The Fast and The Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)

I see why this movie is the runt of the litter. It keeps the spirit of cars and babes. However, it leaned too much into the drifting (See what I did there?). I get the movie is called Tokyo Drift but no one can drive in a straight line for more than 2 seconds. The whole movie felt like the usual underdog story. The main character fails at the beginning, learns a new thing about his craft, has a training montage, and has a showdown that mirrors the failure at the beginning. The only likable and fun character was Han. Everyone else just felt very blah. Like the previous movies, it does a good job of not feeling bogged down. There are also several great shots in the movie. One of the shots in the finale made my stomach twirl for a second. It feels out of place in regard to the Fast and Furious movies so far. The only connection was a cameo in the closing scene. The movie played it safe which made it a meh experience overall.

Story - 14%

Characters - 14%

Pacing - 18%

Spectacle - 18%

Entertainment - 16%

Total score: 80%

Grade scale:

90%-100% = must watch

80%-89% = solid, but could be better

70%-79% = Not terrible, watch if the characters or story interests you

60%-69% = only watch for completionist reasons

0%-59% = just skip it, I find the positives and they don't exist here