Gran Turismo, released on August 25, 2023, earned a meager 61% on the Tomatometer from professional critics.
But what do they know?
The public got it right, rating the film with a well-deserved 98% through the Audience Score. Box office numbers agree, with $17.4 million in profits during its weekend premiere.
Based on the real-life story of Jann Mardenborough, Gran Turismo features the supercars of an automobile fanatic’s dreams including the Audi R8 GT3, Lamborghini Huracan STO GT3 and a plethora of other multi-million dollar machines.
The main character, Mardenborough (Archie Madekwe), drives the Nissan GT-R for the majority of his races but swaps it during the 24 hours of Le Mans for a Nissan GT-R LM Nismo, a 229-mph race car.
The seats and floor vibrated with the revving of racing engines, maximizing the THX 11.1 multi-channel surround sound system at the Rialto Cinemark theater. It was impossible to ignore the sudden rush of excitement as the countdown expired and the lights on the track turned green.
“You feel more pressure than an astronaut at lift-off,” said Jack Salter, played by David Harbour, the head engineer/racing instructor.
The computer graphics in this movie are equally impressive as Jann begins the story as a gamer posed with a challenge among the best Gran Turismo players around the world. The top 10 digital drivers will be accepted into real-life GT Academy with the opportunity to become a professional race car driver.
Danny Moore, played by Orlando Bloom, is an executive marketer at Nissan. He devises a challenge for the sim (simulator) drivers who are eliminated until there are only five left. The final five competitors race against one another to see who will move on to the professional leagues.
Danny explains to Jann and Jack that true racing respect doesn’t come from a sim competition, but from standing on the podium at the 24 hours of Le Mans. Jack gets the message. “If you podium at Le Mans then you become ‘immortal,’” he says.
Jann is unsupported by the racing community, his own pit crew, and even his own father. He has to work twice as hard for people to recognize his potential because he is only a sim driver who has never raced behind the wheel of a true racecar.
Jack is pessimistic when it comes to the GT Academy program. “I’m going to prove that you don’t have what it takes,” Jack says. He sarcastically questions Danny: “Do you really think you’re going to take a kid who plays video games in their bedroom, and you’re going to strap them to a two-hundred-mile-an-hour rocket? It’ll tear them to pieces.”
Once he is on a real track, Jann works to control his emotions, leaning on his digital experience to deconstruct the physical car around him, imagining himself back in his gaming chair at home, where he could reset the game if he dies.
The thrilling rush of the movie’s plot is engaging, as the film draws the audience along for the ride with strong storytelling and a bit of learning about authentic hypercar racing.
“It was [a] really good [movie]. I’ve never really [known] cars that much, but it gave a good background of how [Jann] became a race car driver,” explains Sophia H.
Gran Turismo is an exhilarating experience and the Howl strongly recommends it to a PG-13 audience. The film is not limited to car enthusiasts and gamers; it is for anyone who enjoys an inspirational story.
“I thought the movie was awesome,” says Kenny O. “It was exciting, action-packed and the best thing [is] that it was a real, true story.”
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
