Boredworkers.com

Sleeping till 2, a wedding dinner followed by a movie at GSC 1 Utama. That about sums up my Saturday. This time around, the movie was The Fast And The Furious: Tokyo Drift. My cousin was up from Australia on the first leg of her seven week honeymoon. It was her wedding reception that night and we asked her out for movies. She had been going on an on about the EVO in Tokyo Drift and that’s how we found ourselves standing in front of the GSC ticket counters at midnight. The funny thing is, we almost didn’t get the tickets due to GSC’s screwed up ticketing system.

Since it was a last minute decision, we hadn’t made any reservations for the show. As it turns out, it was still a hot movie to watch. When WL and I arrived at the cineplex, the only seats available were those on the front row. There were however several uncollected phone reservations. After deliberating the matter, we decided to wait for them to release those seats. The movie was scheduled for 12.20am, and the reservation seats would be open 30 minutes before the show. We waited anxiously for 30 minutes. It was a gamble on our part but it paid off as the people who booked the seats didn’t turn up. It was when we tried to purchase the tickets that things turned ugly.

Now, as far as I’m concerned, once the seats are open, it is free for all. The counter staff serving us managed to block the tickets and we were just about to pay for them when some fugly idiot strolls up and tells him not to sell the tickets. The reason given was that those were reserved tickets and the people who booked them might be late but still wanted them. Boy were we pissed. I can remember the number of times that I’ve booked tickets, arrived late and found them sold to the next punter. So telling me that they were going to hold the tickets for some bugger who didn’t know how to keep time really struck a nerve. We gave them a short outburst after which they went into the back room with their manager to confer. To cut the story short, we got our tickets. However, I am very disappointed with the manner in which GSC handles these things. That’s another strike in my books against them. The first being the ugly blackout incident early this year.

Back to the movie. This is the third installment to the Fast and Furious franchise. A quick recap on previous movies. The first one, The Fast And The Furious (2001) starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker was great. It was something different at the time and it showcased a lot of cool cars and effects. It was all about cars, American muscle (more cars), NOS, the quarter mile, and going real fast. The second installment, 2 Fast 2 Furious (2003), starring Paul Walker (reprising the role of Brian O’Conner) and Tyrese Gibson, moved away from the original storyline and tried to focus on a plot. However, for me, it failed to deliver and was no where as entertaining as the first. The acting came across stiff and corny with a plot too thin to float the show.

In comes Tokyo Drift. While 2 Fast 2 Furious followed the story of O’Conner from the original film, Tokyo Drift boasts an all new cast of characters. It kicks off with a race between the movie’s protagonist Sean Boswell (Lucas Black) and some high school jock. The race is fast and dangerous, ending in a nasty crash. This sets the tone for the rest of the movie. To avoid jail, our hero gets shipped out to Tokyo, Japan where he moves in with his Navy dad. From there, we follow Sean’s introduction into the shady side of Tokyo, underground drift racing, hot chiqs, and hotter cars. Along the way, he meets up with Tokyo’s DK (Drift King, not Donkey Kong), falls in love with Neela (DK’s girlfriend acted by Nathalie Kelley), find loyal friendship in Han and Twinkie, and gets into trouble with the Yakuza.

With the story out of the way, time to be nitpicky. First off, Lucas Black looks too damned old to play the part of a 18 year college kid. While he is only 24 this year (born 1982), his face is way too mature for the part. I went into the cinemas without any background on the movie. When I first saw his face, I was expecting some mature race junkie out to prove his mettle in Tokyo. Little did I expect a troubled college dropout.

The movie feels like an Initial D ripoff. Unfair as that may sound, and as hard as I try not to compare the two, it seems unavoidable. The final mountain pass race was dejavu. The major difference being that while Initial D was refined, Tokyo Drift was very violent. There is no subtlety and class in the drift. You are given the impression that every other Tom, Dick and Harry knew how to drift. I felt it was overdone to the point where the novelty of the ability to drift was lost and it became just another parlour trick. There was even a pointless scene in the movie where an entourage of cars were drifting in tandem on the mountain roads. It was supposed to be a dramatic revelation of Neela’s background and her relationship with DK but came across as a corny sequence.

Thirdly, while the race sequences are fast paced and action packed, the plot development is slow as molasses. There were moments during the midnight movie session when I was tempted to close my eyes and snooze. The final cut seemed rough to me, and the movie was disjointed at points. Kind of like Malaysian and Singaporean made bridges that don’t quite meet in the centre. If feels as though the fillers between action scenes were forced in place to make the points meet.

But to be fair, the movie does have its high points. The first drift race between Sean and DK was cool. I flinched as I watched Sean crash the car over and over again on the way to the top of the parking lot. And the way DK drifted up the final ramp was just magic. WL asked whether it was real skills. I should think so.

And then there’s the eye candy of course. Cool looking cars and really hot chiqs. Check out Twinkie’s green Hulkmobile. Bring some tissues in case your nose bleeds when you see all the girls in short minis and skimpy outfits. Be it cars or girls, I think Twinkie put it best when he handed a box of tissues to Sean as they first hit the underground race scene and said, “For when you blow your wad“.

Last but not least, after the final race between Sean and DK when the dust had settled, Vin Diesel makes an easter egg cameo. He reprises his role of Dominic, Han’s ‘family’, appearing in an American muscle car to challenge the new DK, Sean. Nice finish with a touch of nostalgia.

To round things up, the movie brings to the forefront the skill of drift driving but focuses so hard on subject that it winds up losing its direction and appeal. The first installment is still the best in this franchise. I personally feel that the movie was not worth watching in the cinema or the RM10 ticket. Better to just wait for it to come out on HBO in a year or so.

P.S. Do be careful when leaving the cinema after watching the movie. There are people who drive a little crazy after watching it.