Action, A-list actor, big studios, franchise; all the ingredients for the perfect blockbuster promised to explode the box office! Maybe, but when the style and the story are completely empty or worst, mannered, then, you quickly get the impression of losing your precious time. You can excuse a « mannered» movie for the dedication to a genre but never when it gathers all the flaws to the point of being risible even worst when it takes itself seriously!
Not only NEED FOR SPEED gathers all these defaults, but top of that, it gives you this bitter impression for two long hours! With the greatest surprise, Aaron Paul, leading role and commercial hope for the film, has suddenly suffered a voice transformation from the labs in the excellent BREAKING BAD to the racing cars. A voice strangely too smooth for a manly and arrogant character although he will not hesitate to cry flood of tears in a slow motions all along the movie. Ultimate moment; during the accident of his friend, for at least a long minute, where the poor actor has to writhe all apart in pain on the grown for this violent loss, and still in slow motion… You will notice my quite skeptic ton regarding this stylistic choice which does not hesitate to lay it on thick.
Stone heart? Maybe. For my defense, I cry in front of such scenes from SAVING PRIVATE RYAN, but not with those ones that imitate a GLADIATOR music style (which I love) to badly try to justify the sadness of the situation. Outrageous!
Moreover, my hopes were crashed down by a very improbable and ridiculous end during the escape on the Canyons, deploring that it was the most subtle scene with the hint of the famous ending in THELMA & LOUISE.
The other actors are not spared by the flat lines and dialogues close to ridicule. I guess they have to deal with what they have! Too bad, Aaron Paul deserved much better for his first step in the global box office.
What about the core of the story? The car stunts? There are well executed, most of them performed by stuntmen and not on a green screen. Stuntmen and technicians are here the true stars of the movie, brought to light by its director formally from this profession. However, where is the interest of such technical and visual exploits if the context does not follow? I realize how difficult it could be to tear out emotions from a car just contemplating the engineering (especially from a female audience). As the story is very clumsily introduced, you struggle to thrill and exalt watching a 370km/ h record car races! The elements of the video games are indeed there, but still no thrill will remind you why you like to play over and over challenging your friends on the circuit.
Then, NEED FOR SPEED indeed. Ironically well named, as you feel an absolute urge to shorten the experience!
Pray Assassin’s Creed and other video game adaptations wipe out this fail.
