On a serious note, Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift is a sweet movie. I’m not much of a car buff - shit, I can’t even change my own oil, but something about this movie makes me watch it every damn time it’s on HBO. Wait, I think it’s because it’s not about cars really. Yeah, there are races and shit, but the technical details about the cars aren’t really explored, and instead we see cool-looking cars and hot-ass Japanese chicks. I totally messed up when I was out there (Japan) – I was preoccupied with seeing shrines when I should have been trying to hang out with the Japanese model-chicks that were in the movie.
The characters in the movie are surprisingly interesting, and I think this is what really attracts me. We have Sean, Neela, and Han, all of whom are gaijins, Japanese for outsiders. This shared outsider status enables these characters to confide in one another, and this results in some interesting dialogue. One of my favorite scenes is when Han, the Korean rich-kid with an endless number of cars on hand, tells Sean, the good-natured Alabaman, that he wittingly let him wreck his car to test his character. Sean promises to pay back Han, and commits himself to learn the Japanese art of Drifting so he can eventually win races on Han’s behalf. Han is particularly concerned with the company he keeps, and goes on to tell Sean that he values trust and character, and if he had to sacrifice an expensive car to test a man’s character, then so be it. This is some metaphysical shit for a movie w/ Bow Wow as a major character! The mentor-mentee relationship between Sean and Han is particularly endearing; it’s a nice complement to the action sequences and the scenes with hot-ass Japanese chicks grinding to a catchy, yet crappy Cam’ron song.
