When thinking of attending a film so rigid in standards and expectations as The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift, only a few questions truly matter. How many car chases can you handle? How do you feel about loads of babes and slick foreign rides? Most importantly, is there any chance this series can improve after the first two films?

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Credit: Universal Pictures

After watching the leaden Paul Walker and Tyrese Gibson run "2 Fast 2 Furious," anything's an improvement. In a left turn from the rest of the series, newcomer Lucas Black stars as the racing-obsessed, slightly dorky Sean Boswell. Despite the likable attempt to enliven the protagonist, there's nothing more to Boswell's character than that.

The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift Credit: Universal Pictures

Ironically then, despite its grave lack of substance, the strength of "Tokyo Drift" is director Justin Lin's feel for the environment. In Lin's hands, Tokyo's underworld is alluring yet unmistakably alien to American viewers, and the claustrophobic atmosphere only helps the plot. Unfortunately, a few implausibilities and a ho-hum final race burst the bubble.

To Lin's discredit, those races, like most in recent action films, are histrionic and unreadable. When your attention drifts from racing films, where else is there to go?