Gran Turismo Aims To Be a Winning Sports Film For the Next Generation, But Finishes in Third Place: Review

Paolo Ragusa

August 8, 2023 at 2:03 PM·7 min read

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The post Gran Turismo Aims To Be a Winning Sports Film For the Next Generation, But Finishes in Third Place: Review appeared first on Consequence.

The Pitch: When we meet Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), he’s already a champion. He may not have many hours logged on the road, especially in his hometown of Cardiff, Wales — but in Gran Turismo, the racing simulation game released by Playstation, he’s one of the best drivers in the world. Despite Mardenborough’s father (Djimon Hounsou) insisting that his son follows his footsteps as a professional soccer player, Mardenborough is much more interested in competing online, tooling virtual cars, and striving to become the best Gran Turismo player in the continent.

But Mardenborough is in for a life-changing challenge: becoming a real race car driver. When Nissan marketing man Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) successfully pitches a competition where the best Gran Turismo players will race to become Nissan’s newest signee, Mardenborough and nine other prospective drivers have to put their skills behind the wheel to the test. They’re mentored (and, at times, straight-up bullied) by Jack Salter (David Harbour), a former driver who does not play about how serious and dangerous it is to be a race car driver.

So, it’s on Mardenborough to learn the ropes as quickly as he can and translate his simulation skills to an actual, lightning-quick vehicle. But once he gets the hang of it, his determination and confidence are still frequently questioned by the frenetic action of real life racing and the dangers that accompany it.

Gran Turismo isn’t exactly based on the aforementioned video game; it’s based on the life of the actual Jann Mardenborough, who won an opportunity to develop at the GT Academy from his Gran Turismo skills and has gone on to podium at major races throughout his career. Not only that, Mardenborough himself serves as Madekwe’s stunt driver in the film, and provided crucial details to the filmmakers — director Neill Blomkamp and screenwriters Jason Hall and Zach Baylin — about his life, family, and hardships behind the wheel.

Trifecta of Relevancy: Gran Turismo arrives with three contextual trends that are capitalized on in the film. For one, it’s a filmed adaptation of a popular video game, which has already seen success in 2023 with The Last of Us and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Similarly, it’s an example of taking relatively popular IP and using it to tell a new story — something different than what the video game would offer.

Unlike the gratuitous 2014 adaptation of the similarly popular racing game Need For Speed, Gran Turismo does not concern itself with replicating or forging a storyline that would appear in the game itself, nor does it offer a rote storyline about good, evil, and explosive car chases a la The Fast and Furious. After all, Gran Turismo was never about that — it was always about realism, dynamics, and the concrete jungle of the international motorsports world.

Gran Turismo (Sony)

Which brings us to the next topic of relevancy: the meteoric rise of Formula 1 racing. Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive series has contributed to widespread interest in the global racing world — it may still be a hobby for galavanting millionaires, but the fervor of Formula 1 has landed in the United States, and it’s not going away any time soon. Mardenborough does not race in an F1 event in the film, but Gran Turismo highlights some of the physical and cultural aspects of racing, and thoroughly replicates the rush of these events.

A significant chapter of the film takes place during the 24 Hours of Le Mans, a bewildering, endurance-based event that sees groups of drivers race for a full day, even through the darkest hours of the night. The physicality of not just this race, but all of the races that Mardenborough competes in, is well on display — we feel the rush of G-forces as Mardenborough slams on the throttle of his race car, we witness the exhausting task of having to keep an extraordinary pace in the pouring rain at 4 a.m., and we’re given dozens of POV shots that place us in the driver’s seat with Mardenborough.

Video Game-ified: Another unique angle that Gran Turismo highlights, but doesn’t fully embrace, is the validity and popularity of E-sports. In Gran Turismo, Mardenborough’s gaming skills help to establish his comfortability on global courses (like Le Mans) and his knowledge of cars and their mechanics. But other than that, his E-sports prowess mainly serves as the initial catalyst that allows him to compete. Now, leaning into the “modern sports film” being about E-sports is a daring task that could lead to an arguably less exciting film — but it’s a worthy pursuit, especially considering the emphasis on Gran Turismo being as realistic of a driving simulation as possible.

Still, the film’s hybrid approach adds some much-needed novelty. Dozens of the game’s features make their way into the film, like the icons above Mardenborough’s car dictating his place in the race or the dotted lines that show how Mardenborough can best his opponents on turns. When Mardenborough is in the zone during a race, there are a few moments where we’re transported from the overwhelming action of the race track to the quiet determinism of Mardenborough’s Gran Turismo races in his bedroom — the complex machinery of the car dissembling to reveal Mardenborough alone at the wheel, drowning everything out except his intuition, focus, and instincts on the track.

Of course, a big difference emphasized in the film is that unlike the video game, when you crash, you don’t simply “respawn.” It should be noted that there’s a significant wreck depicted in the film, complete with terrifying detail, harsh fallout, and multiple POV shots of being in the driver’s seat while your car is flipping over and over again. It’s a real detail from Mardenborough’s life, and it’s smart to include it in the film for narrative and stylistic purposes. But if you’ve been in a bad wreck before, on a racetrack or simply on the road, then let this be a trigger warning: It’s pretty gnarly.

Gran Turismo (Sony)

The Verdict: Gran Turismo eventually finds its stride, but begins on a rather awkward opening lap. Look, exposition is hard. It’s difficult to introduce important characters, story arcs, and themes in an organic way — especially if the film is based on actual events. But the first 30 minutes of Gran Turismo are so banal and cliche that it feels like they didn’t even try for a more creative or unique introduction. There’s nothing explicitly wrong with the narrative choices; there’s still a lot of potential in the “I just want to make you proud, pops” storyline for Mardenborough and his father or the “Just when I thought I was out, they pull me back in” story for Salter. But the wooden dialogue that sets up these themes is so unsubtle and performative that “based on a true story” seems, initially, like a lie.

It’s when Mardenborough joins the GT Academy and begins racing that the film really starts to rev up. Archie Madekwe, with his utterly rich, impossibly low speaking voice, is an interesting and more-than-capable performer who charts Mardenborough’s journey well. But even in the more overt patches of dialogue, Gran Turismo‘s biggest winner is David Harbour. This is Harbour’s sports movie; he aces the role of the fraught, aging mentor with authenticity, conviction, and charged physicality. He outshines Orlando Bloom so much that their scenes together feel totally lopsided — Bloom might be a great provider of enthusiasm in the film, but his performance is so forgettable that it feels like he and Harbour are in two different movies.

Overall, Gran Turismo is an exciting ride that takes tropes from both sports films and “fast car” films to create something that feels more “real” than either genre usually manages. Including concrete details from Mardenborough’s life adds greatly to this feel; it’s delightful that before a race, his pump-up music is Kenny G and Enya, which is so specific that it could only be real. The more half-baked elements in the screenplay prevent Gran Turismo from assuming its role as a modern sports tale for a new generation — but that doesn’t mean it isn’t worth the ride.

Where to Watch: Gran Turismo revs into theaters on August 25th. There will be sneak preview screenings over the next few weeks as well, check your local listings.

Trailer: