Gran Turismo – Pedal to the Metal
If you take the country’s best Fortnite players and enlist them in the army… America’s 12 year olds could conquer the world.
Gran Turismo is the almost unbelievable true story of a gamer who, after winning a contest, becomes a racecar driver competing against the best in the field.
When I first saw the trailer a few months ago, I couldn’t believe my eyes. This was going to be the most ridiculous movie I’d ever seen. I was very excited to head to the theaters this week to see it. My wife and I checked out a new theater this week, not one of the major chains. The seats reclined so far back that I was practically laying down, and the seats were heated which was a first to me outside of my car.
For what it’s worth, I actually enjoyed the film overall. I laughed a lot, even though that certainly was not the intention of the filmmakers. Even though factually I know it was a true story, I still had a very hard time believing it.
The film is anchored by two strong performances by David Harbour and Orlando Bloom, as two guys determined to help Jann, our main character, perform well at the races. Harbour in particular helped me get invested in the story and sold me on the emotionality of it.
Another aspect that got me was the relationship between Jann and his father, who starts the film not believing in him and wanting him to get a real job. As the film goes on, his father is able to come around and be proud of his son for taking a chance and following his dreams. They share a hug toward the end of the film that the audience can feel.
The first hour drags a bit, relying too much on Archie Madekwe as Jann to carry the brunt of the screentime. Half of this is him screaming “Gran Turismo is not a video game! It’s a simulator!” at anyone who will listen.
To be clear, this movie is one big commercial for the Gran Turismo game, Playstation, and Nissan. However, as far as feature length commercials go, this one was pretty good (Looking at you, Flamin Hot).
Overall, I had fun. I’d give this a solid 6 gears out of ten (Do racecars have that many gears? Probably not, but I’m going for it).
