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In "Need for Speed," a character cites the oft-quoted phrase that a man in a big, flashy, expensive car "is overcompensating for something." The same can be said for this movie. It wears on its sleeve the desperation of trying to create another macho racing franchise like " The Fast and the Furious ." That series had six movies to create, shape, modify and solidify its mythology. With five fewer tries, "Need for Speed" aims for "F&F's" level of goofy, fan-pleasing grandiosity while attempting the existential vengeance vibe of " Drive ." The resulting mishmash is as exciting as getting a tow from AAA, and just as slow.

This type of movie was more fun—and more dangerous—when Roger Corman and other '70s B-movie producers made them. Screenwriter George Gatins hints at elements Peter Fonda or Warren Oates would have nailed, and there are moments when "Need for Speed" flirts with the darkness found in films like "Dirty Mary Crazy Larry" and "Race with the Devil."

Aaron Paul doesn't have the coolness nor the gravitas of '70s era Oates or Fonda, but I can't blame him for this film's failure. The script pulls every punch, opting for a safe, wimpy simplicity that insults the viewer. The characters who inhabit "Need for Speed" may as well be stick figures with the trope they represent written over their heads. There's not one note of interest nor complexity at all. An actor with Paul's talent deserves a better feature in which to make his leading actor debut.

Gatins' script is also so full of contrivances and coincidences that you'll be compelled to bang your head into the seat in front of you, sending your 3-D glasses flying into the air. (Note: Don't waste your money on the 3-D.) There's a sloppiness to the writing that is downright infuriating; each overly plotted moment is reconciled in ways that would get a failing grade in the cheesiest screenwriting class. It raises many "but wait…" questions, and the film is so sluggish that you'll have plenty of time to contemplate each one with disgust.

Of course, one must expect, and welcome, a certain level of preposterousness in a film like this. A good movie, however, will pump a viewer so full of adrenaline that problems are noticed only upon much later reflection. Director Scott Waugh makes sure you feel all 130 minutes of "Need for Speed," and even worse, he expects you to take this nonsense seriously. He pauses for all manner of false emotional effect, and the main character's "anguish" is expressed in ways that are unintentionally hilarious rather than heartbreaking. The sudden appearance of a preternaturally slow, somber version of "All Along the Watchtower" under a scene nearly sent Sprite shooting out of my nose. A solitary tear shed near the end would shame even the most melodramatic telenovela.

The source of all this drama is Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul). Marshall is The One Who Drives, a car shop owner who enjoys racing with his co-worker cronies Joe ( Ramon Rodriguez ), Finn ( Rami Malek ) and best friend Pete (Harrison Gilberton). Benny ( Scott Mescudi ), a pal with a pilot license, flies overhead, radioing down traffic information and road conditions to the drivers as they navigate streets filled with clueless regular drivers. An early race gave me a rather icky feeling, especially when one racer hits a homeless guy's cart, nearly killing him. (Note to filmmakers: Cars crashing through fruit stands—cool. Cars hitting homeless people—NOT COOL.)

Into this chummy, platonic circle drives Dino ( Dominic Cooper ). Dino has a long rivalry with Tobey, so the latter should be suspicious when he's asked to complete the Mustang that auto maker Carroll Shelby was working on before he died. Tobey and crew do the job because there's a $3 million price tag on the finished product, of which they'll receive 25 percent. Helping Dino sell the car is Julia ( Imogen Poots ), a British woman whose "Meet Cute" with Tobey is an excruciatingly long variation on the "Oh, it's a girl and she knows guy stuff!" cliché.

Dino offers to race Tobey for the entire price, which leads to Dino committing vehicular homicide. Tobey winds up in jail for three years, wrongly convicted of killing his best friend. Dino rubs salt deeper in Tobey's wounds by proposing to Tobey's ex (and Pete's sister), Anita.

When Tobey gets out, his desire for vengeance isn't manifested by finding Dino and beating him to a pulp like a normal person. He instead wants to beat Dino in an illegal race called the DeLeon. Run by a crazed Michael Keaton , who seems to be channeling Jack Nicholson playing Max Headroom, the DeLeon is the MacGuffin in "Need for Speed." Most of the remaining movie involves a cross-country drive to the DeLeon with Tobey and Julia in the Mustang and the other guys in their respective cars and airplanes. It takes forever.

