Even with star power like Djimon Hounsou, Orlando Bloom, and David Harbour, Gran Turismo can’t save a script that’s mostly lacking in the energy department – despite the amount of high octane stunts.
Gran Turismo
Directed By: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: Archie Madekwe, Orlando Bloom, Djimon Hounsou, and David Harbour
Runtime: 2 hours, 14 minutes
Synopsis
Based on the titular Sony video game, this true story showcased how simulation driver Jann Mardenborough won the Gran Turismo Academy and eventually translated that into wins and achievements in the real-life racing circuits.
The Endearing Parts
Photo: Courtesy of Sony Pictures
There’s a few moments later in the film between Jann (Archie Madekwe) and Jack Slater (David Harbour) that work so well that I found myself laughing. Particularly when they refer back to Jenn’s insistence on playing Kenny G and Enya songs to relax himself before a race (the real Mardenborough actually does this before races). They had dropped that into the movie earlier and it paid off really well. Sure, there’s plenty of acting that’s phoned in, which we’ll talk about in a moment, but these moments definitely shined when they happened.
Flat As A Tire
Unfortunately, we really need the whole cast and script to come together for this and it simply isn’t there. After about the 10 min mark, you’ll be exhausted hearing how a video game simulator can’t get you ready for real racing, which either points to how thin this script was or how bored the actors were to say that line over and over again. I get it, the film wants to convey how crazy this idea initially was, but at some point, you need to show us that and not simply say it repeatedly.
However, there’s a moment where that point could have made, and you’ll notice it lacking early on when Jann is starting to push back against his father and join the GT Academy. Seasoned director Neill Blomkamp – probably in an effort to save time and effort – turns most of that section into a montage, rushing through the meat of Jann’s on-screen development while also undermining two drivers who will be important to us later on as his race career develops.
I wasn’t expecting the movie to spend a ton of time here, when Jann has plenty of real-life accomplishments to go through, but if you want to prove why there’s potential danger in this situation, this is the place to do it. Let’s compare it to Top Gun: Maverick (2022) and their pilots training for the eventual mission: the benefit of that narrative is they are only preparing for one mission so all the training scenes and montages are building weight towards how dangerous it is and how prepared they must be. And even if you have forgotten half the names of those aviators, you were more engaged in those scenes because of the stakes and the animosity between Maverick (Tom Cruise) and Rooster (Miles Teller).
Compare that to Jack (Harbour) and Jann (Madekwe) where the animosity is definitely there, but we don’t really get a chance to sit with it, nor does it build any real stakes for our characters later when we need it. Cool Runnings (1993), even as a Disney movie focused primarily on the comedic elements, got the grizzled old mentor and young aspiring star dynamic better than this film.
Delivering On The Track
When it comes to delivering on the visuals and race elements, director Neill Blomkamp has made sure those moments live up to typical racing movie expectations. While there are a few irritating cuts and edits here and there, the overall solid design of the races and camera work make you feel connected. However, there’s one race in particular I found lacking, and this is largely due to recency bias: the 24 hour race at Le Mans, where Mardenborough and the rest of Team Nismo placed 3rd.
If you remember James Mangold’s 2019 racing biopic Ford vs Ferrari, it’s hard not to compare how different these two productions tackle the world famous race. The Le Mans race in Turismo, which attempts to carry the emotional weight and final challenge for our characters, is still minimized by using a lot of montages, and suffers from underdeveloped side characters (remember the Maverick example from earlier) being suddenly thrust back into the narrative.
Compare that to how Mangold handles Le Mans in Ford, where it takes on the entire final act of the movie and represents the culmination of everything that the team has been working towards. We know early on in the movie that Team Ford has to win at Le Mans in order to shake up the racing world, to strike back at Ferrari. Turismo doesn’t give us that same courtesy, so it feels like just another race tacked onto and the audience is robbed from having a great final act.
Gross Emotional Switch-Up
This leads me to the most problematic part of the entire movie, which most folks wouldn’t know until they read about the film afterwards. There’s a key moment where Jann loses control of his car on the Nürburgring, an infamous German track, suffering injuries to himself and killing a spectator as a result. The film portrays this moment as a character-defining moment for Jann, where he needs to tackle his demons and get back into the driver’s seat, culminating with the abysmal scenes at Le Mans.
However in real life, while that crash and death really happened, it occurred much earlier in his career. While it may have been impactful in his life (one would certainly think it was), it’s a gross misrepresentation of what actually happened and is especially egregious given the loss of life. Now, Hollywood biopics take liberty with the facts all the time: like Gerry Bertier’s accident in Remember The Titans happening AFTER, not before the title game or even Ford vs Ferrari leaving out some key details regarding the competition between Ford and Ferrari or how Ken Miles actually lost the 1st place win.
Conclusion / Recommendation
While gamers may enjoy the small callbacks to the Gran Turismo video game, and the racing scenes are generally solid, there’s not enough heart and soul within this biopic to win over an audience and there’s plenty of better executed underdog stories that bury this movie low on the list.
I don’t recommend catching this in theaters except for the racing scenes – you could probably be fine enjoying this one at home or catching it on a matinee if you’ve run out of things to see this month.