Need for Speed

I really hate critics sometimes.

It's a fact that you all well know and it's the primary reason I started doing this in the first place. Sometimes I just wish that they would take their Oscar performances, historical dramas that they are all so keen about, and plot points and shove em'

It bothers me so dearly because they all seem to have a collective mindset that I can assure you is wrong, or at least horribly skewed, for so many different films.

Did they go into Need for Speed expecting an Oscar winning performance from Aaron Paul? Did they expect the script to be as witty as a David O. Russell film? Most importantly, did they go into Need for Speed expecting anything less than non-stop racing action with sexy cars? I mean, seriously. It's right there in the title. NEED. FOR. SPEED. It's not titled "Need for Drama"

Now that my rant is nearing its end I should also defend my stance on the movie by saying that this is no where near the best movie that you will see all year. It's got some glaring issues. But a movie's rating, at least for me, is largely about how it performed under my expectations. I went into Need for Speed with some middle of the road expectations. Generally, video game adaptations are horrible. (Speaking of which, you can read my Rath's Review for the most recent installment in the videogame franchise, Need for Speed: Rivals, HERE). But I also knew that Aaron Paul is a talented dude and word from the set was that the car chase sequences lacked any CG. Coming out of the theater I realized that I had fun with the film and that it exceeded my expectations, not by a large margin, but exceeded nonetheless.

The new grass-fueled, Ford Mustang. Coming in 2027!

"This one is for you Mr. White!!"

Need for Speed certainly has the problems that critics have been bashing it for. It's script is pretty laughable at times and  most of the side characters are poorly drawn out and the epitome of one-dimensional. But again I ask, did you expect anything different? For those of you wondering, I'll answer this question from the get-go: Need for Speed is not better than the current Fast and Furious films, not by a long shot (except maybe for the actual cars involved). Fast and Furious' cast of characters is lightyear's better, the stunts are more impressive, and the comedy is sharper. But that is a franchise that's on its 6th iteration, going on 7. Aaron Paul's character, Tobey Marshall, is one dimensional as well, but Paul does his best and you can tell that his acting chops are helping the film. Imogen Poots as the instant love interest is annoying as usual, but she grew on me somewhat. The story, while not nearly as bad as I expected it to be for a videogame adaptation, is predictable from the first five minutes and has some outrageous plot holes/suspend-reality moments. But...again...I ask, did you expect anything different? If you were to grade the movie on these merits alone then I would wholeheartedly agree with the current, dismal 39 rating it has on Metacritic.com.

Introducing, the flying car!

This McLaren P1 bit the dust and I almost cried

But instead I think its more important to look at what the FANS are rating this movie. Given whatever sites you go to...Metacritic, Rotten Tomatoes, IMDB, etc. the difference between critic rating and fan rating is staggering. For Metacritic alone, the fan rating sits at 7.3...a whopping 44 points different than the critics. And you know what? I tend to agree with them! I went to Need for Speed to see some of the world's sexiest, rarest cars race at high speeds with spectacular crashes. It's the essence of the videogame that the film is based on. I once again point out that it's in the freaking title, Need for Speed. And wouldn't you be surprised that most critics just completely disregarded the film's action? Whereas everything else in Need for Speed could be categorized as below average to average, the action and chase sequences are some of the best I have seen. For starters, I'm an exotic car buff. The Fast and Furious franchise is so obsessed with tuner and muscle cars and that's fine because that's what works for that franchise. But Need for Speed introduces cars that are about four wheels away from being actual spaceships. The Koenigsegg Aero, Bugatti Veyron Super Sport, McLaren P1, Lamborghini Elemento, and several others all make an appearance and just seeing them in action was getting me excited. For some odd reason that I'm guessing we can chalk up to marketing endorsements, the star of the show is a obnoxiously upgraded Ford Mustang for a while and I found this to be when the film started to show its weaknesses a lot more. But when the rarest cars in the world are on the road, this film cant be beat by much. I was disappointed by the complete lack of Ferraris, but I know that they are super-sticklers when it comes to crashing their cars so its not really a fault of the film.

Need for Speed is not a film for everyone. If you don't like fast cars or awesome action or a good cops vs. racers chase, then don't go. But if you do end up going, don't sit there and complain afterwards about how there wasn't any character development *cough almost every critic out there cough cough*.

Movies are designed for specific purposes. Some are to make you feel for characters, some are to tell accurate historical stories, some are to make you laugh, and some are to make you cry.

Need for Speed's purpose is to capture the spirit of the games which is: haul ass and win the race. And in that regard, Need for Speed excels with flying colors.

CONS:

• Everything the critics have been bashing it for are mostly true. I didn't find the script as bad as some, but its still pretty rough. The characters are bland and only have a few sparks of life. The story asks you to suspend total reality quite a few times (and I'm not talking about the stunts here). It's all true unfortunately
• Imogen Poots is still annoying. Like I said, I warmed up to her more in this film, but there is just something about her that grates on me sometimes
• Side characters are bleh. Other than a few kinda-funny scenes they are worthless
• Overly long. There is no reason that this film needed to be over two hours in length
• The middle feels like an extreme case of product placement for Ford and their Mustang. Still some cool sequences to be had, but I can see Mustangs every day people
• The story is one of the more predictable ones I have seen

PROS:

• The soundtrack was well done. Always like to see that
• Aaron Paul has the best character and makes the best of what he is given to work with. It's no secret that he is a talented due
• Similarly, Michael Keaton's role as the "headmaster" of the race is a highpoint. I enjoyed his screen time
• Dear Lord are some of these cars sexy
• The lack of CG in these chases and stunts adds so much to the movie as a whole. They are all just really incredible to watch and you know that somewhere, during this filming, that car actually did that
• Unlike most videogame adaptations, the spirit of the game is well visualized in this film. As a fan of the franchise (for the most part), I appreciated this
• Some fantastic action with no CG, sexy cars, and huge crashes. At times it begs the question: what more could you ask for?

Rath's Review Score: 7.5/10