'Gran Turismo' movie review: A vicarious thriller minus the tension

Still from Gran Turismo

Film: Gran Turismo
Cast: Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell, Djimon Hounsou, Daniel Puig, Josha Stradowski
Director: Neill Blomkamp
Rating: 2.5/5
Runtime: 135 min

Neill Blomkamp's action-oriented sports biopic, "based on a true story", about an ace play station-driven simulation game, ‘Gran Turismo' player graduating to the real deal, is likely to garner some audience enthusiasm from the game's devotees and motorsports fans.

Teenager Jann (Archie Madekwe), lives with his dad Steve (Djimon Hounsou), mom Lesley (Geri Halliwell Horner), and older brother Coby (Daniel Puig) while working as a shop assistant in a local department store, in Cardiff, UK. Jann, a Gran Turismo addict doesn't think of anything much other than playing the game and having visions of a race-driving future even if it seems pretty much far-fetched.

The plotting is fairly predictable, Jann Mardenborough's inspiring backstory is given the short-shrift treatment and there's not much tension to be had from predictable plot twists and an underdeveloped dramatic arc. The script co-written by Blomkamp, Jason Hall, and Zach Baylin, goes right into the action with a cursory reference to family dynamics and psychological motivations.

Gran Turismo was launched in 1997 by Japanese developer Polyphony Digital and has since maintained a high degree of consistency with both the real-life vehicles and racing circuits incorporated into the gameplay. Nissan's attempt to recruit gamers and train them as racers to challenge a seasoned field of professionals on the international circuit is presented as the brainchild of Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom).

Mardenborough's development as an ace race circuit driver came from those armchair driving skills that emulated the real circuit experience. Despite opposition and ridicule, the teenager was able to compete at a professional level, after winning a play station contest, significantly compressing the years of experience required, while managing to skilfully engineer his way to the winner's podium.

Despite the many drawbacks in the piecemeal scripting, Blomkamp manages to keep the interest going by making tech specs his mainstay here. His visual style comprising dynamic pacing, smart camera techniques, and faultless production design allows for a fairly strong involvement in the underdog-to-winner construct. Jacques Jouffret's slick cinematography aids him well in that quest. There may not be much tension in this telling but the racing sequences, which dominate the narrative, are edited with a style and effect that puts the audience literally and figuratively in the driver's seat.