Sometimes it feels a bit pointless reviewing genre films like The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift. The downloadable trailers sum up the film's dubious virtues: hot girls, flashy clothes and, of course, souped-up cars. The plot (just indulge me here) concerns young Sean (Lucas Black in a lackluster lead role), who, after too many car crashes in suburban America, is sent to Tokyo to live with his father (Brian Goodman), a military man who warns his son that this is his "last chance." Of course once in Tokyo, he gains a short sidekick (Bow Wow), a girl (Nathalie Kelley) and a villain (Brian Tee), whom he'll have to drift-race for the honor of his girl.
As with the two previous Fast and the Furious installments, it's all about the phenomenal camera work, amazing car stunts, a pulsating soundtrack and hyper-kinetic editing. Viewed through this very limited prism, Tokyo Drift offers some assorted thrills, as director Justin Lin (Better Luck Tomorrow, Annapolis) keeps the pacing tight and the textures, complete with rich, saturated color and intense close-ups, slick. But even the most generic action picture has to balance its brevity and energy with some emotional weight. I wasn't looking for an intricate storyline or cogent character development, but the dialogue, whether it's to instigate a fight ("Hey, are you lookin' at my girl?") or when Tee is trying to woo Kelley ("You and I ... are the same!") is maddeningly trite. Worse, the film—surprisingly—lacks humor. When it does attempt light moments (namely Sean looking funny in ill-fitted Japanese clothing, or, yes, his odd reaction to sushi), they're too ethnocentric to be funny. This is how bad it is: Even a cameo by the great Sonny Chiba can't pep up the halting dramatic proceedings.