06-20-2021, 10:22 PM
Justin Lin's breakout film about suburban Asian teen overachievers was a game changer, but believe it or not, I'd never seen it. With the F9 screener this week, I figured I'd finally give it a peep and I'm so glad I did. It's a great film - raw, indie, amateur Lin, bringing an extraordinary vision together. It was good to see his skills when he was up-and-coming, prior to him ending up in the world of bombastic blockbusters.
Justin Tobin, who goes on to be Young Jun in Warrior, is spot on as the psycho punk. John Cho is great as the rich punk. Sung Kang introduces Han Lue, who goes on to have a role in the Fast & Furious franchise, one of Dom's crew, mostly in Tokyo Drift. Although not part of the franchise, this film is considered Han's origin story (a nice gem for my coverage). The lead character, the narrator, was meh, but he didn't go on to achieve much more, much less than the rest.
It would've rocked me in 2002. There was so little Asian led stories like this in movies. There still aren't many. But don't be misguided. Despite it's all Asian cast (plus the Beaver from Wally and the Beaver) this is an American story. The Asian angle doesn't play into it that much, or at least it didn't feel like it to me.
I feel the need to watch Star Trek Beyond again now.
No sword fights. Gang fights. DOOM recommended.
Justin Tobin, who goes on to be Young Jun in Warrior, is spot on as the psycho punk. John Cho is great as the rich punk. Sung Kang introduces Han Lue, who goes on to have a role in the Fast & Furious franchise, one of Dom's crew, mostly in Tokyo Drift. Although not part of the franchise, this film is considered Han's origin story (a nice gem for my coverage). The lead character, the narrator, was meh, but he didn't go on to achieve much more, much less than the rest.
It would've rocked me in 2002. There was so little Asian led stories like this in movies. There still aren't many. But don't be misguided. Despite it's all Asian cast (plus the Beaver from Wally and the Beaver) this is an American story. The Asian angle doesn't play into it that much, or at least it didn't feel like it to me.
I feel the need to watch Star Trek Beyond again now.
No sword fights. Gang fights. DOOM recommended.
Shadow boxing the apocalypse