Baltimore Sun by Michael Sragow

The opening half-hour may prove to be a disreputable classic of pedal-to-the-metal filmmaking.

Chicago Sun-Times by Roger Ebert

Lin takes an established franchise and makes it surprisingly fresh and intriguing. The movie is not exactly "Shogun" when it comes to the subject of an American in Japan (nor, on the other hand, is it "Lost in Translation"). But it's more observant than we expect, and uses its Japanese locations to make the story about something more than fast cars.

L.A. Weekly by Scott Foundas

Manna from gearhead heaven, the third and most guiltily pleasurable Furious emits the crude thrills of a 1950s drag-racing cheapie, only with souped-up Toyotas and Nissans in place of gas-guzzling hot rods, and slinky Asian temptresses substituted for poodle-skirted teenyboppers.

Variety by Todd McCarthy

Pumping high-performance gas back into the series after a second lap sputter, third entry stays in high gear most of the way with several exhilarating racing sequences, and benefits greatly from the evocative Japanese setting.

The Hollywood Reporter by Kirk Honeycutt

It's not much of a movie, but a hell of a ride. So what if the movie dumbs down Japanese culture to a bad yakuza movie and features Japanese characters who can barely speak Japanese? The cars are the stars here. Everything else is lost in translation.

Chicago Reader by Jonathan Rosenbaum

Despite all the silliness the drift races are gripping, and director Justin Lin captures Tokyo's energy and glitter far better than Sofia Coppola.

Portland Oregonian by M. E. Russell

As idiot car-crash movies go, "Tokyo Drift" is pretty fun, and certainly a more-than-decent entry in this franchise.

Wall Street Journal by Joe Morgenstern

By all that's unholy, this third edition of the high-emission franchise should have been at least as awful as the second one was. (The first one was good fun.) Yet it's surprisingly entertaining in its deafening fashion, despite the absence of Vin Diesel and Paul Walker, the co-stars of parts one and two.

Premiere

The problems with Tokyo Drift start with its ostensible hero; during the course of this movie, Sean makes so many dumb decisions it's a wonder that anyone wants to be associated with him.

Seattle Post-Intelligencer by Sean Axmaker

At least Lin's local color make the idiocy fun to watch.

The A.V. Club by Scott Tobias

The racing sequences are the series' meat and potatoes, but in terms of story, Tokyo Drift barely offers a stalk of asparagus.

Chicago Tribune by Michael Wilmington

For all its crashes and flash, this is a movie that drifts away as we watch it. Muscle cars and all, it's often a waste of gas.

Washington Post by Teresa Wiltz

A masterpiece of mediocrity,

Premiere by Ethan Alter

The problems with Tokyo Drift start with its ostensible hero; during the course of this movie, Sean makes so many dumb decisions it's a wonder that anyone wants to be associated with him.

Austin Chronicle

Racing junkies would be better off browsing the myriad of online drifting videos where the camera doesn't cut and the people don't speak.

ReelViews by James Berardinelli

It's all about eye candy and the quick tease. It's not over fast enough.