The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo
Drift
(2006)
(SPOILERS) Alternatively known as The Fast and the Furious Six, if you
follow the chronology (on account of a key character here dying and then
showing up in subsequent F&F
masterpieces. Which means I ended up catching this in very nearly the correct order (I have yet to see the actual the
officially monikered Fast & Furious 6.
This is the only one in the series that doesn’t feature either Paul Walker or
Vin Diesel (well, almost the latter; he is wooed for a cameo, prior to his
triumphant return in Fast and Furious
(or, Fast Three, if you will). There
are those who argue this is the underappreciated peak of the disposable
franchise, but that’s a bit of a leap; it’s as laden down as ever with clunky
plotting, spinning wheels, macho stand-offs and raptastic montages featuring
scantily clad girlies ((the latter abjectly failing to disguise the auto- and homoerotica
dripping from every shiny hood and protracted bout of male bonding).
This time out, Lucas Black’s (who
first found fame as a child actor, starring in the one-season wonder American Gothic) Sean is so much darned
trouble to his poor mum, getting up to all sorts of mischief with his racing
delinquency, that she packs him off to Tokyo to live with his Naval father
(Brian Goodman). He quickly falls in with Han (Sung Kang), who has a business
relationship with the nephew of a Yakuza kingpin D.K. (Brian Tee). He even
finds a bit of time to romance D.K.’s girl (big mistake!) Neela (Natalie Kelly)
when he’s not bromancing.
Arguably all this auto-fetishism
is more age-appropriate to Black’s teenager than Vin’s 40 year old, but it
makes the high school meets organised crime plotline seem more ludicrously
adrenalised than any other installment in the series. This culminates in
Black’s young punk standing up to uncle Shin’ichi Chiba, effortlessly persuading
him to permit a race with his nephew to settle matters. I mean, as if any
self-respecting gangland boss wouldn’t take him out the back and have a rusty
screwdriver lodged in his ear. These are fantasy wish-fulfilment flicks, of
course, and director Justin Lin knows that very well; he would go on to direct
three ever-more hyperbolic sequels. But the other problem here might be that
Black is too good an actor for all this nonsense. His homespun southern drawl
suggests a sincerity that doesn’t really fit with all this motorised silliness.
There’s subtext spinning off every
fender in this one, though. Sean is so all-American it’s not true, and he
arrives in Japan ready to teach the nation a thing or two about honour; it’s
just like WWII all over again! Or like Tom Cruise in Last Samurai; a land known for its codes discovers that the
foreigner has even stronger core values! If anyone can show the Yakuza how
things really are, it’s a teenager from the Land of the Free. With a little
help from his dad (US military might goes with its citizens wherever they are
in the world).
Miraculously, when Sean stands up
to Uncle Yakuza, he can suddenly speak fluent Japanese! It’s amazing! The movie
is careful not to give Sean a Japanese best friend, girlfriend, or mentor
(they’re all expats); all the better to accentuate those national divisions! It
even throws in a bit of Star Wars
while it’s at it; Lucas (Luke Skywalker), sounding all the world like a farm
boy, must battle the “evil empire”, and is aided in this by an Obi-Wan who teaches
him how to use the force (“the drift”)
before Kenobi exits stage left (yet manages to live on through a number of
sequels). The only difference is old Ben didn’t pull 360s around ladies’ cars
in order to convince his young padewan that he really is heterosexual, really.
Han was best pals with Vin’s Dom
you see. When Sean and Dom meet, they discuss their mutual pal. It’s a
conversation purportedly about models of automobile, but I think it’s quite
clear what’s going on.
Sean: I didn’t know he was into
American muscle.
Dom: He was when he was
rolling with me.
Sean will be rolling with Dom in Fast & Furious 7. My testosterone
nozzle is full to burstin’ in anticipation.
**
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