Need for Speed Review

Rated PG-13 (Sequences of Reckless Street Racing, Disturbing Crash Scenes, Nudity and Crude Language)

Running Time: 2 Hours & 10 Minutes

Cast-

Aaron Paul-Tobey Marshall

Imogen Poots-Julia Maddon

Dominic Cooper-Dino Brewster

Scott Mescudi-Benny

Rami Malek-Finn

Ramon Rodriguez-Joe Peck

Harrison Gilbertson-Little Pete

Dakota Johnson-Anita Brewster

Michael Keaton-Monarch

Stevie Ray Dallimore-Bill Ingram

Directed by Scott Waugh

Did someone call me a bitch?!

Note: Screened on Wednesday, January 29, 2014 at AMC Loews Lincoln Square 13. The film was not shown in 3D at the advance screening I attended. If you want to learn more about whether the 3D version is worth your money, go here.

There's a certain irony to watching Aaron Paul drive around in very fast cars in his first leading film role given that the last time audiences saw the actor was on the series finale of AMC's critically-acclaimed crime drama "Breaking Bad," where his character Jesse Pinkman drove away from a mortally wounded Walter White while laughing and crying hysterically over his sudden newfound freedom. It looks like Jesse really did go clean and give up his meth-producing ways after everything he's been through but now the former junkie has developed a new addiction, a new need…a NEED for SPEED (sorry, I just couldn't resist). Unlike comic books, films based on video games have not enjoyed the most sterling of reputations in Hollywood yet that didn't deter DreamWorks Pictures from acquiring the feature film rights to Electronic Arts' popular Need for Speed franchise. With over 150 million copies sold worldwide since its humble debut in 1994 on the 3DO, Need for Speed is not only one of the longest-running video game franchises (with twenty installments, and that's not counting the various spin-offs), it's also the most successful racing video game series ever. I'm more of a role-playing game kind of guy but I do own several Need for Speed games on PC, specifically Undercover, Shift, Shift 2: Unleashed, and the 2010 version of Hot Pursuit. While I've enjoyed playing them for the most part, I only touch these games on a lazy Sunday afternoon. Given the series' lack of story, I was initially very skeptical about a "Need for Speed" film and feared that it would be little more than a rip-off of Universal's highly-successful "Fast and Furious" franchise. Despite eschewing the winking self-awareness of its more popular competitor, Scott Waugh's "Need for Speed" remains a reasonably entertaining diversion so long as you don't focus too much on its nonsensical plot and instead sit back and enjoy all the spectacularly-choreographed car chases as well as Aaron Paul's magnetic presence.

Following the death of his father, gifted mechanic Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) tries to keep his family's auto shop in Mount Kisco, New York afloat with the help of his friends—Benny (Scott Mescudi), Finn (Rami Malek), Joe Peck (Ramon Rodriguez), and Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson)—but when he's unable to make the bank payments on time, he's forced to participate in illegal street races in order to make ends meet. After winning one such race, Tobey and his friends celebrate at a local drive-in, where they run into Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) and his girlfriend Anita (Dakota Johnson), who is Little Pete's sister and Tobey's former flame. A long-time rival of Tobey's, Dino has since made it big and now owns a highly successful car dealership after a brief stint in the Indy 500. He proposes a deal to Tobey: he and his crew will finish building the Ford Mustang Carroll Shelby was working on before he passed away and once Dino sells it, he'll give Tobey 25% of the estimated $2 million selling price. The crew tries to convince their friend not to take on the project but Tobey accepts as he is in desperate need of money. He and his crew complete the job and later attend a glitzy party where the car is put up for auction. It is eventually sold to Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots), who represents a wealthy British high-end car dealer named Bill Ingram (Stevie Ray Dallimore), for $2.7 million after Tobey proves it can go more than 230 miles per hour. Feeling slighted, Dino challenges Tobey and Little Pete to a race where if they win, they get the remaining 75% from the Mustang deal but if they lose, then they have to give up their 25%. When Tobey is close to winning, a frustrated Dino deliberately tags Little Pete's car, causing him to flip down a ravine and crash. Tobey goes back to help him yet is too late. Dino flees the scene, leaving Tobey to take the blame, with the police charging him with vehicular manslaughter and jailing him for two years. Upon release, he reunites with his old crew and sets out toward California in order to enter the mother of all illegal street races called the 'DeLeon,' organized by the reclusive 'Monarch' (Michael Keaton). Tobey knows Dino will be there and that is where he will avenge the life of his friend.

