Need For Speed (The Movie) Review

Its been awhile since I have gotten the time to go to the movie theater and see a movie.  After a few months of not being able to do so, I broke that trend last week when I finally got out to see the Need For Speed movie, based on EA's popular racing video game series.  I am not a huge car buff, but these games are among the best I have played.  It is a series I enjoy a lot thanks to the constant adrenaline rush of trying to outrun the cops as an illegal street racer or trying to bust them as the newest cop to join the police force.

For some odd reason, films based on video games have a terrible track record with the critics, where they tend to be instantly labeled garbage.  And while I agree these movies are by no means award winners, it does not mean they are as awful as they are made out to be.

Going into this movie, I was wondering how they could take a game with a bare bones plot (the aforementioned play as an illegal street racer running from cops or play as a cop busting the racers is essentially all there is) and turn it into a decent movie.  I was surprised with the results.  The film is headlined by Aaron Paul (known for playing Jesse in the critically acclaimed AMC show, Breaking Bad).  The only other actor I recognized was Michael Keaton, who played the man responsible for organizing the Hot Pursuit races the game series is known for (more on those later).  I thought Michael Keaton was the standout performer in this movie and it was a shame he was reduced to secondary character status for the film (Side Note: I would love to see him reprise this role in a future Need For Speed game.).  Speaking of secondary characters, for being in that role a lot, Aaron Paul did a good job of being a leading character.  It's just he was out-shined easily by Michael Keaton in every scene he was in, or at least I thought so.

Aside from the actors, the other stars of this movie were the automobiles and there was no shortage of some sleek and awesome looking sports cars.  Going into the movie, I only knew of one of them for sure that would be in it, the Lamborghini Sesto Elemento, and how did I know about that mouthful?  Hot Wheels.  I enjoy racing games, and I collect cars seen all over the realm of pop culture that Hot Wheels releases, and they latest assortment to hit retail boasted a that car where it was noted on the package it was from the movie, so I had to get it.

That car above winds up being driven by the antagonist in the final race of the film.  The main car that you see for majority of the movie, driven by Aaron Paul is a custom Ford Mustang (one I hope to see in the Hot Wheels mainline soon).  There is also a Koenigsegg that plays a significant role in the movie as well (I am trying my best to avoid spoilers, for if you are a fan of the games or car movies in general this is worth checking out).  Again, it's something I hope to see in Hot Wheels form soon as the cars in this movie looked very cool.

As I mentioned in the paragraph above, I am trying to avoid spoilers for those that wish to see the movie and have yet to (waiting to hear if it is worth seeing or not).  As far as the plot is concerned, I didn't know what to expect when the source material here barely had one itself.  I will say that a major life changing event,  cause by the antagonist of the film, happens to Aaron Paul's character, Toby Marshall, that sets in motion a cross country journey to join an illegal street race hosted by Michael Keaton's character.  Much of the initial part of the movie is clearly inspired by Cannonball Run due to the road trip journey from one side of the United States to the other.

The huge influence of the game comes in toward the final half hour or so of the movie, which if you have played any of the recent installments of the series, you will easily recognize these scenes as the big screen equivalent of the Hot Pursuit race events.  For those of you who do not know what those are, those are races where immediately after the begin, law enforcement gets involved, and the goal then is not only to win the race, but to outrun the police in the process.  These races are a blast to play and have become a staple in the series, so as a fan of the games, it was great to see these play a role in towards the end of the movie.  As the video game screenshot above shows, the cops not only pursue the racers on the streets, but in the air as well (all of which is present in this movie).

In closing, is Need For Speed worth seeing?  The answer is an easy "yes" is you are a fan of the source material or action/chase movies in a similar vein such as Universal's well-known Fast & Furious series.  If that isn't you though, you might as well pass for it is likely you will see it as "just another crappy video game tie-in movie."  As I said in the beginning, this movie is by no means an award winner, but that doesn't mean it is awful.  In fact it is a good action movie that doesn't need a complex plot full of twists and turns to make for a good weekend trip to the theater (or in a few months, Netflix/Redbox rental).