The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift

This third outing made me almost nostalgic for the original movie starring Vin Diesel and Paul Walker. Almost.

Whizzily underwhelming...

The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift is another dismal chapter in a franchise that started promisingly enough with Rob Cohen's rebel-with-too-much-horse-power-but-lots-of-chicks.

A perfunctory and unintentionally goofy attempt to keep the series running without its stars Vin Diesel and Paul Walker.

Sadly, as the film progresses, the foolish film-makers succumb to the fatal temptations of plot and dialogue.

Look out for a star cameo -- it's the only surprise you'll get from this heap.

Racing scenes, the only reason people endure this franchise’s bad scripts and worse acting, are filmed unintelligibly fast and enhanced by generic computer effects.

Fully embracing car culture, yet without the over-the-top slang abused in the previous picture, this third chapter wisely dispenses with the undercover cop missions.

This entry lacks due to Sean being the least interesting character in the film, but it also finds success by featuring some of the very best racing scenes of the entire franchise.

In lesser hands, Tokyo Drift could've been the series' early death knell, but Justin Lin's confident, propulsive direction makes it a fun, and ultimately necessary, adjunct.