Need For Speed

 Directed by:

Scott Waugh

Starring:

Aaron Paul

Imogen Poots

Dominic Cooper

Ramón Rodríguez

Kid Cudi

There were two major roadblocks as I sat down to suspend my disbelief for this movie. And I mean major. 

Roadblock number one - Breaking Bad. You have to understand that Aaron Paul would never have gotten this gig without the success of possibly the greatest TV series of all time (and that includes the future). There was a qualified fear that I would not see Toby Marshall, that I wouldn't even see Aaron Paul but that I would see Jessie Pinkman. Being typecast is a horrible thing for an actor, up there with writer's block for an author and a zit on a model. Was Ben Affleck ever going to be taken seriously after all the drivel we were forced to watch with his Mills & Boon levels of charm and massive chin starring in it? No way José. To Paul's credit, I was taken by surprise. Five minutes into the movie, I had forgotten that Breaking Bad had ever happened. This is most definitely not Jesse Pinkman. While Marshall and Pinkman are both in touch with their emotions, Pinkman spent the entirety of Breaking Bad teetering on the edge, struggling with life and the decisions he made along the way. Guilt, regret and anger consume him throughout the award-winning show. Marshall is a much better put together man. He is strong and quiet; reserved almost. But when the situation calls for emotion, he sells better than a cockney on a market stall trying to shift dodgy knickers. Pinkma... Paul is the star of the show and he relies on his acting to show us who he is.

Then there was roadblock number two - Need For Speed - the game. Need For Speed has been a stable game of every platform going back to the year 1994. It has sold millions of copies for it's super-fast and RIDICULOUSLY easy gameplay and has, evidently, become a franchise, with 23 releases to date. The problem is that, as a racing game, it is shallow. A to b racing, being chased by the cops, yawn. In 20 years of production, I only enjoyed one version of the game and I was 18, unemployed and sexually frustrated when that happened. You could have given me a giant hamster wheel and I would have been entertained. Then comes the fact that this is a movie-adaption of a game. This never works. Resident Evil, the original and NONE of the others, is about as close as this formula has come to being successful and that's if you ignore the second half of the movie.

I had also feared that the movie would be picking up the creative crumbs from the Fast And The Furious franchise that has exploded again. Is it 17 movies they have done now? Yes Dwayne, we get it; you have a big neck. And while there are parallels between the movies - the hero works in a garage, he just happens to be a kick ass driver, his has a thing with his buddy's sister, he has blonde hair, there is division, loss and racing aplenty - this is a very different movie. They used no CGI, the driving is slick and realistic, they use no CGI, the action is gritty, they use no CGI, the acting and dialogue easily suspend your disbelief, they use no CGI and even though I played the games, I was left guessing up until the very end. Sure, there is a small bit of cheese but it is not too far fetched and merely knocks on the fourth wall as opposed to breaking it down. Even the obligatory love story isn't cringing. Oh and did I mention that they used no CGI? How did that happen? This movie is filled with action, car crashes and moments were you stop and rewind and still cannot get your head around it. No CGI!!

The movie opens with one of the greatest chase scenes/races in movie history (not an exaggeration) and that is just a taste of what is to come. The soundtrack to the movie is one of the best things about the two-hour experience; there practically is none. The background music is understated, allowing you to sit back and enjoy the soundtrack that comes from an unadulterated V8 engine. That sound is like the purr from the stomach of a famished Lion - natural, deep and somehow soothing and violent at the same time.

There are unwritten rules when it comes to movies. Sequels are never better than the original. Heroes do not make good bad guys. Game to movie adaptations suck. Then Godfather 2 happened. Terminator happened. Need For Speed happened. This is a watershed moment in cinema.

Carroll Shelby would be proud.

Rating: UUUUu

Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e73J71RZRn8