The driving scenes are long and many in Need for Speed, based as it is on the popular, two-decade-old series of car racing video games. Like the most famous franchise in the genre of late – The Fast and the Furious – the new addition to fold delivers exactly what the title promises. Its characters, simply but surely, yearn for the thrill of swift automobiles. They ask, and the film delivers.
That’s not to say that Need for Speed takes the titular thirst for granted; as the feature starts, hero Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul, TV’s Breaking Bad) enjoys the kick of increased velocity, but it is by no means a necessity. The requirement for rapid motoring arises as several complications come his way. Director Scott Waugh (Act of Valor), debut writer George Gatins and his brother John Gatins (Flight) take their time to raise the stakes, to ensure the need for speed is earned.
First, Tobey re-builds and then shows off a souped-up precision vehicle to buyer’s broker, Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots, Are We Officially Dating?), its pace a pre-requisite of the sale. Then, he thrashes out his rivalry with neighbourhood tough done good, Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper, Dead Man Down), attempting to settle his debts in the process. Next, he sprints across the country to claim his spot in a lucrative illegal race, motivated by unadulterated revenge. Of course, that contest provides the grand finale – and the ultimate act of redemption.
There’s more detail to the tale, as the film finds cause for Tobey and Julia to banter then become close, fleshes out the ill-will with Dino through tragedy, establishes its climatic chase through the commentary of race host Monarch (Michael Keaton, RoboCop), and gets Tobey’s friends and fellow car enthusiasts – Benny (Scott Mescudi, How to Make it in America), Finn (Rami Malek, Short Term 12), Joe Peck (Ramon Rodriguez, Battle Los Angeles) and Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson, Tim Winton’s The Turning) – busy and buzzing. There are ample developments of pure convenience, the array of illogical feats not just limited to the road. What matters, though, is what happens on the bitumen – and dirt, grass, and any other surface a car can manoeuvre on or through.
Much of Need for Speed’s running time is comprised of driving, and not by accident; that’s what the games are all about, after all. Thankfully, the many squealing tyres and thrumming engines are in the service of well-staged and intricately-choreographed action. Repetition may fuel the filming, as cinematographer Shane Hurlbut’s (Deadfall) shots begin to feel familiar, though not the energetic high-octane bursts for much of the film’s duration. That the stunts exist in a heightened, reckless world, free of consequences or considerations of mortality and criminality outside of the main characters, almost goes without saying.
With the cars the real stars, the cast attempts to hold their own, albeit through limited opportunities. The dialogue is rote at best, with ‘we’ll settle this behind the wheel’ uttered at the height of macho posturing. Little depth is afforded the evident archetypes, the stoic anti-hero, sleazy villain, feisty femme and helpful flunkies all accounted for. The group dynamic ticks all the relevant boxes, battered blue-collar upbringings cementing the bond as a pseudo-family. And yet, the innate charm of Paul offers interest, his effortless camaraderie and cavalier moments with an enjoyable Poots remarkably earnest. Poots herself has fun with r spirited love interest role, in the best showing from the supporting cast.
With few surprises and scant desire to elicit them, the feature is content to conform to expectation: the cars are fast, the chases furious, the characters thin, and the clichés many. Though weightier, loftier racing films exist, the current breed almost relishes their cartoonish slightness. Need for Speed prefers seriousness to comedy, but is unmistakeably is one of their number.
Rating: 2 ½ stars out of 5
Need for Speed
Director: Scott Waugh
US, 2014, 130 mins
Release date: March 13
Distributor: Disney
Rated: M
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