A bit fast, but not too furious

Car races shot in hyper speed and the neon lights of Tokyo; if that is not enough to sell the third installment of "The Fast and the Furious," then nothing will. The cast is nothing to gawk at (see: Bow Wow), the storyline is predictable (end the movie with a car chase?), but the cars sure are cool. \nThis time around we follow Sean Boswell (Lucas Black), who is forced to move to Japan to live with his father in a plea agreement that keeps him out of juvenile hall (Black is pushing 24, but he can almost pull off a 17-year-old). His crime: drag racing leading to reckless driving leading to a heap of property damage. \nShortly after arriving at his Tokyo school, Sean befriends Twinkie (Bow Wow), who can sell anything to anyone and even has a green minivan made to look like the Incredible Hulk. Twink introduces Sean to the pimp-my-ride-esque underworld complete with juiced-up rides, pretty girls and trouble in the form of D.K. (Brian Tee), the hard-nosed nephew of a mob boss (played by Sonny Chiba). D.K. immediately takes a disliking of Sean, especially after he sees Sean talking to his girlfriend Neela (Nathalie Kelley). The two enemies take it to the streets and duke it out in several car chases, the final one being a very well shot scene of a race down a curvy mountain road. \nSean is helped along the way by D.K.'s partner Han (Sung Kang), who not only gives Sean his car to race D.K., but teaches him how to "drift." In drifting, the vehicle slides perpendicularly on its wheels (in the movie "Cars," the exact same technique is referred to as turning right to go left), and it is the only surefire way to win a race and get a girl's phone number. \nDirector Justin Lin, who scored accolades with his debut film "Better Luck Tomorrow," does a great job of immersing the viewer in Japanese life rather than simply presenting touristy shots of sumo wrestlers and neon lights at nighttime. His action sequences are well shot and edited, and in the final race he uses an interesting technique of cutting between cell phones as the other kids watch streamed video of the race. \nIn a series where new directors and stars appear in each installment, Lin's 'Tokyo Drift' should at least hold up to its prequels. And an old friend does make a visit at the tail end of the film for one last race.