Gran Turismo Movie Review

Gran Turismo (2023)

Rent Gran Turismo on Amazon Video (paid link) // Buy the video game - Gran Turismo 7 (paid link)
Written by: Jason Hall and Zach Baylin (screenplay by), Jason Hall and Alex Tse (story by)
Directed by: Neill Blomkamp
Starring: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Takehiro Hira, Djimon Oounsou, Josha Stradowski, Geri Halliwell Horner
Rated: PG-13
Watch the trailer

Plot
Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs, a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec, who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.

Verdict
Do I want to watch this movie again? No. Am I adding the video game Gran Turismo to my shopping cart? Yes. I'd guess that means this movie accomplished its goal. This movie checks a lot of the typical boxes for the genre, but I wanted it to better capture the cars and the struggle between adapting hypothetical to reality. Jann accomplished an amazing feat, but the movie doesn't seem to realize it as we succumb to many typical racing movie cliches.
It depends.

Review
In 2011 Jann Mardenborough, the inspiration for this movie, became the third and youngest winner of the GT Academy competition.

Just as Air was a feature length commercial for a shoe, this is a commercial for a game. It worked on me.

This starts with Jann (Archie Madekwe) buying a racing wheel for his favorite game Gran Turismo. Well, it's not a game it's a racing simulator as we're often reminded. He doesn't just play the game, he can visualize it. Combine that with marketing exec Danny (Orlando Bloom), he wants to create a contest to tap into the gamer market. Play the game and get a race car. The fastest sim racers go to a race camp and the winner of the race camp races for Team Nissan. It's an alluring contest for games, though you wonder if it will help Team Nissan.

Archie Madekwe plays Jann

Danny looks at Jack Salter (David Harbour) to run the camp. Jack thinks the idea is ridiculous. Playing on a console isn't the same as driving in reality. Of course Jack is a mechanic for McLaren and he clashes with the petulant driver who thinks he knows everything. Now needing a job, Jack agrees to train gamer kids.

Jann gets to test his skills in the real world running from the cops. That sequence stretches credibility, though it appears that playing Gran Turismo is a great stand in for driving in real life. Video games actually are educational. I didn't understand why Jann didn't tell his dad about the virtual race to qualify for the race team. The movie sets this up as his dad thinking video games are pointless. This contest proves it's not, the omission makes it seem like it's all for drama.

Jann manages to qualify and get accepted to the camp. Whenever Jann races we get a CGI sequence of him imagining he's in the car. The real world video game CGI graphics are pretty cool. That's really the only purpose for them, they look neat.

Jack's goal is to prove sim racers aren't race car drivers. He's really playing the villain. It's over the top, but it seems poised for a heel turn. I would have liked to see this play up the idea that Jack doesn't like that they got here unconventionally or it's a bit of resentment due to his short racing career. It would have been nice depth. Jann and Jack clash, but Jann proves that playing video games does provide him with some insight.

Danny and Jack argue over who should win the camp. Jann and the American are neck and neck. Danny wants the American to win as he's easier to market. Jack wants the best racer to win. This is just manufactured drama that could easily be deleted.

Archie Madekwe, David Harbour play Jann, Jack Salter

Jann gets to drive in an actual race. It's a monumental achievement that the movie should play up more. In his first race the other drivers bully him a bit. Jann has skills, he just has the least amount of experience actually racing. Jann has to place in his first four races to get his racer's license. This feels pointed when it comes down to his last race. Jack and Jann start to bond which is no surprise. In his first official race he's involved in a horrific wreck.

With almost any car movie, my complaint is that I want more cars and a focus on cars. This movie likes to take everything to the limit and down to the last second for maximum drama. Le Mans seems to be the big prove it race for Jann. He witnesses a crash which freaks him and causes him to lose confidence. He must overcome his fear to win. That moment feels a bit cliche as it's very Days of Thunder. At the end of the race everything comes together for a nice moment with Jann winning the race, proving Jack wrong and Danny right.

This movie wants to maximize the drama by having everything come down to the last moment and last chance. Every situation is so dire that the scenes soon fail to have any impact. It's a neat story on its own merits that doesn't need embellishment.