This is a very simple underdog story about a gamer who was selected as a racer in a special marketing strategy by Nissan.
I had fun with this movie. It has an energetic vibe and a fast enough pace, which keeps you entertained for almost all of its runtime. I thought the acting in this movie was very good. Especially by Archie Madekwe as the main character, Jann Mardenborough, and David Harbour as the coach, Jack Salter, who was my favourite character in the movie. These 2 characters are the heart of the movie, and they are what gave this movie the strong emotional push that it needed in the 2nd act. The direction by Neill Blomkamp is also pretty good. It's nice to see a different movie from him. I thought the racing scenes could have been a bit more grounded rather than stylish. But I had fun with the little things he did during the racing scenes that compared the real races to video games. Some of the racing scenes in the 2nd act are actually very thrilling and the sound design had a huge role in that. I also really cared for Jann's character. Who doesn't love an underdog? There's also one particular direction the story took in the 2nd act, that was almost shocking and added a lot more emotional weight to the story.
But compared to some of the classic racing movies like Ford v Ferrari, this one is very easy-going. It has a lot less thrills than I would have liked it to have. There are thrills though for sure. But the final race of this movie was just underwhelming. There weren't really any setbacks in that race, and if there were, they were overcome pretty easily. Which is why the conclusion didn't quite feel earned. The characters and the relationships between them too aren't well explored. Given the 2+ hour runtime, they could've been.
This is a fun movie for sure, and one you'll enjoy watching with a group of people. It doesn't have a dull moment, it's stylish, action-packed and it's a nice underdog story. The payoff though, is pretty underwhelming and could've been made a lot more impactful than it was.
I had fun with this movie. It has an energetic vibe and a fast enough pace, which keeps you entertained for almost all of its runtime. I thought the acting in this movie was very good. Especially by Archie Madekwe as the main character, Jann Mardenborough, and David Harbour as the coach, Jack Salter, who was my favourite character in the movie. These 2 characters are the heart of the movie, and they are what gave this movie the strong emotional push that it needed in the 2nd act. The direction by Neill Blomkamp is also pretty good. It's nice to see a different movie from him. I thought the racing scenes could have been a bit more grounded rather than stylish. But I had fun with the little things he did during the racing scenes that compared the real races to video games. Some of the racing scenes in the 2nd act are actually very thrilling and the sound design had a huge role in that. I also really cared for Jann's character. Who doesn't love an underdog? There's also one particular direction the story took in the 2nd act, that was almost shocking and added a lot more emotional weight to the story.
But compared to some of the classic racing movies like Ford v Ferrari, this one is very easy-going. It has a lot less thrills than I would have liked it to have. There are thrills though for sure. But the final race of this movie was just underwhelming. There weren't really any setbacks in that race, and if there were, they were overcome pretty easily. Which is why the conclusion didn't quite feel earned. The characters and the relationships between them too aren't well explored. Given the 2+ hour runtime, they could've been.
This is a fun movie for sure, and one you'll enjoy watching with a group of people. It doesn't have a dull moment, it's stylish, action-packed and it's a nice underdog story. The payoff though, is pretty underwhelming and could've been made a lot more impactful than it was.
