If you grew up in a house with a PlayStation 2, “Gran Turismo” may have been the bane of your existence – the game you simultaneously couldn’t get the hang of and couldn’t get enough of.
Luckily, through the eyes of PlayStation Productions and director Neill Blomkomp, you can push your harbored frustrations aside to feast on “Gran Turismo,” the based-on-real-events story of how a Japanese video game, Japanese car conglomerate and a Welsh boy team up to take on the ever prestigious world of motorsport.
Despite some bumps in style (why is Danny Moore introduced by intertitles?), everything comes together into an action-packed, high energy two hours and 14 minutes of triumph, gaming and real, on the track racing.
Archie Madekwe, who you may have last seen as a disfigured sacrifice in Ari Aster’s “Midsommar,” takes on the lead role of Jann Mardenborough, despite having at least half-a-foot in height on the real guy.
Jann is a young guy with dreams of being a racecar driver that are stunted by his middle-class status until the game he loves, “Gran Turismo,” gives him the ultimate opportunity to finally break into the racing scene.
Madekwe has to push his way through some hefty highs and lows in the narrative the screenwriters have crafted to tell Mardenborough’s story. Madekwe takes you all the way from a bedroom in Wales to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with his elated screams, sobering sobs and boy-next-door charm.
This performance is only bolstered by the stunning visuals used throughout. Director Neill Blomkomp was determined to film on-site for nearly all the races and does well to create the around-the-world feeling that is vital to the pulse of motorsport.
It looks and feels like a racing movie in every sense. The fast paced, drone filmed action on the track is paired well with the quiet, still shots taken of hushed conversations in luxury hotels and on private planes.
And it gets to feel like a gaming movie, too, with its gameplay overlays during chase scenes and the bigger races of the season. Even if the movie didn’t have the expectation for these gamey scenes, they fit in seamlessly with the narrative without being used inappropriately.
If you’re in a post-Barbenheimer slump and want a reason to go back to the movies, race to see “Gran Turismo.” It’s fast, visually breathtaking and will take your emotions through a race of their own.
