Strictly for car lovers!. Review on Need For Speed

The movie is a dream for lovers of car racing franchises and everyone up to their mid 30's who must have played the car racing game at least once in their lifetimes.

The movie had awesome stunts but the acting was average. Need For Speed is a 2014 American action film directed by Scott Waugh, written by George Gatins and John Gatins and produced by DreamWorks Pictures.

When I saw the trailer for the NFS movie, I thought it was going to be terrible - Then I saw the cast of Aaron Paul(Breaking bad) and Dominic Cooper(The History Boys). I loved Dominic in The History Boys and like most people enjoyed Breaking Bad.So at that point I thought, OK I'll give it a shot, worse case scenario it ends up being like a bad Fast and Furious rip off.

NOPE! It was awesome. Never a dull moment, the action was intense, and the soundtrack and effects were spot on! As a movie it is great, but for someone like myself who grew up on NFS and loves car's it is EPIC. There's a great scene in the end, that anyone who has played the NFS: Hot Pursuit series will instantly go "Yep, this is really NFS!"

The only reason I wont rate it higher is because the plot is not believable and the cringe worthy dialogue - But nothing too bad, and most people wouldn't even notice. Otherwise brilliant, wouldn't be surprised if this becomes the next F&F Franchise.

Positives of this film are

THE CARS:

Let's be honest here. Most of us will be watching this movie just to see those awesome cars being thrown about at insane speeds. The cars shown in this film would probably be every teenage boys wet dream. I wont spoil your fun by revealing them, but trust me when I say there are some really exotic cars here.10/10 for cars.

THE CAMERAWORK AND EDITING:

The work done here is brilliant and is evident from all the beautiful shots of the cars and car chase scenes. Can you believe that 35 cameras were used while making this film. That means that every action sequence was recorded on 35 different cameras and all the best shots found its way onto the movie reel.10/10 again.

SOUND:

The filmmakers have successfully captured the noises from the cars and some of those engine sounds will give you goosebumps. 10/10 for sound.

Now the negatives of the movie

SPOILERS AHEAD! skip to the next section for those not interested

THE PLOT:

The plot is not believable. But you don't have much choice when you are making a movie based on video games that didn't have a good story to begin with.

Tobey Marshall, the hero of the movie is played by Breaking Bad‘s Aaron Paul. He runs a workshop for racers. The villain is a guy named Dino Brewster. He wants them to restore the Mustang that Ford and Caroll Shelby were building when Shelby died. Dino and Tobey used to live in the same town, and dino left long back and becomes a rich guy.

After the car is successfully restored and sold to an eccentric billionaire thanks to Tobey’s superior driving skills, Dino challenges him to a race in some exotic Koenigseggs.The young kid in Tobey’s crew, Pete, decides to come along, and after a white-knuckle race, Pete is killed in a firey, car-flipping crash by Dino who rammed him off the road in order to win.Dino frames Tobey for the death, and Tobey goes to prison for 2 years, which is quite unbelievable since vehicular manslaughter plus grand theft auto will get you a prison sentence from anywhere between 5 to 15 years in the US.

Tobey gets out from prison and borrows the billionaire’s Mustang to travel to and hopefully win a secret race happening on the other side of the country. Cue a series of insane car chases and races with his female sidekick, Julia, in tow.

THE ACTING:

The acting is so and so and unfortunately Aaron paul doesn't do justice. He was outstanding in breaking bad, but his talent here seems wasted. And why does he talk like batman in the movie? Its like some of the methamphetamine addict from Breaking bad is still inside Aaron paul. The other cast members were also average.

A BIT OF SEXISM:

Why does the only female lead in the movie have to be a portrayed as pretty girl with no brains? The film assumes that she’s pretty and British, so why would she know anything about cars. Imogen poots who plays julia, is accused of not being able to drive because she wears “high-heeled” boots from Gucci. Her character is frightened in intense situations because she’s a woman and easily flustered and she for some reason has to constantly be placed in situations where she’s a damsel in distress waiting for Tobey to save her. It isn’t overt sexism that’s in your face all the time, but right up until the ending shot, it’s there, and it’s annoying. Why can’t she be a girl who knows about cars and drives like a pro, too? Nope. Gotta be condescending because she’s a hot girl.

Need For Speed captured the hearts of racing game lovers because it was unrealistic and insane. Want to race a ferrari through a forest stage and watch your rivals get rammed into trees by the cops? Done. That magic has been captured perfectly in the driving sequences of the film, and it’s enough to make any gamer or car enthusiast squeal with delight.

If you love a driving movie and adore exotic cars like me, it’s a must-see, despite how cheesy it can be. Dont go expecting it be on par with Shawshank redemption. Have a nice day.