Even as mere car pornography, "Need for Speed" is a failure. The races are shot and edited in a manner that leeches them of any excitement, and I don't think a single car is onscreen more than five seconds at a time. Though the sound mix sends the appropriate rumbles through your person, there's no time to linger on and drool over these expensive marvels. In fact, you get a longer look at Finn's inexplicably exposed naked butt than you do at any car, which is appropriate. People seeking car-fueled excitement at "Need for Speed" will be left feeling "ass out."

Odie Henderson

Odie "Odienator" Henderson has spent over 33 years working in Information Technology. He runs the blogs Big Media Vandalism and Tales of Odienary Madness. Read his answers to our Movie Love Questionnaire here .

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Film Credits

Need for Speed (2014)

Rated PG-13

102 minutes

Aaron Paul as Tobey Marshall

Dominic Cooper as Dino Brewster

Imogen Poots as Julia

Scott Mescudi as Benny

Rami Malek as Finn

Ramón Rodríguez as Joe Peck

Harrison Gilbertson as Little Pete

Dakota Johnson as Anita

Michael Keaton as Monarch

Scott Waugh
George Gatins
John Gatins

Cinematography

Shane Hurlbut

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Cast & crew
User reviews

Need for Speed

Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bount... Read all Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins. Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.

Scott Waugh
George Gatins
John Gatins
Dominic Cooper
Imogen Poots
464 User reviews
331 Critic reviews
39 Metascore
1 win & 6 nominations

Top cast 97

Tobey Marshall

Dino Brewster

Julia Maddon

(as Ramon Rodriguez)

Little Pete

Bill Ingram

Flyin' Hawaiian
Right Seater
(as Brian Keaulana)

'DJ' Joseph

Jeny 'B'

Jimmy MacIntosh

Officer Lejeune

Detroit Cop #1
All cast & crew
Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

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Did you know

Trivia A majority of the car stunts in the film were done practically using car shells, with hardly any visual effects used. The body shell for the Koenigsegg, a $4.6 million supercar, cost roughly $300,000.
Goofs The Sesto Elemento that Dino drives does not have glass electric windows - a real Elemento has plastic windows with a little slider for the driver to talk.

Monarch : Racers should race, cops should eat donuts.

Crazy credits SPOILER: Benny teaches other inmates how to twerk dance in military prison during the closing credits.
Connections Featured in The Graham Norton Show: Anthony McPartlin/Declan Donnelly/Jamie Dornan/Aaron Paul/Naomi Campbell/Ellie Goulding (2014)
Soundtracks Fortunate Son Written by John Fogerty (as John C. Fogerty) Performed by Aloe Blacc Courtesy of XIX Recordings/Interscope Records under license from Universal Music Enterprises

User reviews 464

tejasvi_hegde
Jul 16, 2014
March 14, 2014 (United States)
United States
Stream Need For Speed officially on Disney+ Hotstar Indonesia
Đam Mê Tốc Độ
Detroit, Michigan, USA
Dreamworks Pictures
Touchstone Pictures
Reliance Entertainment
See more company credits at IMDbPro
$66,000,000 (estimated)
$43,577,636
$17,844,939
Mar 16, 2014
$203,277,636

Technical specs

Runtime 2 hours 12 minutes
Dolby Digital

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Need for Speed Reviews

It's nowhere near a perfect movie, and where there should be humor there is often less of an audible laugh and more of an awkward chuckle.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.5/5 | Oct 9, 2021

A car crazy story where characters take a backseat to the action, but if you know what a Two Lane Grasshopper is, then you'll probably get a kick out of the driving scenes.

Full Review | Original Score: 3/5 | Feb 1, 2021

If the uninspired foundation wasn't bad enough, many of the central characters' motivations are either contradicted or never explained.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/10 | Dec 4, 2020

The best way to approach Need for Speed is mindlessly.

Full Review | Original Score: 2.0/4.0 | Sep 18, 2020

Need For Speed continues the trend of video games turned into films. The trend hasn't been a good one.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Jul 21, 2020

The strongest points involve cars, and the weakest involve more delicate matters like characters and story.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Jul 8, 2020

Let the checkered flag wave for Need For Speed as it crosses the finish line first with fast cars, phenomenal practical stunts, superb lensing, a story with heart and a future superstar in Aaron Paul.

Full Review | Jan 8, 2020

Presumably set in a world where humans never mentally evolved from an animal state, the movie features increasingly nonsensical behaviors by derpy morons whose ability to dress themselves is as impressive to us as their ability to defy physics with cars.

