The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift (2006) is distinguishable from the rest of the franchise. Nearly none of the same cast reprises their roles, and it goes an interesting direction. Read here for my conclusion! Some spoilers may follow.
The protagonist of our story is Sean played by Lucas Black. If anyone has seen Sling Blade before, this is the kid from that movie. Black permits an exceptional performance. He's a juvenile delinquent that has nowhere else to turn but living in Tokyo with his father. This is his only way to avoid prison time now, and he has to make the best of a bad situation. It's not an outstanding performance, but it is a believable one. He does the job.
Really the only other actor I want to mention is Sung Kang. He's a Georgia boy, so that's cool by itself. He portrays Han who quickly becomes friends with Sean. To me, he is the best actor in the movie and should be remembered as such. I can't think of a line he delivered that wasn't as good as any other. His character also surpasses others in dialogue. That's why (MAJOR SPOILER ALERT, go to next paragraph to escape).................................................................. his death scene is impactful. He had sense and was willing to help Sean in his new environment.
For the story, I think it tries harder than the first two Fast and Furious films. It's a bit of a drama at times with Sean realizing he won't make it anymore without changing, yet he can't seem to help his problems. While Han expedites these problems at first, he comes back around and helps. A character with real development dies. Han only wanted to surround himself with someone with good character to help change his life.
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