8 MOVIES launched so far. And yes, I will be a die hard fan of this franchise even when I'm 50. Thank you Sung Kang and Gal Gadot for giving me one of my favorite on screen couples with just a few scenes.

swilliky The third installment in what was once the Fast and the Furious trilogy was a near total reboot with new characters and a new location. Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) is a troubled teen whose mother ship's him out to live with his military father in Tokyo. He encounters Twinkie (Bow Wow) who introduces him to the underground street racing culture of Tokyo. He flirts with Neela (Nathalie Kelley) and is challenged to a race by D.K. (Brian Tee). Loaned a car by Han (Sung Kang), Sean is introduced to drifting and the complication of trying to make the tight turns of this Japanese racing style. He destroys the car, loses the girl, and finds himself in debt to Han.Forced to carry out chores for Han, Sean makes a deal where he can learn how to drift as he familiarized himself with the underworld of Tokyo. Han takes him under his wing but there is trouble brewing with D.K.'s illegal business. With the help of Twinkie, Sean practices the art of drifting and attends his Japanese high school. The bully Morimoto (Leonardo Nam) is part of D.K.'s crew and beats up Twinkie before Sean steps in to stop him. Check out more of this review and others at swilliky.com