NEED FOR SPEED

Synopsis: A street racer sets out to clear his name Video game adaptations have not had the best track record cinematically, from the infamous Super Mario brothers to the dull Doom, filmmakers seem to have continuing trouble in translating across the medium. There is an irony here as video games themselves have taken on characteristics of movies with orchestral soundtracks and cinematic cut scenes. If it seems that I am delaying reviewing Need for Speed then it is because there is very little to say about it. True, we do not have another Doom on our hands - but it’s close. The car chase action is passable, I suppose, but when you compare it to films like Fast and the Furious it all seems a bit blasé. Not enough certainly to disguise the cliché storm that erupts into the movie’s plot. Now clichés can be done well, after all the previously mentioned Fast and the Furious contains plenty; the key to this is having the characters interesting enough to keep the audience invested in what happens to them. Need for Speed fails utterly in this - the characters are bland and their motivations laid so bare that you might as well have a big shining thread from A to B with the words ‘CHARACTER ARC’ on it for each one. What this means is that when moments of contrived insanity occur rather than grin and cheer, caught up in the moment, the audience is more likely to roll their eyes at the ridiculousness of it all. As mentioned the race scenes are well done, so it’s not a total washout, it just feels that with more effort they could have done so much for with the adaptation from game to screen. FINAL VERDICT 5/10 Need for a more well-thought out plot.