With The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, director Justin Lin has delivered a fast-paced and action-packed film. But, unfortunately, screenwriter Chris Morgan's characters come across as one dimensional here.

The story follows Sean Boswell, played by Lucas Black, who is detained by police after racing through a housing development where he destroyed an unfinished house and flipped his car over several times. A policeman accuses Sean of thinking being arrested is a joke. This is the third time in two years the young man has been arrested. His prior offenses were for reckless driving and willful destruction of property. When Sean’s distraught mother arrives, she explains to the officer that this is the second time she's tried moving to a new town in order to keep her son out of trouble. 

A deal is reached requiring Sean to live with his father (Brian Goodman) in Japan. Sean’s dad, a tough no-nonsense individual, is a member of the U.S. Navy. He insists that his son attend school and come home right after school each day. And, he never wants to see or hear of Sean near a car again. 

Twinkie (Bow Wow), a hustler who meets Sean at school, desperately tries to unload a laptop and other goods on him. However, a steering wheel not for sale is the only item Sean shows interest in. Inviting Sean  to check out his one-of-a-kind ride, Twinkie takes him to the 8th floor of a parking garage where men with custom built, tweaked, high-performance vehicles have gathered among a throng of gorgeous women.

D.K. (Brian Tee) doesn't like the idea of Twinkie bringing a foreigner with him to observe their underground racing operation. Tee is feared because his uncle Kamata (Sony Chiba) is member of the Yakuza, also known as the Japanese mafia. D.K. confronts Sean and insists the American turn around and keep walking. Without knowing what he's getting into, Sean challenges D.K. to a race instead. Twinkie points out that D.K. stands for “Drift King.” Drifting involves drivers using the steering wheel and pulling the hand brake while entering a turn at high speed to make a car slide away from them.

Armed with only a 30-second lesson on drifting from Twinkie, Sean borrows a car from Han (Sung Kan). The crowd dives for safety as he repeatedly loses control and scrapes the walls, then bashes into a concrete pole. Because the car is a complete write off, Sean must work for Han to pay him back.

Sean is attracted to Neela (Nathalie Kelley), who happens to be D.K.'s girlfriend. As their friendship blossoms, the pair go drifting one evening. The next day D.K. beats up on Sean, leaving him bleeding from the mouth and nose. Finally, a showdown between Sean and  D.K. is set on a dangerous mountain that only D. K. has managed to conquer. The loser will be forced to leave town for good. 

Beyond watching adrenaline-pumping racing, I believe there's little reason to subject yourself to The Fast and Furious: Tokyo Drift.

(Released by Universal Pictures and rated "PG-13" for reckless and illegal behavior involving teens, violence, language and sexual content.)