Racing, video games and a rise to fame sounds reminiscent of the hundreds and hundreds of sports films that have come before. “Gran Turismo,” an action film directed by Neill Blomkamp, depicts the real-life story of video game fanatic and eventual professional race car driver Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe) and the role the video game of the same name had on him. The movie is an action-packed adventure that unfortunately oozes with cliches that plague the sports movie genre and spends too much time showcasing ultimately underdeveloped plots.
The first half hour of the movie is by far the most egregious. While the film narrates Mardenborough’s desire to race, all the audience can do is pray to race through the often useless context and filler in the movie.
The start of the film introduces a love interest plot with a character named Audrey (Maeve Courtier-Lilley), who is underwritten, underdeveloped and acts as the stereotypical girlfriend role that appears in many films of the same nature. Angsty family relationships are revealed during the opening moments of the film and while Mardenborough’s father, Steve (Djimon Hounsou), stands on top as one of the highlight acting performances of the film, the more jerky, sharp twist in their dynamic makes the decent resolution of their internal tension feel half-baked.
During the first chunk of the film, the commonly seen character dynamics depicted in many sports action films reveal themselves in this movie. For instance, the “dreamer young adult who is misunderstood but has potential” archetype is seen in Mardenborough’s character. Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) is the boisterous and intense businessman who is down on his luck and needs his final-attempt passion project to work. Finally, Jack Salter (David Harbour), is the stereotypical jaded, unenthused coach figure who is thrust into the spotlight.
The lack of uniqueness in the story and characters are ultimately what drag this film’s quality down. The new race car film feels as if it has been engineered with nostalgia, cliches and a swollen runtime of 135 minutes.
Madekwe plays a fine, yet somewhat subpar performance as the movie’s starring role, but the fault seems to be more in the writing of his character than his skill. On the other hand, Bloom feels awkward in his role and reads as if he is playing a caricature of a passionate and stressed businessman instead of acting like a real human.
Harbour and Hounsou provide the attention-grabbing performances during the film’s second half that were definitely needed to make the audience fall back into the story and into the world developed on-screen. Their fears and failures feel real and their successes seem earned. Despite the predictableness of the plot, the story was ultimately a feel-good film and the characters’ wins felt like the audiences’ too.
Despite the film’s losses, it struck gold with the more technical aspects of its production. The cinematography of the film features excellent action shots and hyper-focused close-up shots that foster intensity and make the audience feel the thrill of whatever is on-screen. Genuine appreciation for the original game is shown with decent special effects in the film that honor the essence of video game racing. The rock, hip-hop and jazz-infused soundtrack was vibrant, which enhanced the listening experience for the audience and sometimes the characters too.
The sound design easily takes the cake for the best aspect of the film. The realistic, loud sounds from the cars during the race scenes made the theater shake and placed the audience right in the center of the action.
“Gran Turismo” lacks originality and seems unfortunately reminiscent of films that came before it, but it is a film that picked itself up in the last half, can keep the audience’s attention and make viewers feel as if they were on the race track themselves.
