Seriously, after seeing "2 Fast 2 Furious" I promised myself never to go anywhere near the sequel. I thought I was done with the franchise forever.
I thought wrong.
When the second one turned into a big budget production of "Nash Bridges", Universal decided to clean house. They sliced the budget in half, traded in the "cops and robbers" premise for a "Karate Kid" storyline, hired a young indie director and swapped out Paul Walker for Forrest Gump. Big changes. But it doesn't take a genius to realize that people weren't filling the cineplex to the tune of $200 million strong to see homeslice stumble his way through a poor man's impression of Johnny Utah.
Anyway, I just saw "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift". And you know what? I'm glad I did. It's the best of the three, though I liked it better the first time around, when it was called "North Shore". (Just replace surfboards with cars, Oahu with Tokyo and Turtle with Twinkie, and it's virtually the same movie.) "Braveheart" they're not, but there's something about movies like these—I'd lump "Rad", "Thrashin'" and "Aspen Extreme" in this group, as well—that keeps me coming back. But check back with me after I see it for the 10th time at 2 a.m. on Cinemax.
Truth be told, I struggled with this column all week. I wanted to say something about the movie, but didn't think it warranted a complete review. I mean, it's not like they're hiring Tarantino to doctor the script. So what you're getting are some random thoughts about the movie. If you haven't seen "Tokyo Drift" yet, you might not want to keep reading, in case I spoil the plot.
(Wait for it…)
(Wait for it…)
(Anyway…)
- Best case of stunt casting: Hattori Hanzo as the Yakuza boss Kamata. He even makes his patented Tsurugi ki power face a couple of times, which made me worry about Lucas Black's private parts.
- Worst case of Universal's publicity department dropping the ball: I had no idea Sonny Chiba was in the movie until the opening credits. We're talking about the star of "The Street Fighter", "Return of the Street Fighter", "The Street Fighter's Last Revenge" and the lackluster yet still enjoyable "Sister Street Fighter." A martial arts legend. You're telling me they couldn't find room for him on "TRL"? "Gameshow Marathon"? He's reached Dan Hedaya status in my book. He makes anything worth watching. (OK, I'm exaggerating, but you get my point.)
- A few other cases of clever stunt casting: Two huge Japanese teen idols make appearances in bit parts. There's a cameo from sumo star-turned-actor Konishiki. MC Hammer appears all over in ads and posters. And a bloated Brad Taylor from "Home Improvement" does a decent impression of bloated Anthony Michael Hall in "Edward Scissorhands". Might even be the same varsity jacket.
- I know it's only a movie, but isn't the Drift King committing statutory rape or are we supposed to assume that Neela is 18? Because D.K. looks like he's 35. And when you factor in that he's Asian, he can't be younger than 42.
- Only twice did I stop and think: "Wait a minute, they're driving to Long Beach." Otherwise, the movie does a great job of making you feel like you're in Tokyo, capturing some of the quirks, without hammering them over your head.
- The biggest letdown? The way the drifting was shot, though I shouldn't have had raised my expections so high, for this reason:
What makes drifting so exciting runs completely opposite to the trends in filmmaking. Think about it. Drifting is about length and speed, two major criteria in drift competition judging. The longer and faster the drifts, the more exciting they are. You only have to hear crowd reaction during drifts along the long banked turn at Irwindale to understand what I'm talking about.
And how is action directed these days? Through a series of quick cuts, which may work when Neo is chasing wraiths down the 105, but it doesn't come close to capturing the essence of drifting. Quick edits take away from what makes drifting so thrilling to watch in the first place. And what winds up on the screen looks nothing more than a series of violent fishtails.
A few of the reviews I've read have even questioned its allure. One said: "Drifting itself isn't all that tantalizing a subject to circle a film around to begin with." And another: "Drifting, for those who don't know and don't care, is a race built around a curved track which has two cars sliding along the curves attempting not to drive off the edge or crash into a wall, and the first that can basically slide its way into the finish line, wins. Boring, right?" None of the reviews highlighted it as a reason to see the movie, like the surfing was in "North Shore" or the BMX riding in "Rad", which is sad because most of the good bits were probably on the cutting room floor.
Fumes appears the first and third Tuesday of every month. Richard Chang can be emailed at rich@urbanracer.com.
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