Gran Turismo
The true story of a Cardiff teenager is ramped up into a cinematic adrenaline rush.
Game for a challenge: Archie Madekwe as Jann Mardenborough
It was a mad idea in the first place. As a publicity stunt, Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) wanted to see how players of the racing simulation video game Gran Turismo would fare on a real race track. But there’s a life-changing difference between a console in the bedroom and a steering wheel on the asphalt. Be that as it may, Neill Blomkamp’s highly engaging confection is actually based on a true story, as well as the video game that inspired the true story. Blending his celebrated computer skills with authentic real-world stunt work, Blomkamp creates some cardiac-arresting cinema aligned with an effective human story.
Jann Mardenborough, like millions of children around the world, was addicted to his console and computer screen. Despairingly, his father (Djimon Hounsou) asserts: “Sooner or later you are going to have to leave this room.” But, unlike millions of children around the world, Jann (Archie Madekwe) was really, really good at gaming. In reply, he says: “But you always told me to do something I love!” Even so, however fine-tuned Jann’s instincts may be on a simulator, the bedroom is no match for the demands of the open road. There are other skills he needs, such as physical strength, stamina and endurance. Initial acceleration on the grid, we learn, exerts twice the G-force of a rocket during take-off. Then Jann is selected as a competitor in Danny Moore’s console-to-track challenge. However, Jann’s first manoeuvre on his road to success is around his own father…
Besides its stranger-than-fiction narrative, Gran Turismo has an awful lot going for it. As the rookies’ reluctant coach, Jack Salter, David Harbour brings a granular presence. “I’m here to prove that you can’t achieve the impossible,” he growls. And as Jann, Archie Madekwe grounds the film with a credible charisma (which is more than can be said for his stock opponents on the track), while Geri Halliwell of all people (she’s a Spice Girl) comports herself more than adequately as Jann’s mum. But it is the stunt work (Mardenborough himself doubles for Madekwe) that elevates the film above your run-of-the-mill racing romp. Drawing on his full box of tricks, Neill Blomkamp sucks the viewer into the driving seat, hurling us around the track at over 300 mph, while dipping in and out of the actual engine (terrifying!) and from every which angle. It gets gruelling.
It has to be said that many facts have been tweaked for dramatic effect, but that doesn’t make Jann’s story any less extraordinary. At the end of the day, Gran Turismo is a thrill ride and what it does it does extremely well. It’s a movie, not a documentary. Still, had it stuck closer to the truth it would have made a more plausible film – and placated its naysayers. In many territories, the movie is known as Gran Turismo – Based on a True Story, which is taking the biscuit. Still, Gran Turismo – Loosely Inspired by a True Story might not have exerted the same pulling power on the multiplex forecourt.
JAMES CAMERON-WILSON
Cast: David Harbour, Orlando Bloom, Archie Madekwe, Takehiro Hira, Darren Barnet, Geri Halliwell Horner, Djimon Hounsou, Josha Stradowski, Daniel Puig, Maeve Courtier-Lilley, Nikhil Parmar, Thomas Kretschmann, Akie Kotabe, Jamie Kenna.
Dir Neill Blomkamp, Pro Doug Belgrad, Asad Qizilbash, Carter Swan and Dana Brunetti, Screenplay Jason Hall and Zach Baylin, Ph Jacques Jouffret, Pro Des Martin Whist, Ed Colby Parker Jr and Austyn Daines, Music Lorne Balfe and Andrew Kawczynski, Costumes Terry Anderson, Sound Charles Deenen, James Evans, Tim Gedemer and Nick Spradlin, Dialect coach Lottie Williams-Burrell.
Columbia Pictures/PlayStation Productions/2.0 Entertainment-Sony Pictures.
134 mins. USA/Japan. 2023. UK Rel: 9 August 2023. US Rel: 25 August 2023. Cert. 12A.
