“I feel the Need…the Need for Speed” was an iconic quote from Tom Cruise in 1986’s “Top Gun”. Video game mogul Electronic Arts decided to capitalize on the phrase by releasing the first of over 20 games with the trademark “Need for Speed” beginning in 1994. Now Disney has entered the car racing franchise to the Spring 2014 film competition.
From the trailer, I expected “Need for Speed” to be simply a rip-off of the highly successful “Fast & Furious” series: fast, cool-looking cars, beefed-up guys and hot gals and with a “livin’ on the edge” attitude, especially when it came to taking down bad guys. Boy, did I underestimate what the power of the cliche could do to a movie.
Aaron Paul, who won 2 Emmys for TV’s “Breaking Bad”, shows that his transition to big-screen stardom could be a bumpy one. He plays Tobey Marshall, a talented driver and owner of a struggling body shop (which he inherited from his now deceased father – Predictable Element #1), who races regularly with all his buddies through the streets of Mt. Kisco, NY.
An old rival returns to town (P.E. #2) – now famous racer Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), who asks Tobey is he’d rebuild an old classic car he’s bought. Tobey and his crew hate Dino, but Tobey needs the money to save the shop so he takes the job. The car is sold to a British car collector and his daughter (more on her later) for $2.7 million, and Dino and Tobey (and one of his young prodigies) decide to race for the money – winner take all. Does this make any sense? Of course not!
The kid dies in the race (P.E. #3), which takes place on regular streets with regular traffic – totally ridiculous. And there was no need for a “Spoiler Alert” because you know this is going to happen from the moment the young driver appears on screen. Falsely accused and convicted of being responsible for his friend’s death (we all know who really caused it!) Tobey goes to prison for 2 years. Once out, he determines he must enter The Daily Own – a secret street race invented by a radio host named Monarch (Michael Keaton) and beat Dino for some good ol’ fashioned revenge. But in order to get to officially enter the race he must get himself and the car from NY to San Francisco in only 45 hours (get ready for P.E. #4), and, of course, Julia, the British girl (Imogen Poots) has to tag-along to keep an eye on the valuable vehicle and, more importantly, to set-up a romantic storyline.
And the plot gets even more ridiculous from there. Every frame of “Need for Speed” is over-the-top, from the driving sequences, to the performances, to the shifts in the script and the subplots. Director Scott Waugh (“Act of Valor”) also makes sure to include parts of practically every single genre. There are failed attempts at humor, corny melodrama, the predictable romance, and loads of car-on-car violence. The only scenes in “Need for Speed” that qualify as entertaining are the races. And the fact that all of the stunts are real, without a bit of CGI, is very impressive.
But the rest of this movie is a mess. At times, Paul tries to add dramatic inflection with his voice, trying to pull off a Jack Nicholson-esque impression with laughable results. Poots is likeable at times, but in an ultimately forgettable role. And after being away from big, Hollywood movies for over three years, Keaton’s comeback attempt is stuck in the pits, with this wacky performance following his turn in the disappointing “RoboCop”.
“Need for Speed” is rated PG-13 for some intense, violent action scenes, in which we witness several police officers and civilian characters getting brutally injured in a somewhat surprising fashion. In fact, there’s an anti-police tone to this film that should and will offend many.
There’s also adult language and an unexpected, extended and totally gratuitous nudity scene which I thought would’ve pushed the film to an R, but I’ll never understand the MPAA. Nonetheless, this film isn’t worth fans of any age of the video games or Aaron Paul or “The Fast and Furious” series to start their engines and race to the theater. About the only thing this movie has in common with “F&F” films is that they both feature cars that go fast.
On The Official LCJ Report Card, “Need for Speed” gets a D+.