So another video game adaption. We all know what to expect by now: something not very good. Especially from a game that is basically a racing simulator, with nothing much in the way of story tying together each stage. Lets add the not unwarranted comparisons to the Fast & Furious franchise on top of that, and things aren't looking good for Need for Speed. But then, the movie had to go and do something that surprised this reviewer: it's quite good. Sure, it has it's problems, but it is a hell of a lot of fun, having more in common with car chase movies like Bullitt and Smokey and the Bandit, aping their style more than the flashiness and pounding sound track of Fast & Furious, and making you feel like the ties to the video game are more for name recognition than anything else.
Fresh off his star making turn in Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul is Toby Marshall, a small town mechanic, and gifted street racer, who is set up to take the fall for a race gone bad by hated rival, Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Two years later, Toby is out of jail, and immediately signs up for a famous illegal street race, where, behind the wheel of a legendary Ford Mustang, he plans to settle the score with Dino. Ok, so walking into Need for Speed logic must be checked at the door. The story is by far the weakest part of this movie, piling on the cheesiness and cliches with every scene. The movie stalls (excuse the pun) pretty early on, with a first act that takes far too long with the set up. You might find yourself wanting to check out after the half hour mark with how long it takes for the story to get going, but once the second act starts, that's when the movie kicks into high gear (again....sorry), and the real fun begins. The decision to use practical effects (forcing the cast to take extensive stunt driving lessons) as opposed to CGI was one of the best decisions director, and former stunt man, Scott Waugh could have made, adding some real meatiness to the racing scenes. There is a real sense of speed captured here, but it is shot through with a steadiness and eye to make sure not one second of action is lost. The growl of the engines take over the soundtrack, suffocating the score at times, and I swear I heard the cars rattle at times. The stunts, while not breath taking, are executed perfectly, and cars flip and crash into each other with a satisfying crunch. The car chase do a lot to get the blood pumping, and make the more outlandish parts of the movie, like how Toby's friend Benny (Scott Mescudi) can get his hands on various aircraft, from a Cessna to a traffic chopper to an Apache helicopter, much easier to swallow.
As you can guess, Aaron Paul is much better than this, but he does seem to be having fun as Toby, and some nice chemistry with Imogen Poots, who is extremely likable as the love interest. Dominic Cooper doesn't really do much other than stand around brooding, leaving you under no impression that he is anything but the bad guy. Michael Keaton is at his over acting best as The Monarch, organiser of the race at the heart of the movie, who does nothing more than sit in his web camera, extolling the 'deep' philosophical meaning of getting behind the wheel of a car. Sure, his scenes were probably shot all in one day, but he is having a lot of fun, even letting some Beetlejuice slip out at one point.
A nice call back to the car chase movies from decades past, Need for Speed is a fun little popcorn movie, not without some problems, but entertaining nonetheless.
Fresh off his star making turn in Breaking Bad, Aaron Paul is Toby Marshall, a small town mechanic, and gifted street racer, who is set up to take the fall for a race gone bad by hated rival, Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Two years later, Toby is out of jail, and immediately signs up for a famous illegal street race, where, behind the wheel of a legendary Ford Mustang, he plans to settle the score with Dino. Ok, so walking into Need for Speed logic must be checked at the door. The story is by far the weakest part of this movie, piling on the cheesiness and cliches with every scene. The movie stalls (excuse the pun) pretty early on, with a first act that takes far too long with the set up. You might find yourself wanting to check out after the half hour mark with how long it takes for the story to get going, but once the second act starts, that's when the movie kicks into high gear (again....sorry), and the real fun begins. The decision to use practical effects (forcing the cast to take extensive stunt driving lessons) as opposed to CGI was one of the best decisions director, and former stunt man, Scott Waugh could have made, adding some real meatiness to the racing scenes. There is a real sense of speed captured here, but it is shot through with a steadiness and eye to make sure not one second of action is lost. The growl of the engines take over the soundtrack, suffocating the score at times, and I swear I heard the cars rattle at times. The stunts, while not breath taking, are executed perfectly, and cars flip and crash into each other with a satisfying crunch. The car chase do a lot to get the blood pumping, and make the more outlandish parts of the movie, like how Toby's friend Benny (Scott Mescudi) can get his hands on various aircraft, from a Cessna to a traffic chopper to an Apache helicopter, much easier to swallow.
As you can guess, Aaron Paul is much better than this, but he does seem to be having fun as Toby, and some nice chemistry with Imogen Poots, who is extremely likable as the love interest. Dominic Cooper doesn't really do much other than stand around brooding, leaving you under no impression that he is anything but the bad guy. Michael Keaton is at his over acting best as The Monarch, organiser of the race at the heart of the movie, who does nothing more than sit in his web camera, extolling the 'deep' philosophical meaning of getting behind the wheel of a car. Sure, his scenes were probably shot all in one day, but he is having a lot of fun, even letting some Beetlejuice slip out at one point.
A nice call back to the car chase movies from decades past, Need for Speed is a fun little popcorn movie, not without some problems, but entertaining nonetheless.
