Gran Turismo Review: Video game adaptation races into the winning circle

Playstation Productions’ string of success in 2023 with The Last of Us and Twisted Metal continues with Gran Turismo.

Based on true story, Gran Turismo is a surprisingly moving sports drama featuring great performances, tension-filled racing sequences and director Neil Blomkamp at the top of his game (pun intended).

Archie Madekwe is captivating in the lead role of Jann Mardenborough. A talented sim racer with aspirations of becoming a real driver. Unsurprisingly, David Harbour steals the show as Jack Salter, Jann’s trainer. Harbour threads the needle between curmudgeon and inspirational. Djimon Hounsou is astonishing as Jann’s father, Steve Mardenborough. Steve provides doses of realism to Jann at every turn. Admittedly, it’s a pretty rote father role, but Hounsou makes it work. The father-son scene in the 3rd act is terrific.

The racing scenes are wonderful. Not only are they fun to watch, but Blomkamp and cinematographer Jacques Jouffrey excel at creating tension and advancing character development over the course of the races. The racing scenes are also where the allusions to the games are most apparent. The leaderboard graphics and PlayStation menu sound effects feel like they were taken right out of the racing sim, but aren’t obtrusive. Blomkamp also makes some interesting creative choices like transitioning from Mardenborough racing on the street to playing the racing sim in his bedroom.

There are some speed bumps in Gran Turismo. The love story between Jann and Audrey takes away from the racing and family scenes. Not enough time is spent on the relationship. Nicholas Capa serves as the film’s villain and has absolutely no depth. He’s a rich, entitled driver used to getting whatever he wants and there’s nothing else to him.

In spite of these issues, Gran Turismo is an exhilarating sports drama.

Gran Turismo Review: 8.0

Great

With the overview out of the way, let’s dive deeper into the newest 2023 video game adaptation. Twisted Metal and The Super Mario Bros. Movie are available to stream on Peacock.

The road to Gran Turismo Academy

Before Jann can get behind the wheel, Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) paves the road ahead. The Nissan marketing executives come up with a crazy concept. He wants to take the best sim racing players in the world and put them in racing cars. The drivers will go through the appropriately named GT Academy where one driver will be signed to a contract with Nissan.

In order for Danny’s plan to reach the finish line, he needs someone to turn the gamers into athletes. He turns to Jack, a former driver turned engineer, to train the drivers. Jack starts out on Capa’s team and rebuffs Danny’s original pitch, but the driver’s disrespect causes him to accept Danny’s offer.

Jack doesn’t believe Danny’s plan will work. He provides a healthy dose of reality to the trainees which works well opposite the bottom-line-minded Danny.

Harbour is perfect casting as Salter. Gran Turismo shines in showing Jann’s growth as a driver as well as the return of Jack’s passion for racing.

Family obstacles

The father-son conflict between Jann and Steve provides the film with a relatable dynamic that brings out the best in Madekwe and Hounsou. Steve was a professional soccer player who worked hard to provide for his family. Jann’s brother Cal takes after his father’s athletic pursuits. Jann is uninterested in soccer, dropped out of college and focuses his attention on video games. When Jann’s not playing Gran Turismo, he’s working at a retail store. From Steve’s perspective, Jann’s dream of racing cars is pure fantasy. In Steve’s defense, Jann rarely even drives a regular car.

Housou and screenwriters Jason Hall and Zach Braylin shine in showing Steve’s apprehension towards Jann’s dreams come from a place of love. There are a few scenes that pave the way for the wonderful 3rd act father-son scene. The one that stands out to me is a short scene at the Mardenborough house.

Steve walks by Jann’s room and watches his son play the game. He wonders why Jann doesn’t follow the same path as the other drivers. Jann basically explains if you play it safe, you won’t be able to advance far on the track, plus if you make a mistake you can start over and try again.

Then, once Jann gets into the academy, Housou provides another layer to Steve—fear. He’s terrified of the dangers awaiting his son. Jann isn’t an athlete and getting the being the wheel puts himself and others at risk.

Jann’s lack of experience and Steve’s skepticism of his son’s ability provides the racing scenes with emotional stakes for Jann to overcome.

Behind the wheel

Jann qualifies for the GT Academy. Gran Turismo does a great job of creating different sources of conflict.

The other drivers and even the rest of Jann’s team don’t believe in his ability. From their perspective, Jann took a shortcut and hasn’t earned the right to race at the professional level. The races themselves are full of emotional highs and lows. In using Jann’s real-life racing career, there’s a realistic quality to Jann’s success that prevents Gran Turismo from taking shortcuts. Even Jann’s biggest achievement in the film doesn’t involve him winning the actual race.

One other car-related element Gran Turismo sets up early and delivers a gut punch later in the 2nd act is the accountability that comes with driving a car. These cars operate at a high speed and being irresponsible risks the lives of other people.

There’s a bit of whiplash from the 2nd act to the 3rd act where Jann goes from wanting to quit to getting back behind the wheel. Giving Jann more time to live with what happened could have made the change in attitude less abrupt.

All of the racing sequences are excellent. Blomkamp strikes the right balance between the racing itself and providing room for character development in every race.

Gran Turismo final thoughts

Gran Turismo is a compelling sports drama that provides emotional performance with stellar racing sequences. Some characters like Capa and Jann’s love interest fall short. However, when Gran Turismo focuses on racing and the father-son conflict, it shines.

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