In an article examining the top-grossing video game films of all-time, frequent Forbes contributor Scott Mendelson asks, 'What does it say about a sub-genre when your biggest grossing entry is still a major flop?' The film he's referring to is 2010's "Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time." The Mike Newell-directed action-adventure flick—based on the popular Ubisoft video game of the same name—failed to break even despite earning over $336 million worldwide. It could've been a solid hit if it didn't stall in America and cost $200 million to make. "Need for Speed" carries a comparatively modest $66 million budget and while I still feel that Newell's film is the 'best' big-screen, live-action video game adaptation we've had so far, director Scott Waugh does manage to craft an entertaining—if frivolous—affair that captures the racing spirit of the Electronic Arts series. Unfortunately, the script from George and John Gatins (the latter also wrote the Academy Award-nominated 2012 film "Flight") has the unique problem of having too much story and too little story. There's no reason for a racing picture like this to be two hours and ten minutes long, with the first forty minutes devoted entirely to setting up Tobey's reasons for revenge when it should take only half that. Even worse are the absurd logic gaps, with Tobey, Dino, and Little Pete's race taking place in broad daylight in full view of onlookers but Dino gets away scot-free because apparently there were no witnesses? I guess traffic cams don't exist in Mount Kisco. As if that wasn't enough, Dino doesn't even bother getting rid of his car, aka the murder weapon, and even leaves details of his crimes on his computer—all in one handy folder on his desktop. He might as well wear an 'Arrest Me' sign.

The bulk of "Need for Speed" centers on getting from New York to San Francisco just to learn the location of where the DeLeon is being held. However, it's at this point where the film starts to feel padded. In order to get there fast, Tobey borrows the Ford Mustang that he and his crew worked on for Dino but is forced to take Julia along, whose job is to make sure nothing happens to the car. What follows is a lot of silly, eye-rolling dialogue yet it's offset by some funny comic relief provided by the supporting characters, such as when Finn quits his job by stripping down to his socks and walking out of the building butt-naked. There's also a running gag with Scott Mescudi's Benny, who helps Tobey by informing him of any obstacles and maps out the best routes for him. He's a skilled pilot that can seemingly conjure up whatever aircraft he needs out of thin air, with the film poking fun at how he's able to do this. Some critics have complained that it's an attempt by the writers to cover up the script's contrivances with a joke but unlike the aforementioned logic gaps, Benny's knack for procuring all manner of aircraft is meant to be taken at face value, even if it is hard to swallow at times. Not hard to swallow is the fact that all the racing scenes in the film were accomplished through the use of good-old fashioned stunt-work instead of relying on CGI. Hell, it's what pretty much saves the entire film! Waugh comes from a stunt background so it shouldn't be a surprise when I say that the vehicular mayhem on-screen looks outstanding and what's great is that the camera always provides a clear shot of the action with plenty of wide shots. In the hands of anyone else, it probably would've look like a choppy, over-edited mess…like last year's god-awful "Getaway."  One particularly noteworthy stunt is when Tobey's Mustang makes a gravity-defying, 160-foot leap across multiple lanes of downtown Detroit traffic. In the words of Variety's Scott Foundas, this was 'a stunt so dazzling it helped to compensate for some of the movie's even more death-defying leaps in logic'—in addition to making you desperately want to pick up and play a Need for Speed game.

The performances are a bit better than what you would expect out of a standard video game film adaptation. It won't earn him the same critical acclaim he received while starring on "Breaking Bad" but Aaron Paul manages to elevate what could've been a one-note role by lending his character Tobey Marshall a bit of gravitas while also adding to the film's sense of fun with his charismatic screen presence. As love interest Julia Maddon, Imogen Poots brings a spunky feistiness to her character, although she's unceremoniously pushed to the sidelines once the DeLeon finally kicks off during the last fifteen or so minutes of the film. Scott Mescudi, Rami Malek, and Ramon Rodriguez aren't given much to do but at least they provide some decent comic relief as well as some nice tongue-in-cheek gags. Dominic Cooper largely hams it up as the cocky and overconfident Dino Brewster while Michael Keaton is enjoyable as he blisters away with his over-the-top portrayal of mysterious DeLeon organizer Monarch. As for Dakota Johnson, she's pretty much wasted in a go-nowhere supporting role.

Released on March 14, 2014, "Need for Speed" has received dismal reviews with 23% on Rotten Tomatoes. Pointing to its 'stock characters and…preposterous plot,' critics wrote off the film as a 'noisily diverting video game adaptation [that] fulfills a Need for Speed and little else.' Honestly, I don't really blame them for having that kind of reaction. This is, for all intents and purposes, a 'bad' film with its nonsensical story and yet I still enjoyed watching it, relatively speaking of course. DreamWorks has been quite aggressive in marketing the picture, with hundreds of advance screenings going as far back as December of last year. To capitalize on his "Breaking Bad" fame, the studio had Aaron Paul go on a massive publicity tour as well, with the actor personally showing up at screenings to introduce the film and greet fans. Whether gamers and more casual audiences will flock to theaters to see it is still up in the air (early box office estimates haven't been all that rosy) but "Need for Speed" has no other pretensions besides offering a rollicking good time and in that sense, it's a success.

Final Rating: 3 out of 5

"You're going to have to answer for what you've done. We'll settle this behind the wheel."