Initial D: Drift Racer (12A) <!-- none onestar twostar threestar fourstar fivestar -->

A mystifying Hong Kong action film, based on a popular manga comic about a shy tofu delivery boy who is secretly the mysterious "Akina racing god" - the driver who is unbeatable on Mount Akina's hairpin bends. The film follows Takumi's struggles with his brutal drunken father - a former racing driver - his romance with the beautiful Natsuki, and lots of high-speed action against gangs of street racers who are determined to beat him. The racing action is fine, but the electro soundtrack, the primitive comic relief (including some prolonged and repetitive vomiting jokes) and the romance are all wearing; and if the film could be boiled down to a simple message, it would be "All women are whores, stick to your car". Sometimes what you need isn't a reviewer, it's a cultural anthropologist.