Film Review - Gran Turismo (2023)

Gran Turismo is directed and co-written by Neil Blomkamp who came to prominence with 2009’s District 9 and is based off of the long running Playstation game series and stars Archie Madekwe as Jann Cunningham an avid Gran Turismo player who qualifies for the GT Academy where he will have the chance to become a proper racing car driver and is being spearheaded by Nissan executive Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom) but coaching them is former driver Jack Slater (David Harbour.)

Gran Turismo is far better than it has any right to be and a lot of that comes down to Blomkamp’s work on this movie, yes this is a classic underdog story but he finds a way to make it work for people who are familiar with playing Gran Turismo and people who haven’t, he also does some very interesting stuff with the films car race moments where at times you see the place indicator like you would in the game while at times the camera is positioned like the view on the track in the game.

What also helps is the cast, Madekwe makes for an appealing lead for the most part even if at times his deep voice makes his line readings sound a little stiff, Djimon Hounsou and Geri Halliwell are solid as his parents but the standouts in this movie are Bloom and Harbour who play off each other very well and have good scenes on their own, Harbour in particular is a lot of fun as the grizzled veteran ala Robert Duvall in Days of Thunder.

And so that was Gran Turismo and it’s a fun solid movie that does its job and doesn’t skid off the track, 3 out of 5.