“Need for Speed” is a Fast
and Furious wanna be and not a good one at that. The main problem is that
there is no character development and little plot. But what can you expect from a movie based on a video game?
It stars Aaron Paul (Jesse on Breaking
Bad). Paul is a good actor with two Emmys to prove it, but he lacks big
screen presence to carry a movie. The action sequences are spectacular (and,
according to other articles, not CGI enhanced), but with the various stunts
speeding through regular traffic, resulting in horrific crashes and spinouts
that could only be fatal, you have to wonder about the ethics involved. Michael
Keaton opts for shrieking insanity as Monarch, the organizer of the climatic
race in California. Only Rami Malek and Scott Mescudi manage to distinguish
themselves as members of Tobey’s support team.
Paul plays Tobey Marshall, a street racer just out of prison
for a crime he did not commit. He blames his rival Dino Brewster (Dominic
Cooper) for leaving the scene of a racing accident so Tobey ends up taking the
rap. Now Tobey wants to beat Dino at his own game by winning the De Leon, the
epitome of street-racing contests. With the help of a pert Brit partner, Julia
(Imogen Poots), Tobey breaks parole to travel from New York to San Francisco in
just two days so he can compete in the De Leon. Scott Waugh is a former
stuntman with a demonstrably stunted gift for directing actors, but a good eye
for car racing action. You don’t need to hurry out to see “Need for Speed.”
3/16/14
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