Gran Turismo review: racing movie is Rocky on wheels

Gran Turismo is not a gaming movie. Nor, despite having Neill Blomkamp in the director’s chair, is Gran Turismo a sci-fi. His latest new movie, all about a gamer-turned-racer, is the closest the self-confessed petrolhead has come to making a sports movie. So far. Based on a real dedicated gaming enthusiast who used his talents to become a professional race car driver, it’s certainly an inspiring story. But does that make it an inspiring film?

Teenager Jann Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe, also in Netflix's Heart Of Stone this week) was a master of the titular PlayStation racing game when he entered a competition offering what was, for him, the ultimate prize; the chance to race with the professionals on some of the most famous tracks in the world. 

After winning the gaming element of the contest, he moves into the reality of motorsport and, with help from veteran engineer and trainer Jack Salter (Stranger Things’ David Harbour), he makes a remarkable rise through the ranks to ultimately compete in the world’s most demanding and celebrated race: the 24 hours of Le Mans. 

Still associated with the innovative style that made his first feature — 2009's District 9, a critical and commercial success — the director has turned in something that surprisingly doesn’t meet the inevitable expectations. For all the buzz and glamour that goes with motor racing, the film is unexpectedly conventional, divided up into neat sections — the gamers’ competition, the Nissan training camp and the move to professional racing — with the captions showing dates and locations, just in case we lose our way. Not that it’s likely.

Where the movie loses its way, however, is in its inability to resist a cliché. That training camp harks back to numerous military movies, with Harbour as the hard taskmaster, and even his character is more than a little familiar. You know the one, the guy with all the talent who never quite made it and hides a softer side under a hard bitten exterior. 

It says a lot for the actor that he also rises above some of the worst dialogue in the film to deliver its best performance, even if his big speech sounds like it was lifted straight from the Bumper Book Of Clichés. There’s the inevitable fiery public rivalry between Jann and a top driver, an oily marketing executive (Orlando Bloom) and the moment of truth, when Jann comes close to giving it all up. 

The gaming aspect fades into the background to such an extent that we need occasional reminders of the story’s origins, making this a racing movie pure and simple. It stands or falls on its racing sequences and, thankfully, they’re up to the job... just. 

There’s some nail biting excitement and a gasp-making accident in sequences that attempt to echo the style of Ron Howard’s Rush (2013). But generally they never quite manage to reproduce the tension and the whiff of gasoline that went with the Hunt v Lauda drama and, once Jann starts racing with the professionals, it falls into the predictable pattern of a competent but unspectacular motor racing movie. Nothing more, nothing less.  

In a year when stories of corporate success have been on the rise — Ben Affleck set the bar high with Air — this is yet another contender or, as Orlando Bloom’s exec exclaims, “This is a marketing extravaganza!” He’s not kidding. Aside from the level of branding that goes with motor racing, it permeates the narrative, with Nissan and PlayStation grabbing the lion’s share. But this time round it’s just basic product placement instead of a look at corporate culture or innovation and increasingly detracts from the inspirational nature of Jann’s story. 

Despite the title and some flashy graphics, you don’t need to be a gamer to watch Gran Turismo. It’s a sports movie, more with racing fans in mind and with a heartwarming human story at its core. Or, put another way, Rocky on wheels. The underdog story, the belief in talent being fulfilled and dreams coming true are all there, but so are the conventions from the film, ones which have been worn out by over-use. For all its youth and promise, Gran Turismo is disappointingly uninspiring. 

Gran Turismo hits UK cinemas on Wednesday, August 9 and theaters in the US on August 25.