Gran Turismo may be one of the more creative of the upcoming video game movies we're going to see because. While the film shares its title with a popular PlayStation franchise, and the game itself features prominently, the movie isn’t about telling a story from the game. Instead, it's essentially a classic sports movie, based on real events inspired by the game. It’s a tactic most other video games won’t be able to replicate, which may be a shame, as it looks like Gran Turismo may be on to something.
Critics have seen Gran Turismo, which opens in theaters wide later this month, and for the most part, they seem to be quite impressed with the film. CinemaBlend’s own Mike Reyes has seen the movie and in his Gran Turismo review he gives the movie four stars, saying…
Neill Blomkamp shows that he has a knack for presenting both reality and fantasy with a unique polish. Knowing when to hold back and when to go full throttle, Gran Turismo paces itself in a way that most other tentpole movies and biopics strive to achieve.
Gran Turismo is a racing video game that attempts to be as close to reality as possible, with real cars that handle accurately on real tracks. Gran Turismo the movie tells the true story of one young man (Archie Madekwe) whose skill at the game gave him an opportunity to race in reality. The Gran Turismo cast is quite impressive, including David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, and Djimon Hounsou. It’s perhaps an unusual premise for a movie, but in the end, as Next Best Picture believes, it works…
Considering the feelings many had toward its premise and trailer when it was first announced, “Gran Turismo” might be the surprise crowdpleaser of 2023. By the time the film reaches its climatic 24-hour race at Les Mans in France, the filmmaking by Blomkamp and tired but true storytelling is enough to knock you off your feet.
Director Neil Blomkamp, director of District 9 and Elysium may seem like an unusual choice to direct a movie inspired by a video game, despite the fact that he very nearly directed a Halo film. However, Blomkamp’s skills are being praised by most critics, with Variety calling Gran Turismo his best film yet…
“Gran Turismo,” Blomkamp’s first major feature in eight years, is easily his best. It’s made with a spontaneous humanistic grace, and the racing sequences, which dominate the movie because they’re truly the story it’s telling, are dazzlingly directed and edited.
Gran Turismo is a movie based on a game, and as such one expects that the film will try to inject some of that feeling from the games into the movie in some fashion. Since, at its core, Gran Turismo is a racing movie, this is where the film tries to appeal to those fans of the game, with a style that may appeal to all those with similar racing dreams. As ComingSoon says…
He has created the heart-pounding crowd-pleaser of the year with this classic underdog story that knocks it out of the park. Blomkamp’s style, with how he visualizes the game and where Jann is in the races, allows the scenes to burst with excitement.
While there are a lot of critics singing the praises of Gran Turismo, that’s not to say everybody is completely won over by it. The Wrap critic Kristen Lopez gives the movie ultimately a positive review, but simply because it qualifies as a better than average racing movie, saying…
“Gran Turismo” works best because it eschews its video game origins quickly before settling into a standard race car film.
At its core, Gran Turismo is a “sports movie” more than it is a “video game movie” and while many critics seem to see it as a good version of that, not everybody does. Slashfilm clearly feels Gran Turismo fails as both a classic sports drama and a video game movies, saying…
But it sure feels like a death knell of sorts for this little subgenre of movies; a cautionary tale for anybody still under the delusion that they're the ones who can finally make fetch happen. Because rarely before has a movie's source material felt so diametrically opposed to the needs of a functional narrative, to the point of self-sabotage.
It will be interesting to see how audiences react to Gran Turismo, its concept may not attract a lot of fans of the video game franchise due to the fact that the game itself is only where the movie starts. However, fans of inspirational underdog sports movies, even those that never touch video games, may find what they’re looking for here. Gran Turismo opens in theaters on August 25.
