Initial-D ... cool movie

Fasten your seatbelts & enjoy the race (with good looking actress too)

I guess every hot blooded kid would have thought of 2 possible passions ... falling in love and the other would be the thrill of racing his vehicle on an above average speed ...

This is what Initial D is simply about ... car racing for young men with some love element in the movie, but most of the movie is about the rush in the racing stratosphere.

Jay Chou plays the main character ... the unlikely hero in the form of a reserved & dreamy kid, who's surrounded by a group of perky (actually loud, obnoxious & wannabe jokers) who talks the walk on racing, but when the real deal sinks in, it's Jay's character who walks the talk, by coolly (& I do mean it from his bored demeanour towards the entire race) racing his opponents off the track.

Takumi reminds me of my cousin who used to stay in my house ... guy of a few words, little expressions (but not the looks of Jay) ... and what I liked about this brooding character of Takumi is that, he's the boy next door ... he's not very initiative, not very expressive but with a good heart. Of course, the female lead (quite inclined to use the word chick, but my female audience often feels it as degratory) is hot ... and with the girl next door looks to match as well ... quite a sweet looking character.

The love part is kind of sad though, simple boy next door meets perky & sweet girl with dark past & uncertain future ... so, unfortunately the story ends with him choosing racing instead of her as he comes across her other side as a call girl.

Since I don't follow the Initial-D cartoon series ... I went to this movie with an open mind and I am quite happy with this watch ... and since there are 4 more in the installments, quite looking forward to the next one.