MOVIE REVIEW: Need For Speed – Will You Be Rushing To See It?

Expectations have not been kind for the movie adaptation of Need For Speed; the number of terrible video game movies that have graced the silver screen is massive with the only “hit” coming from that niche is Disney’s Prince of Persia (which was average at best) and everything else being a s*%t sandwich; Street Fighter, Tekken, Doom, The Mario Brothers need I say more? Combine that with the uninspired trailers released and the fact that car lovers already have The Fast and The Furious franchise for their need for stupid car chase films the expectations can only get lower and lower for the average viewer.

Maybe it was said expectations that were lower than a joke about fat moms, but I actually found Need for Speed enjoyable. That’s not to say it is a great film; a lot of the events that happen during the course of the story are illogical and at times borderline stupid, but I’d be lying if I said I didn’t have fun.

At it’s core Need for Speed focuses on four R’s; Racing, Romance, Revenge and Road Rage. Okay technically that’s five R’s, but the point I’m trying to make is that the people involved in the film were probably quite aware that no one would find their film complex or deep, so it’s to their credit that they don’t bother trying.

The plot is a by numbers revenge film; Toby Marshall loses his friend Pete NoLastName during a race with his generic rival Dino Brewster who runs away from the scene of the crime, so Toby goes to jail for two years and vows to bring Dino to justice by – not joking here – beating him in an illegal street race. Like I mentioned earlier logic is not strong here, but the action is; there are some very cool races with the much-touted lack of CGI adding to the “realism.” One scene I liked in particular was when Toby and British bombshell Julia Maddon were being chased by bounty hunters and were saved by a helicopter. No it doesn’t make a lick of sense, but I did love that scene. The film’s comedy also works, with plenty of solid jokes and lines.

Another thing that carries the film is strong performances. Aaron Paul shows a wide variety of emotions as Toby Marshall, whether he’s driving a car with intensity, having to make small talk with an ex girlfriend or crying his eyes out, his performance here helps the film break bad (HA!) and reach entertaining. Immogen Poots has fun as Julia and has great chemistry with Paul; in fact I have to give both actors plenty of props for having solid chemistry since their love story wouldn’t make a lick of sense in the real world. Michael Keaton has a surprisingly good performance as a DJ of the races, with Keaton hamming it up so well you’d want to have bacon for breakfast the next day.

Dominic Cooper on the other hand disappoints, although that’s not completely his fault as his character Dino has the weakest heel turn I’ve seen since Titus O Neil turned on Darren Young. Basically he starts out as a possibly decent person who stole our lead’s girlfriend, but he does offer Toby and his crew a job for $500,000 so he can’t be all bad, however the minute Toby and Pete make fun of him he loses his temper and challenges them to a race, and when he starts losing that HE KILLS PETE. Dude has issues.

Even with the amount of flaws that plague it, I can honestly recommend watching Need for Speed. You don’t need to see it, but you might want to!

We would like to thank PLDT: Home Telepad, Shell and Jam 88.3 for the premiere tickets!