Gran Turismo

When you watch the movie feeling like you know the game Gran Turismo and therefore expect some average gameplay story on the hundredth try, you may come to a fairly solid enlightenment. I honestly didn't know what the movie was about, and then I was very pleasantly surprised by how the creators handled it. Essentially, they told a story based on a real event. And since it was directed by Neil Blomkamp, he did it very effectively, imaginatively, and engagingly. (26/03/2024)

I don't think I've ever played Gran Turismo. I didn't have a PlayStation, and Need For Speed or Forza were my thing. Fortunately it's not an adaptation of the game per se, but rather Rocky in a racing setting. Plus, it works great. From the flying Nissan passage onwards, it picks up and doesn't let go. Blomkamp feeds off beautiful shots of race tracks and has everything under control. Harbour keeps the story moving along and it all moves along well. Great music. It's just that Bloom doesn't quite fit. Schulin is flying through the air... (26/09/2023)

I'm not a fan of PC racing games or real GT racing, yet I enjoyed Gran Turismo in the cinema immensely. Blomkamp's film has an incredibly dynamic energy thanks to the premise, which balances out the fact that it's a fairly simple story: about a young man who manages to cleverly apply his extensive virtual world experience to real racing. Watching it in the cinema, I felt like I was right on the racetrack, where a single hesitation or ill-advised move can have fatal consequences. Of the cast, David Harbour impressed me the most, but Archie Madekwe in the lead role managed to appeal to me as well (btw, Orlando Bloom, who I haven't seen in anything for a long time, has really aged). In the end, I left the cinema, where the audiovisual qualities of the film stood out, extremely satisfied. A bonus was the classic hit song Orinoco Flow. (26/10/2023)

Dynamic, lively, emotive and technically brilliant. The plot is formulaic and the dialogue is ridiculously straightforward, but all of that is overcome by the fact that this is a true story that we wouldn’t believe if it hadn’t actually happened (!). The incorporation of gaming elements into the real world is done so tastefully and skilfully that it make Gran Turismo the best and, mainly, most meaningful film adaptation of a video game so far. Therefore, let’s not compare it to the more mature and thoughtful, but diametrically different racing dramas Rush and Ford v Ferrari. (03/04/2024)

More of a nice fan-service than a full-fledged drama with emotional charge and theses from life like Rush. Gran Turismo has some nice moments, decent circuit racing scenes, solid unobtrusive visual effects and new faces, plus the old ones are cool and don't get in the way. Hounsou and Harbour do what's expected of them, and Bloom is just Bloom. The relationship line, however, is completely unnecessary. This film isn't talked about much probably due to weaker promotion or a specific target audience, it certainly won't become as popular as Nikki Lauda's story, but it has passable qualities. (14/10/2023)