Need for Speed (2104)
Predicted Rating: 2 Stars
Directed by: Scott Waugh. Starring: Aaron Paul, Dominic
Cooper, Imogen Poots, Michael Keaton.
A big screen adaption of the biggest racing game series of
all time, Need for Speed sees… well since the game has no story line, this
really has no story either. All I gathered is that they need to travel to the
other side of the country to participate in some maybe legal, maybe illegal
race.
Whoa! The first 5 minutes of this film is absolutely
bonkers! It starts off with the title sequence panning over old photos of kids
winning car races. This is to be expected in this kind of movie, however it is
narrated by Michael Keaton doing his Beetlejuice voice! He goes on to talk
about how our main character (played by Aaron Paul) is constantly living in his
brother’s shadow, which has absolutely nothing to do with the story whatsoever.
Our main character is then informed of his father’s death, which again has no
bearing on the story. He then receives a visit from his ex-girlfriend, who is
also his best friend’s sister and his rival’s (named Dino! Cue laugh from The
Flinstones) new girlfriend. It is then revealed that the main character’s best
friend has visions of the future ala Final Destination and again, apart from a
couple of ill-timed jokes, has no impact on the overall storyline. There is
then a race, won by who you expect, then they are given the opportunity to
reconstruct a car. Here I thought, great we get a montage and the story is set
up. Nope, the car is all of a sudden completed. Finally, all of this in the
first 5 minutes, they play the sexist card where you see the main female
character as who appears to be the dumb blonde but then knows everything about
cars. At this point I thought of standing up and saying I have seen all I have
needed and walked out flipping tables on the way out.
In the end I am glad a stayed around because the craziness
did not stop there. For a long time I was very, very confused about what year
this was supposed to be set. For the beginning they drove old cars, wore
vintage clothes and hung out at a drive in. I thought great, it is set in the
60’s, it is not very Need for Speed like but it could turn out to be
interesting. Nope, within seconds they begin to play Need for Speed on the PS4
on a big screen TV mounted on the side of a truck. The final straw that made me
lose all respect for this movie was a shameless plug for the director. In a
very poorly shot chase scene located in an unusually large service station,
Imogen Poots inadvertently knocks over a DVD rack. Fair enough, however, the
only DVD located on this shelf is the director’s other movie, Act of Valour. Oh
god why! Then there was the ending, SPOILER ALERT, it is obvious that Imogen
Poots wants to bang Aaron Paul so the natural reaction when she finds out that
he is going to jail for almost 6 months is to be disappointed. No, she smiles
like she is happy! It is as if she is thinking, no I don’t mind that he get
banged by other dudes in jail, it just means he will appreciate me more when he
gets out.
Obviously the casting crew had seen the Top Gear segment
Stars in Reasonably Priced Cars and determined that it is easier to teach
drivers how to act than actors how to drive. The acting in this movie is
appalling. Aaron Paul obviously has some talent after his performance in
Breaking Bad but it doesn’t show here at all. Dominic Cooper is awful. All the
supporting cast was awful. Then there was Imogen Poots. She played one of the
most annoying characters in recent memory. She was supposed to be the strong
female lead who attempts to shake the dumb blonde tag applied to her by her
male counterparts. She in fact does the exact opposite. Sometimes she seems
like she is confident with what she is doing and then all of a sudden she
reverts to the ditsy blonde who needs help from the male leads. She is quite
possibly the least likable character in a long time.
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