“Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story” Movie Review by Rafy Mediavilla (@Rmediavilla) #GranTurismo
Based on the unbelievable, inspiring true story of a team of underdogs – a struggling, working-class gamer, a failed former race car driver, and an idealistic motorsport exec – who risk it all to take on the most elite sport in the world.
Movies based on video games have never been a tall task to follow. And many of them have gotten the bad rap they deserve while others have been praised or at least given time to shine. Gran Turismo is a movie was truly looking forward to screening not because it’s a movie based on a video game itself, but mostly because I was more curious behind the tag Based on a True Story. I was really curious about how this story played out given that Gran Turismo the game is just their other character that is part of the story, and the game itself is not the core of the story. And I am happy to report that District 9 Director Neill Blomkamp did not disappoint.
Storywise the movie feels like a sales pitch for the video game while at the same time showcasing the incredible story behind the GT Academy that Nissan Motors Sports created. And yes, while it’s hard to believe that a gamer can turn into a real-life race car racer by just playing the video game, this is what the storytelling behind the movie is all about. In a fairly linear the writers manage to tell this underdog story of a kid from a humble beginning who made their way to the big race by playing a racing simulation, and Nissan bet on this project as something that would put them on the map in the car racing industry. I have to give big props to director Neill Blomkamp as he managed to use the necessary elements from the video game in the story to the essence of Gran Turismo the video game to feel present without it feeling fake and manage to understand what the writers were going by giving a story the heart it needed to feel emotional enough as a family drama.
Performance-wise I have to single out the performances by David Harbour and Orlando Bloom. I connected with Orlando Bloom’s character mainly because is played the marketing genius who believed this whole story of a gamer becoming a real race car driver was at all possible at Nisan, you can clearly see how awesome of a job Bloom did at projecting the passion of his character for the project as the story develops, and we also could see all the risk Nissan was taking if a project like this one would have failed. Regarding Harbour, he was the heart and soul of this movie and story, he played that one racer who couldn’t make it in his career and you can see with the emotions how much he wanted to make sure this GT Academy project succeeded, and how he was living vicariously through his students. Harbour performance carried this film from start to finish.
Another aspect of the movie I have to speak on is the soundtrack, sound design, and visual effects. As I mentioned before director Neill Blomkamp used just enough elements of the video game to make sure the essence of Gran Turismo is there, but what truly blew my mind is the fact that you don’t actually feel as if what you are seeing is a video game element or a real-life moment. I was completely mesmerized by how we were able to seemingly blend the two elements together as the story developed. Also, the soundtrack and sound design play key roles when the stakes are at their highest, the music puts you in the mood, and the sounds reel you in as you are in complete awe of what is about to happen.
In the end, Gran Turismo is an awesome watch if you a huge fan of racing movies, it will get your adrenaline pumping, and it will leave you wanting to get in your car the second you set out of the theater and drive 100 miles like every other racing movie does. Yet the story is full of heart and it is truly inspiring what Nissan ultimately did, which makes this a worthy watch for the whole family.
