Movie Review: ‘Gran Turismo Is A Shiny Ride Thats Lacking Under The Hood
The look of Neill Blomkamp's racing simulator, based on the video game Gran Turismo, mimics the look of race cars: shiny, colorful and chrome. The film has real superficial appeal and is based on the fantastic true story of Ian Mardenborough, a player and fan of the racing game Gran Turismo (the most accurate driving game), who wins a Nissan sponsored race. Driving Academy and has been a successful racing driver ever since - in reality, not on virtual routes. But pop this villain's hood and you'll see that this car has an undeniable cynicism. All in all, the propaganda film is just a publicity stunt.
When you start picking apart this sports thriller, if not the formula, everything falls apart. (One might wonder how good gas-guzzling motorsport is, and why we glorify it on screens these days.) Gran Turismo is really trying to move beyond the cowardly capitalism of Orlando Bloom. Nissan Marketing Director Danny Moore (version of GT Academy founder Darren Cox). Bloom - and the screenplay by Jason Hall, Jack Belin and Alex Toss - portray Danny as a quick-witted but entertaining character; An unconventional innovator with an "unconventional population" vision is in over his head.
Danny smiled at the Nissan executives and described to the players that Gran Turismo "gave them the passion to drive". He devised a plan for the Gamer Racer Driving Academy, and victory after victory, even in the photo final, he still wants to be the most photo-ready driver behind the wheel of a Nissan Motorsports car. , even if it isn't. T is the fastest . He is something of an antithesis to our hero, allowing the audience to poke fun at his business proclivities , even though the film features advertisements for Gran Turismo and Nissan cars .
The fastest academy runner is a tall, quiet boy from Cardiff, Wales, the son of a former footballer looking for his destiny in life. Archie Madekwe stars as Jane, a fun-loving driver with a swagger, and if Gran Turismo succeeds it's thanks to Madekwe's performance, but also to David Harbour's bold and understated presence as a former racing driver and engineer. Train the players .
As purely mechanical fun, Gran Turismo really works. Every time Ian climbs to the top of the leaderboard, the audience raises their hands in thunderous applause, reflecting the appeal of Madekway's heartfelt performance and the way Blomkamp uses simple, visual storytelling to raise the stakes. effectively. It uses a rich color palette so we can easily identify Ian and his opponents during the race, while using in-game icons and graphics to show how Ian sees the track through his driving simulator watch .
The script is your run-of-the-mill sports thriller without much subtext - to anyone but Harbour, some of these motivational lines might sound like real rattle, but he sells the goods with his raw wit and he and Madikwe have real chemistry. . As an unlikely sports star and his demanding coach. Djimon Hounsou plays Kahn's father, a surprisingly moving role for the actor, a father who doesn't understand his son's dreams. And yes, that's Geri Halliwell Horner, aka Ginger Spice, who plays Jane's mother. Fun fact: The real Mardenborough also doubles as his character in the film.
Gran Turismo can be compared to another recent racing film, Ford vs. Ferrari, and not just because both films finished at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans. Both films are stories of personal determination, individual achievement and overcoming obstacles, but they are deeply connected to automakers and their desire to sell more cars. These inspiring stories have ruthless capitalist goals and roots, but then again, the motorsport industry is already saturated with sponsorships, product placement and advertising. The author is not trying to interview traders and why are they doing this? After all, 'Gran Turismo', as attractive as it is, is like a special wrapper for a sports car: a mere advertisement for Mardenborough's unique racing tour .
