On my way to the screening of NEED FOR SPEED I was fully expecting another FAST & FURIOUS….
However, that’s not what I got.
The FAST & FURIOUS franchise has improved with ongoing chapters. So the comparison should only be with the original FAST & FURIOUS back in 2001 which was average at best.
NEED FOR SPEED reminds me more of those Roger Corman action flicks of the late 60’s and early 70’s. The rubber burning hot rod sagas where storyline and acting were merely a backdrop. The stars were always the hot cars.
So it is with NEED FOR SPEED which is ‘inspired’ by a video game of the same name.
Here blue-collar mechanic and muscle car street racer Tobey Marshall (played in stiff fashion by Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul) reluctantly teams with arrogant ex-NASCAR wild man Dominic Cooper to keep his family owned garage afloat.
However Cooper has framed Paul who’s now sitting in prison planning his revenge. Think high stakes vengeance in the Super Bowl of underground racing with the hottest wheels afloat in an almost impossible cross-country death race of exotic cars.
That’s basically the good news. The bad: stiff acting, a corny plot and with a 130 minute running time— a half hour too long.
That said, gearheads and video game fans will love the high speed street racing action. It’s definitely high-octane and REAL!
Translation; very little CGI.
No green screen enhancement here. What you experience is pretty much the real deal—speed, crashes and all (executed of course by top stunt drivers).
Then there’s Michael Keaton playing the eccentric host/moderator of the big race.
All I could think during his goofy scenes was how far his star has fallen.
As for the post-production 3D conversion, it’s OK but unnecessary and not worth the up-charge.
From DreamWorks NEED FOR SPEED gets a C grade, New this weekend citywide.
And BTW, Vin Diesel has nothing to worry about.
(Reviewed at Dickinson’s PALAZZO THEATRE)
JACK GOES TO THE MOVIES Friday mornings at 6:40 a.m. and 8:40 a.m. on NewsRadio KMBZ FM & AM.
indeed, Keaton hasn’t had a juicy role since Batman, which I thought he was pretty good in (with Bale hands down the best). resurrecting Beetlejuice might help if they get it off the ground.
Jack I worked for New World Pictures and Roger in 1982/84 great guy..learned a ton, ran music department for films..like Women Behind Bars and all those great B movies…those were the days…Roger started so many major directors and actors from Jack Nicholson to Ronnie Howard(Ron directed his first picture for Roger, I think it was EAT MY DUST).
Hey Craig, I remember it well. Even the tag line: “Ron Howard pops the cludge and tells the world to EAT MY DUST!”
And then there was the even better line: “Battered, Splattered—Creamed and Reamed.”
Don’t know which movie used it but I’m pretty sure it was one of Roger Corman’s as well.