‘Gran Turismo’ Movie Review: A Rip-Roaring, Adrenaline Filled Blast And Instant Sports Film Classic
Photo from IMDb
From Joe Peltzer
Speeding into theaters to close out the summer months, Gran Turismo is a true cinematic surprise from District 9’s Neill Blomkamp, an exhilarating true story that hits the emotional notes of classic sports films while placing you in the drivers seat of incredible racing sequences that will have you cheering.
In the film, Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), an expert at the Sony Playstation video game/simulator Gran Turismo, finds himself winning a number of competitors sponsored by Nissan that thrust him out of the gaming chair and into the drivers seat of a real car at a camp focused on taking a gamer to an actual race car driver. Gran Turismo is one of those films that falls into well-worn tropes of similar projects, but it leans all of the way in to its benefit. Once the predictable early beats are out of the way, Madekwe takes over with an underdog-like performance that is hard not to root for as he pursues his dreams and his father’s approval. David Harbour, however, is the cornerstone of the entire production with a strong, entertaining performance as Madekwe’s character’s mentor, balancing humor with intriguing background that beautifully compliments the story. Aside from playing Hopper in Stranger Things, this may be my favorite role of his. I had to keep reminding myself that this is based on a true story; when Orlando Bloom’s Danny Moore comes onto the scene and proposes this insane idea of training gamers to be racers, it sounds insane, but it’s true! Bloom himself is solid throughout the film, a good sparring partner for Harbour’s Jack Salter without ever going full antagonist.
Where Gran Turismo excels is in the speed in which the story unfolds, quickly establishing the main character and his pressures before heading straight into the GT Academy and beyond. Much of the film is focused on the series of professional races Mardenborough takes part in presented through interchanging first person to overhead views that are bathed in pure adrenaline and intensity. Though the story is simplistic in terms of what our protagonist is trying to achieve, Blomkamp ropes you into the action and forces your engagement, leading to an absolute blast of a time. Between the perfect cinematography of the racing to the unique VFX used to remind you there is a gamer behind the wheel, plus the third act tying all that has come before together, Blomkamp has crafted a sports classic that will unsuspectedly have you on the edge of your seat, reading to jump up and clap.
As far as video game films go, Gran Turismo is a true accomplishment, an excellent and creative adaptation of what can be viewed as a simple racing game translated into the biggest surprise of the summer (year?). I left the theater amped up and ready to take on the world (the stinging score is probably partly to blame)! Plus it has Ginger Spice in a supporting role as Mardenborough’s mother, opposite the arresting Dijon Hounsou, so it’s an instant win in my book. And fun fact, that real-life Jann was not only a producer and consultant on the film, but a stunt driver for the many racing sequences filmed around the world.
Gran Turismo is pure, rip-roaring entertainment and likely to be thrilling fun for the whole family.
Rating: 4/5
Gran Turismo hits theaters on Friday, August 25th, 2023.
