Gran Turismo [2023]
“When in doubt, throttle out.”
I won’t lie, when I saw that they were making a Gran Turismo movie — the game that accidentally introduced me to Van Halen — I laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it. Then, when I saw it was being directed by District 9’s Neill Blomkamp, I laughed some more, and then cried at how the mighty have fallen. IP-based projects are almost never a good idea, there’s too much to lose when the fanbase of the original product doesn’t feel you got it “right”. Of course, there have been projects of this ilk that can be turned to as harbingers of the “Cacciatoreviews is wrong” apocalypse — The Lord of the Rings series, Harry Potter [mostly] — but these are few and far between, and none of them are based on videogames
*cough Uncharted, Resident Evil, Hitman.
Though… perhaps there’s some insight in choosing a game that has zero narrative elements, is purely about gameplay, and happens to have inspired/ created a meaningful real-world event. What is there to not get “right”?
[Plenty]
In Gran Turismo we follow Jann Mardenborough, a capital-G gamer with his eye on the prize [being super good at the racing simulator Gran Turismo]. His dad doesn’t understand him, his brother looks down on him, and his mother wants to be supportive but ends up just playing peacekeeper most of the time. When the creator of the game decides to create a global competition, however, everything changes. Seemingly overnight Jann goes from xXGAME3rB0YXx to sitting in the cockpit of a suped-up GTR on a real racetrack. Does he have what it takes, or will his ornery ex-racer coach prove that he doesn’t?
If all of this sounds a little trite or familiar… that’s because it is. Gran Turismo is an underdog story just like any other. There’s people in the class better than Jann, people worse, but we all know he’ll come out on top in the end with some sort of rivalry quashed due to mutual respect of skill. His pit-lead/ coach quit racing for a reason I’m sure won’t become relevant at some crucial moment in the story, and the team he used to work for is racing right alongside Jann, which certainly won’t create some sort of bully scenario on the track. Yadda yadda yadda. We get it, we’ve seen it, we know how it ends. What sets Gran Turismo apart… is that it’s really goddamn fun.
This is a movie that you can practically write the plot of on a piece of paper before the opening credits even finish and get nearly every point right with timestamps and all. What will surprise you is how fast your heart is racing as you reach them. In terms of scale, I put Gran Turismo right between Top Gun: Maverick and Hustle. GT never had me literally holding my chair the way that Mav did, and it didn’t move or engage me the way that Hus did, but it was leagues less stupid than Mav and definitely more exciting than Hus. A fine middle-ground between them. Unfortunately, this middle-ground is where Gran Turismo can’t seem to escape at nearly any given point in the film.
Start to finish, the movie is incredibly corny. At nearly any moment it’s even vaguely applicable, the writers couldn’t stop themselves from throwing in some #gamer-speak to make sure the audience wouldn’t forget the premise. Basically any time you’re about to be fully engrossed in the plot and feel like you’re following the next Senna or Schumacher, somebody pops on screen and says something comedically demeaning about videogames or one of the G4m3Rs themselves says something so inhumanly cringe that you’re instantly reminded you’re watching a videogame movie. Weirdly, in a film about something as fine-tuned as racecars, the film has a hilariously low level of tact. It’s one of the more unintentionally funny movies I’ve watched in a while.
This mostly stands out, however, because of the handful of scenes where none of this is present. Some of the racing scenes are genuinely gripping and stylish. Moments of the film are filled with HUD [heads-up display] elements from the game itself, or feature sound effects that all those who grew up playing the series know… and these moments are truly excellent. The world of motorsports is incredibly dramatic in a way that casual observers might not see in the simple whooshing, roaring machines that sprint around tarmac ovals, and Gran Turismo manages to capture this in a lot of ways when it’s at its best. I wish the film had more of this, or leaned into it more fully overall. This is a common complaint I have with films that feature stylish elements but fail to have any real style to them, and I always point to 2010’s Scott Pilgrim vs The World as a shining example of what to do instead. While Gran Turismo obviously had no real hope of being the next Pilgrim, there’s a lot to be learned from the way that film commits to its own antics. If you’re going to make a film where the audience is constantly reminded that everyone involved is fighting for virtual trophies in their comfy-pants, remind us in a way that’s intentional and not awkward. There’s more sophisticated ways to emulate gaming culture while poking fun at its eccentricities than simply saying “ha ha mother’s basement” for 2-hours straight. While there are moments of this in Gran Turismo, had it fully committed to them, it would have been a significantly stronger film.
The most interesting thing about Gran Turismo [and something worth noting] was pointed out by my viewing-partner-in-crime [Player 2 for you #gamers]. The film’s emotional tones are extremely well done and feature genuine and very solemn expressions almost exclusively through its male characters. This stands out against both the saran-wrap quality of most of the experience and the historical landscape of film in general. Racing is [historically] an extremely masculine sport and [also historically] it’s uncouth for men to express emotions other than anger in public. Seeing a goofy little film like this handle the subject so well was both striking and interesting. It certainly doesn’t save Gran Turismo from general mediocrity, but it is one of the stronger and more compelling parts of the film: Even at their most gAmr, most of the lead characters felt like people.
Of all the movies released in 2023, Gran Turismo is one of them. It makes the same mistakes that other videogame movies have made [such as not including any of the soundtracks from the many titles] while avoiding others, but still doesn’t manage to be anything more than its genre. It’s at times fun and engaging, at others very awkward and flat, and, at others still, touching and exhilarating. It’s a movie that some people will like, but nobody is going to love, and stands as another testament to why teams should commit to their style fully, rather than half-ass something edgy. If you’ve played the games or remember the real event, check this out. If you haven’t, wait for it on streaming.
“ Make your day, survive the night, you live to fight tomorrow.”
