Description

Zero and Wiz RECOMMEND Gran Turismo

I gotta give Gran Turismo credit: this might be the most interesting of all the video game movie adaptations when it comes to the concept and the story.

Instead of it being a straight interpretation of the game, this movie is about a young man who played "Gran Turismo" so well that he enrolled into a contest that led him to be a professional race car driver.

The story of Jann Mardenborough is definitely a fascinating one on paper.

But if you were to watch Gran Turismo the movie, you are led to believe his story is pretty much like any other underdog to champion, outsider to professional sports player that have been made countless times before.

Let's hit the checklist:

• Well meaning parental figure who's telling him to get his head out of the clouds and find meaning in live even though he wants to follow his dreams who then realizes...with pride of course...that his son could do it after all and shows his love and support? Check.
• Once in a lifetime opportunity that brings him face-to-face with his dreams? Yep.
• Surly, but well meaning coach who has no faith in him but then comes around and realizes he truly belongs? Oh yeah.
• Opponents he has to defeat are egotistical, arrogant and just all around jerks to him while others around him are the nicest, sweetest people who "just wants to see him succeed"? You got it.

If this is truly how his whole story turned out, then God is truly a screenwriter.

But what makes this different from those films? Well...it is based on a video game, right?

The film really...and I mean REALLY...hammers home that he is a gamer at heart. The film tries to emphatically demonstrate that he is as talented as he is because of video games.

And how they do that is by showing you everything in "gamer vision".

What's "gamer vision"? Basically, when Jann does something exceptional, the movie mimics a UI of a video game. The vast majority of time it's with the actual Gran Turismo game, which at times can be a nice touch.

The only problem is that they use it way too much. It would have been a lot better if they used it sparingly, like in key sequences in the movie. Instead, they seem to really want to show that "this is from a video game!".

Also, it felt really corny how everyone just insulted him as a sim racer by calling him a "gamer" or a "noob". It was eyerollingly bad when an old man insulted him by calling him a noob.

Notice how I didn't say any of this was bad. Well, honestly, it isn't exactly good. But it's pretty...competent?

The actors do a fine enough job on the film, though David Harbour is the one that carried the film with his quips and heart throughout.

And the racing on screen is good...but the over reliance on camera angles and UI evoking Gran Turismo becomes tiresome.

But honestly, if you like sports movies and you have no previous experience with Gran Turismo, the over reliance on gaming iconography will not bother you quite as much (if at all).

It's a perfectly enjoyable, competent sports movie.