Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift
Reviewed by Michael SmithI’ve never seen a Fast and Furious movie before, but I didn’t want to miss this one, Tokyo Drift. It is very—ahem—fast and furious. Beauty fills the screen from the very outset: beautiful girls, beautiful cars, and beautiful colors. It is probably the brightest live-action film I’ve ever seen. The races are perfectly choreographed and have a musical quality.
Existence as portrayed in this movie is one of limitless resources spent doing nothing but building fast cars in unbelievable super-garages that any NASCAR fan would envy. Why build fast cars? “Well, so you can go fast.” Why would you want to go fast? “Well silly, so you can win races.” Why do you race? “Don’t make me mad or I’ll race you!” Why is winning so important? “It shows you are the best.” This is the thought process of the movie.
The movie reads as follows: Race a car. If you’re the winner, then cheering, clapping, stunningly pretty girls come up and stand next to you to rub their bodies on your car. Does it get any better than that? Well, in a word, no. A lot of cash changes hands. How this cash comes into the hands of twenty-year-old Japanese men is not really explained. The good thing about these cash transactions is that they always seem to spark another race. In fact, any emotion above that of a mud flap sparks a new race. New races are the reason for the film.
Tokyo Drift is a film of mumbling, bad-ass, bored, rich, quasi-mafioso-type young men with really bad attitudes, pretty good accents, and terrific looks. They look really mean when they have to. They act really tough. They look as though they may pick a race with you at any moment. And sure enough, they do. In Tokyo Drift, a race breaks out every twelve minutes. Lots of racing is a good thing, mainly because the dialogue leaves something to be desired. Several scenes have a bit of Japanese with subtitles. I found myself wishing the entire movie had them. I enjoy listening to the spoken Japanese dialogue as it sounds exotic and lyrical. But, English-speaking actors delivered their lines with too shallow a breath. Many times the mumbling gradually disappeared before the sentence was cmmmmm.
Was there a spiritual lesson in Tokyo Drift? I believe there was. It can be found without a lot of work. The drifters have nothing to live for but racing. They grow up, become adults, and live their lives with nothing else to do. They pursue the victory in a race against time, a race against each other. The inevitable conclusion is: it is empty. “All is vanity,” as the Preacher in Ecclesiastes says. The emptiness of life without God is profound. Life without knowledge of someone greater than us will often spin out of control. I may look great on the outside, but inside I am empty. I am drifting. There may also be a practical lesson in this movie. Perhaps instead of war, we could race each other?!
Tokyo Drift is a fun movie. It does not challenge you. It is delightful to watch. The film goes by pretty quickly and has some surprises near the end. You will not see a more visually stunning movies this year.