FAST & FURIOUS (2009)

"Still a busta."

Well, let's see...after the bizarre Tokyo field trip in the third installment, things get back to normal in Part 4.  Vin Diesel and Paul Walker are both back along with some others.  The story is continued from earlier, but honestly, I wasn't paying enough attention to the story to really care.  Something about Mr. Diesel's girlfriend being murdered and Paul Walker being an undercover cop infiltrating a drug smuggling operation that uses fast cars.  Who knows?!  It's all over the place.  I was entertained, but the drug running stuff was weak.  I miss the racing douche bro stuff from the earlier films.  That shit was so much fun to make fun of.  As it is though, I still enjoyed the film, but I cannot see myself revisiting this installment too often.

Fair amount of racing, lots of crazy stunts, dated technology, racing through a dark cave (how exciting!), promising ending, supporting cast full of familiar faces (ol' girl from Dexter, ol' boy from True Detective, etc.), an iguana eating an ice cream bar.  Worth checking out if you are watching the entire series, but don't expect your socks to be blown across the room!  They might end up being a little bit loose in the toes, but that's about it.

Part 1 - The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Part 2 - 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Part 3 - The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006)
Part 5 - Fast Five (2011)
Part 6 - Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Part 7 - Furious 7 (2015)
Part 8 - The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Spin-off 1 - Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
Part 9 - F9 (2021)
Part 10 - Fast X (2023)

THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT (2006)

"Fifty percent of something is better than a hundred percent of nothing."

Twenty-four year old high school student Sean Boswell is a moron.  He's also a speed addict and a busta.  Trouble seems to follow him everywhere he goes.  Mainly because he's a dumb ass.  His latest racing-related wise decision (illegally street racing through a house!) ends up with his parents sending him to the Tokyo Drift Capitol of the World: Tokyo, Japan, as punishment.  It seems that his parents are morons as well.

Once in the Tokyo, it takes Sean less than 24 hours to not only get in a race, but to also destroy an expensive car belonging to a local yakuza and to flirt nonstop with another yakuza dude's girlfriend!  Jesus wept, this tired of living motherfucker is an idiot.  Fortunately though, for some bizarre reason, the one yakuza guy takes Sean under his wing and trains him Mister Miyagi-style how to be the "drift king".  None of this makes sense and it's all very silly...and highly entertaining in a bad way.  I liked it.  It was dumb as fuck.  If TFATFTD had been a Takashi Miike joint, Sean would have ended up skinned alive and/or with a ladle shoved up his butt (yes, that's a GOZU reference), but since this is a light-weight studio film, everything comes down to the big race at the end.  Cause, you know, that's how most organized crime groups settle their disputes...with drifting.  Goodfellas 2: Brooklyn Drift comes to mind.

Ridiculous story, zero logic, Atari Teenage Riot on the soundtrack, fast pace, dated fashions, subpar racing scenes that were not exciting, lackluster photography, stiff acting.  Overall, TFATFTD was uneventful and lame, but it was just so damn stupid that I liked it.  It was good to laugh at.

Fun fact: often when I'm playing racing games, I'll randomly yell out "Tokyo drift!!!" while drifting.  True story.

Part 1 - The Fast and the Furious (2001)
Part 2 - 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003)
Part 4 - Fast & Furious (2009)
Part 5 - Fast Five (2011)
Part 6 - Fast & Furious 6 (2013)
Part 7 - Furious 7 (2015)
Part 8 - The Fate of the Furious (2017)
Spin-off 1 - Fast & Furious Presents: Hobbs & Shaw (2019)
Part 9 - F9 (2021)
Part 10 - Fast X (2023)