Gran Turismo: Overlong Racing Actioner Needs More Vroom

By Chris Knight

Rating: C-

In Gran Turismo, a based-on-a-true-story drama about a kid who went from playing racing simulation video games to doing the real thing, our hero must place fourth in one key race to secure his license to compete. He needs to land third in another to prove his worth. He must come first in a key event to outpace his gamer-competitors.

The movie, however, arrives (at best) in eighth place, several laps behind the likes of Rush, Ford v. Ferrari, Senna, and several of the Fast and Furious franchise. Heck, Nicolas Cage in Drive Angry was more fun.

Part of the problem is its length. Gran Turismo goes from zero to denouement in a leisurely two hours and 15 minutes. The big race that closes out the action is France’s annual 24 Hours of Le Mans, for heaven’s sake. Never thought I’d write these words, but that’s too much climax.

Archie Madekwe stars as Jann Mardenborough, a British lad whose passion for the ultra-realistic Gran Turismo video game series lands him a spot at the PlayStation GT Academy, and eventually a contract to race professionally for Nissan.

Not that we get to any of this quickly, mind you. First, we have to watch as Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) gets the idea for the Academy. Then we see him recruit grumpy old mechanic Jack Salter (David Harbour) to help him train his acolytes. If I may play the 1984-was-the-greatest-year-ever card, the similarly themed The Last Starfighter wasted little time with such setup and ran a trim hour and 41 minutes. Plus, it had Robert Preston!

The lacklustre screenplay doesn’t do any favours to its characters, with Bloom drawn as little more than a corporate cypher, and Madekwe’s character attracted to a woman (played by Maeve Courtier-Lilley) whom I can only describe as playing easy-to-get. Their date-night-in-Tokyo montage plays like a parody of a cliché.

In fact, it’s Harbour who gets the biggest character arc, transitioning from drill sergeant to racing sensei, and revealing along the way his own tragic backstory. The actor, alternately well cast (Stranger Things, Violent Night) and miscast (Black Widow, Hellboy), really leans into this one, and is clearly having fun with it. Less so Oscar nominee Djimon Hounsou, in a thin role as Jann’s stern father.

Director Neill Blomkamp (remember when he burst out of the gate with 2009’s District 9? Remember?) shepherds things along adequately enough, with some occasionally inspired swoopy camerawork by cinematographer Jacques Jouffret (The Purge).

But Gran Turismo often pulls its cathartic punches, to the point where an emotional low point for Mardenborough feels decidedly unearned. And I know this is what movies do, but that incident (involving a race car spoiler; spoiler alert?) is moved to a different point in the man’s life than it actually happened. Also, far too many I’m-listening-to-my-music-and-can’t-hear-you gags.

There are elements to enjoy, mind you. The race in Dubai is thrilling, and the end of the La Mans marathon (once we finally get there) has some fist-pumping energy to it. And the film does some interesting visual things with the fact that it’s about both gaming and racing, sometimes layering elements of one pastime on top of the other.

It’s also fun to see the real Mardenborough pop up in the end credits, alongside the fun fact that he played his own character’s stunt double in some of the driving sequences.

But ultimately, if Gran Turismo were a car, it would have shoddy brakes, little pickup and bad cornering. If you’re looking to get from narrative point A to point B by the most direct route possible, it’ll suffice. If you want something more engaging, you may want to choose a different ride, one with a little more under the hood.

Gran Turismo. Directed by Neill Blomkamp. Starring Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, and Orlando Bloom. In theatres August 25.