The first installment of “The Fast and the Furious” took us on a cool ride alongside Vin Diesel and Paul Walker through a world filled with pimped out fast cars and plenty of action. The sequel was not Diesel-fuel, yet returned Walker in a version that was simply disappointing. There were however, two elements present in each film: the sweet rides and the adrenalized soundtracks. So what can one expect from the third installment in which Paul Walker isn’t even present.? Well...

Lucas Black (Friday Night Lights) stars as Sean Boswell, a high school rebel without a cause who quickly finds himself in far more trouble than he can run, or drive, away from. So he is shipped off to live with his dad in Tokyo as a way to keep him out of trouble and avoid jail time. But this plan of course will fail, otherwise we’d have no story. Or so we’d think...

Even with this plan in motion, a good story never really emerges, but in my opinion, it never has to in order to be enjoyed for what it is. At its core, “F&F: Tokyo Drift” is a movie filled with plenty of action in the form of hot bodies, both on wheels and in heels, to make this film entertaining and even exciting.

Watching the cars maneuver around corners as they “drift” through each chase or race, is nothing short of intense and exciting. I do think they took driving lessons from Doc Hudson in Disney’s Pixar film “Cars” as they certainly knew that the golden rule of mastering tight curves is to “turn right to go left.”

In the lead role, Lucas Black comes off a little "Forrest Gump-ish" and therefore kills some of the film's energy, but the it’s ending provides a glimmer of hope that there may not only be another installment in the works, but that it may actually be something to really look forward to. Plus, as in the previous two films, the soundtrack alone is certainly worth the price of admission!

Rated: PG-13 for reckless and illegal behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content
Runtime: 90 Min.

Cast: Lucas Black, Bow Wow, Brian Tee, Nikki Griffin, Sung Kang, Jason Tobin, Nathalie Kelley

JAN'S "REEL TALK" RATING: 3 1/2 out of 5 Stars