Sean Boswell is your typical badass badboy, and especially dangerous when he gets behind the wheels of a car. After his latest reckless behaviour almost gets him and his rival killed, Sean is packed off to Japan to live with his military dad in order to avoid getting sentenced in States. On his very first day, he chums up with Twinkie, makes eyes at a class-mate Neela, and gets introduced in a humiliating manner to the Tokyo racing culture called “drifting” where he is bested by the local gangster and Neela’s jealous boyfriend DK.

Soon, Sean is friends with and hanging around with the DK’s right hand Han (as he owes him money for totalling his car), and learning from him the art of “drifting” (using hand brakes at high speeds to get the car to slide at curves). Things start to boil up as Sean and Neela get closer to each other, and Han is discovered to be stealing from the DK’s illegal cookie jar. DK’s angry response yields tragedy, and leads to an inevitable showdown on a frightening mountain stretch between him and Sean.

The thrills are quite exhilirating and the absence of a sensible plot does not bother the viewer in the least. Film borrows heavily from Andy Lau’s cult-flick INITIAL D, but also possesses some original touches - special nod to the chase scene through downtown Tokyo in heavy traffic is quite a heady experience, and a flirting ritual by way of drifting is pretty cool.

Though the climactic duel climaxes satisfactorily, the build-up to the finale lacks sufficient juice. Director Justin Lin could’ve used some of Rob Cohen’s stylistic flourishes to get the blood pumping.

Lucas Black (Sling Blade) as Sean, fit’s Paul Walker’s wooden shoes very nicely as his acting prowess and range of expressions are an eerie match to Walker’s. Of the whole lot, only Sung Kang as Han impresses with his understated, and finely nuanced performance. He brings more depth than there is to his role. Nathalie Kelley and Brian Tee are irritiating as Sean’s love interest Neela and local gangster DK respectively. Ditto for Bow Wow as Twinkie. Cult actor JJ Sonny Chiba - last seen in KILL BILL - VOL. 1, cameos in nicely as DK’s Yakuza uncle.

Director Justin Lin acquits himself quite well overall, and shows a natural flair for dumbass pop-corn entertaintment. Although, I’m guessing he could be more in the league of Lee Tamahori, than God forbid, Rob Cohen.

Production designs, editing, music and camera-work are top-notch. Tokyo night life seems quite similar to their American counterpart, with badass boys, their metallic toys and their sexy hanger-ons.

MPAA RATING:PG-13 for reckless and illegal behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content. RUNTIME: 98 Mins.
CAST: Lucas Black, Brian Tee, Sung Kang
DIRECTOR: Justin Lin