When you have a story of an underdog in a sports drama, it usually makes for a riveting watch, even with a few things done right. And it looks like director Neill Blomkamp knows this only too well. His protagonist Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), is a passionate virtual racer, whose only dream in life is to become a real-life racing champion. His father Kazunori Yamauchi (Takehiro Hira) like most fathers, isn’t a fan of the sport nor does he believe that his son can convert his gaming genius into anything sustainable, let alone slug it out in a real race track. But Jann's life shifts gears in the blink of an eye, when an over-enthusiastic marketing professional from Nissan Motors, Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom), comes up with a bizarre idea. He is on a mission to find the next racing track champ from a bunch of virtual racers of the popular game called Gran Turismo. He onboards a reluctant, condescending and foul-mouthed failed racer Jack Salter (David Harbour) to coach the young racers. Blomkamp and his writers (Jason Hall, Zach Baylin and Alex Tse) drive their story at a breakneck speed, giving us some genuinely unpredictable twists and turns. There is quite a bit of adrenaline pumping excitement here especially, when Jann is pitted against world champions in flashy sports cars on some of the world’s most popular and perilous racing tracks. Archie Madekwe is an apt choice to play the confident, yet at times self-doubting and vulnerable youngster, who is overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude of the opportunity. Rooting for him comes naturally. David Harbour plays Jack Salter with a quintessential frown on his face at all times, which frankly gets annoying very early on. Orlando Bloom’s character is also quite caricaturish, and hard to be taken seriously, as a top executive of a leading auto giant. However, the racing track scenes zoom past almost every bump along the way. There are quite a few make or break races, shot and executed with finesse by cinematographer Jacques Jouffret. They keep the audience on the edge with some truly shocking moments. The music and background score (Lorne Balfe and Andrew Kawczynski) compliment the urgency where required. In an era where some films tend to burden themselves with technical jargon, ‘Gran Turismo’ wisely avoids this pitfall. Instead, it swerves towards the populist route and races ahead with an inspiring true story that pulls at heartstrings and ignites the dreamer within.Read more

Let me start off this review with a confession: I’ve never played the racing simulation video game series that the film is themed on but I have been a witness of my cousins playing it. So this review will primarily be based on the visual experience that the Archie Madekwe, David Harbour, and Orlando Bloom film offered and I’d say that I had a ball watching it. Gran Turismo is based on the life of true story of Jann Mardenborough. As the trailers have already revealed, the film is all about a young Gran Turismo player who went from driving a digital car to a professional race car. Orlando Bloom as the marketing executive at Nissan gets on your nerves and in a good way. However, he is easily outshined by Harbour in their scenes together. Archie Madekwe makes his presence felt in the racing scenes but there is a twist to them as well. I’d suggest you stay back and watch the end credits to find out. Madekwe has a heartwarming on-screen bond with Harbour, something that I’d like to see more of in the future. The visual effects are decent, but not on a par with racing movies like Ford v Ferrari. I love the scenes where the makers show a breakdown of the car parts, allowing viewers to get into the drivers’ minds. One issue I had with the visuals is that instead of making the viewers be in the driver’s seat with Mardenborough, Gran Turismo reduces the experience to a spectator’s POV. This impacts the experience. Despite it, the film offers a few edge-of-the-seat experiences that make for good high points in the movie. For a few, the film could also come across as a PR package for Nissan. The brand placements — Nissan and the other associated brands — start to feel like they are in your face after a certain point. It could be distracting for a few viewers. Gran Turismo offers an immersive and exhilarating experience for those who remotely enjoy racing — watching or playing the game — or even dreamt about racing cars. Blomkamp keeps you glued to the screen and doesn’t let your attention divert.Read more