Review by Don Gullory
Gamers often hold their breath at the thought of a videogame sourced movie, however, Need For Speed is a major change from the legacy left from failures like Super Mario Brothers. The film features Aaron Paul (Breaking Bad) as Tobey Marshall, a racing prodigy who is struggling to run his own custom auto shop. The story and plot are pretty thin and clichéd, relying on the themes of revenge and redemption to emotionally draw the audiences in. After being blamed and jailed for the death of a friend, he knows the only way to prove his innocence is to travel cross-country for an illegal “winner takes all” race which will draw out the individual responsible.
Throughout the film, generations of audiences will be provided with not only pays homage to such car movie classics as Smokey and the Bandit, Bullitt, American Graffiti, Cannonball Run, and Rebel without a Cause, the film references its namesake game with the racing style, interaction with the police, spectacular stunts, and non-stop action throughout.
A great strength of this film is the realism and humor that it adds. In comparison to the Fast and the Furious series, this film’s story is not far-fetched (even if some of the action sequences may be). It has its own identity and resurrects the love of “American Muscle” and car culture. The true strength of this film is that they are not trying to be another “car movie.” They are trying to stand alone. However, the film is not about the story, it is about the cars. The audiences will be thrilled with the assortment of vehicles throughout the movie and get the sense that they are not just watching Need For Speed, but are along for the ride.
3.5/5
