Directed by:
Scott WaughCinematography:
Shane HurlbutComposer:
Nathan FurstCast:
Aaron Paul, Imogen Poots, Dominic Cooper, Rami Malek, Kid Cudi, Ramon Rodriguez, Dakota Johnson, Michael Keaton, Harrison Gilbertson, Nick Chinlund, Han Soto (more)VOD (3)
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"Need for Speed" marks an exciting return to the great car culture films of the 1960s and '70s, tapping into what makes the American myth of the open road so appealing. The story chronicles a near-impossible cross-country journey for our heroes—one that begins as a mission for revenge, but proves to be one of redemption. (official distributor synopsis)
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Reviews (11)
Why aren't there more movies based on computer games? Oh, right. And thanks, Need for Speed, for reminding me. Because they always turn out to be a disappointment. I really like the NFS franchise, and although in recent years (actually since “Most Wanted”) the whole series has been going downhill, there’s no other racing game I enjoy playing more. But what I got in those unbelievably long 131 minutes (!) was totally worthless. Even when reading what it was supposed to be about, it was clear to me that no brain activity would be necessary. Let's start with the positives: 1 star for EA’s courage to even film this, 1 star for the two leads. And that’s about it. The rest is truly horrendous. The actors in the supporting roles were selected based on their looks, but they can’t act their way out of a paper bag. The soundtrack, one of the best and most awesome aspects of the game series which had never failed, managed to do so in the movie, being one of its worst parts. The dialogues are strikingly unnatural. Pretty much everything about this movie is wrong. The concept itself of racing across the US within a certain time limit inspired by one of the worst installments, “Need for Speed: The Run,” spelled disaster. Anyway, if the movie managed to make money (which it somehow did), then other movies based on computer games can be made, which means there’s at least something positive about it. Or is there?
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My neighbors just love racing movies. The sound of the engine revving in my bass combo is music to their ears, and perhaps the only one that can complain is their broom, which comes into contact with the ceiling a few times in these cases, but is slowly getting used to it. Need for Speed is of course completely moronic in terms of story, but no wonder with this kind of target audience. Which is not the players of the game in this case, because it can't logically make sense to them why they would go to a movie based on a racing game that spectacularly adopts formal film techniques yet at the same time is graphically comparable to reality (because it contains almost no people, only objects). Moreover, there can be no question of any cinematic expansion of the game universe when the game has none. The Need for Speed movie is primarily aimed at those who have to have and see everything that falls under the franchise – all the games, trailers, t-shirts, and of course their Renault Multipla also has a fresh Need for Speed sticker on it. That said, the film's greatest asset is the fact that Scott Waugh and the writers have understood the brief, and thus the whole plot can be summed up as basically 'the main character goes somewhere to drive, thereby avenging the fact that the last time he drove somewhere his friend didn't finish. Ironically, all the characters are stuffed in the pockets of the utterly likable Imogen Poots, and the rest are so bland the film doesn't even try to make them the bearers of a higher truth (unlike the last F&F), such that the center of it all is really just the driving, which is filmed very skillfully, so I couldn't complain too much that, since I personally am more or less only interested in the racing, there's remarkably little of it here, because it's really more about the driving. Otherwise I don't know, but 178 days in jail for street racing, a few dozen misdemeanors, assault on a public officer, and general endangerment is a pretty good deal. Not to mention, the main character probably wouldn't be sitting behind the wheel again for the rest of his life.
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This film is a treat for the fans of the game, or at least for people who have ever played it, the rest will struggle and complain about how unrealistic and illogical it is. The gaming feeling is manifest in every other scene, and the original shots during car crashes and the fantastic "FPS" view from the car are a clear indication that the people behind this film know what they're doing and are teasing us. The screenplay is perhaps nonsense in terms of plot, emotions, and character motivation, but something had to be there, right? Aaron Paul is good and fits well into tough guy roles. The best car scenes in the history of cinema.
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I have to say that this movie features great cars and some quite interesting racing with some pleasant locations, but that is about it, hence the two stars. The narrative is told in a strange way and it was not original - just some clichéd rivalry issue between two drivers and a quest for revenge for the ruined life of a friend. Unlike in The Fast and the Furious, I did not get on with the main male protagonist or his crew (the main female protagonist was not very sexy, either), so I was almost wishing for the cops to catch them already. I do not know if it was the stupid Czech dubbing or if the dialogues are this crazy in the original; however, the lines of those guys and the way they were communicating with each other left me with only the question “WTF?” and it was almost impossible to bear. Somehow I do not believe that guys in their twenties talk like I did when I was thirteen. If there were going to be another NFS, I would have liked a better story, a more charismatic main protagonist, a prettier girl, and edgy, relevant, and believable lines, not just a random load of supposedly funny lines meant to sound edgy to kids aged thirteen to fifteen. 3/10.
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Instead of an exciting racing film, an everyday road movie arrived in movie theaters with the most common and predictable story of revenge and the most ordinary romantic plot. The chases and racing scenes do have energy, but everything else is hopelessly uninteresting. The characters lack charisma, the film lacks insight, tension and humor, and the creators' quest for realism is a clear step back after the last two parts of The Fast and the Furious series. Desperately dull and uncool.
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