With the film beginning two weekends of preview screenings this coming Friday, reviews are now out for Sony’s upcoming film adaptation of Playstation’s popular “Gran Turismo” video game property.
Neill Blomkamp (“District 9,” “Elysium”) directs the project, which takes the form of an aspirational racing drama inspired by a true story. In the film, a struggling working-class teenage gamer (Archie Madekwe), a failed former racecar driver (David Harbour), and an idealistic motorsport executive (Orlando Bloom).
Together, they risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world. Djimon Hounsou, Geri Halliwell-Horner, Josha Stradowski and Thomas Kretschmann also star.
With 37 reviews counted, the film is sitting at a mixed 59% (5.7/10) on Rotten Tomatoes with a surprising divide in the reviews – some praising it, some calling it a shameless commercial. Here’s a sampling of reviews:
“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.” – Owen Gleiberman, Variety
“Shot with the level of skillful spectacle that the source material demands. Blomkamp might have directed the best 90-minute sports movie of the decade – it’s just a shame that ‘Gran Turismo’ is nearly two and a half hours.” – Christian Zulko, IndieWire
“Fast, furious and based on fact, this pleasingly lateral adaptation embellishes a console-jockey favourite with familiar sports-movie archetypes.” – Neil Smith, Total Film
“An entertaining and periodically thrilling feature, with director Neill Blomkamp selling the speed and danger of it all, which is far more inviting than the film’s dips into cliche.” – Brian Orndorg, Blu-ray.com
“Confident and competent, Neill Blomkamp‘s adaptation of the popular racing game is a 100-minute commercial for Sony which still manages to have more under the hood than you would expect.” – Joshua Starnes, VitalThrills
“The picture could be considered a simulation itself, mimicking the crowd-pleasing rush of a sports drama, but without enough heart or soul in the tank.” – Tim Grierson, Screen International
“Despite some warm performances, it’s very hard to ignore the feeling that this is largely just two hours of product placement.” – John Nugent, Empire
“The thrill of the games is matched fleetingly here at best, because it feels like a simulator being put through a simulator, and not all the effects are up to snuff. Script-wise, we don’t just get Formula One, but formulae two through infinity.” – Tim Tobey, The Telegraph
“Nothing here feels real or tangible. You could argue that makes for a better recreation of the game – but then why bother heading to the cinema when you simply could stay home and hop on a controller?” – Clarissa Loughrey, The Independent
The “Gran Turismo” movie officially opens wide on August 25th.