Full Review | Original Score: F | Aug 6, 2019

It did stir up dormant gearhead fantasies with an array of epic shots. When the cars soar, so does Need for Speed.

Full Review | Apr 26, 2019

Credited as a film that glorifies the notion of honor, friendship, and loyalty, all whilst revisiting the vintage stylings of 60's and 70's "car-culture" cinema, it's safe to say that Need For Speed fails on all counts.

Full Review | Original Score: 1/5 | Apr 26, 2019

Need for Speed takes itself a little too seriously and ultimately overstays its welcome.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Apr 26, 2019

Neither fast nor furious, Need For Speed isn't a car crash. It's a $66 million pile-up, with no survivors.

Dumb but technically competent.

Full Review | Original Score: C | Apr 26, 2019

Need for Speed wants to take audiences on a ride, but it ends up going nowhere fast.

Full Review | Original Score: D+ | Apr 26, 2019

With a name like Need for Speed, subtlety was never going to be a key selling point, but the freewheeling pomposity runs out of fuel a good hour or some before its painfully predictable finale.

Full Review | Original Score: 2/5 | Mar 8, 2019

A major bore. This big-budget action film with franchise aspirations that should be parked in the garage permanently.

Full Review | Feb 1, 2019

Only a better script could provide us with a sense that the characters and story are genuinely worth our emotional investment.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Jan 16, 2019

A satisfying bit of here-and-gone sensory stimulation that delivers exactly the kind of high-octane, high-velocity thrills promised by the title.

Full Review | Original Score: B- | Dec 22, 2018

The sloppy script, weak dramatic direction and an uninteresting supporting cast constantly impede on the fun.

Full Review | Original Score: 5.5/10 | Nov 1, 2018

In spite of that movie's popularity and its kinship with the multi-release racing video game, a big screen adaptation of Need for Speed took more than 10 years to roll up to the line. It's not a perfect run but it delivers the goods.

Full Review | Nov 1, 2018

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Film Review: ‘Need for Speed’

The stunts are spectacular, the characters expendable in this modest, diverting muscle-car epic.

By Scott Foundas

Scott Foundas

Film Review: ‘Black Mass’ 9 years ago
Film Review: ‘The Runner’ 9 years ago
Film Review: ‘Straight Outta Compton’ 9 years ago

'Need for Speed' Review: Aaron Paul Gets Behind the Wheel

To say that “ Need for Speed ” is one of the better movies derived from a videogame source may not sound like much of an endorsement given the competition (“Street Fighter,” “Tekken,” “Super Mario Bros.”), but it’s an apt description of this mash note to the American muscle car in which high-flying stuntwork routinely trumps plot, plausibility or particularly memorable characters. The “Fast and Furious” franchise has nothing much to worry about, but as long as the engines are humming and the gears are grinding — which is most of the time — “Need” is modest, diverting fun that should have at least a couple of good box office laps in it before “Divergent” and “Captain America: The Winter Soldier” muscle it off the track.

Because the “Need for Speed” games, of which there have been 20 different installments since 1994, don’t really offer much in the way of narrative, director Scott Waugh (“Act of Valor”) and sibling screenwriters George and John Gatins are pretty much starting from scratch here. They have, in turn, created even more of a self-conscious, 1950s hot-rod/greaser throwback than the “Fast” movies themselves, plunking us down in the kind of pastoral small-town America (Georgia doubling for Mt. Kisco, N.Y.) where people talk of “the big city” as if it can only be reached by arduous overland journey, and where ruddy-cheeked youths gather on summer nights at the local drive-in theater (where “Bullitt” is either enjoying a reissue, or has simply been playing continuously for the past 45 years).

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In a mildly refreshing change-up from the American action-movie norm, Paul is surrounded by an ensemble of similarly small-to-medium-sized gearheads who, collectively, might equal one Vin Diesel or the Rock. They include the wiry, bug-eyed Rami Malek (as a mechanic who gives his cubicle-dwelling day job an exuberant kiss-off), and hip-hop star Scott Mescudi as a wise-cracking Army Reserve pilot who improbably pops up in a variety of civilian and military aircraft throughout the movie, lending the racers eagle-eyed air support whenever they seem to require it. (File his performance under “a little goes a long way.”)

With his slick pompadour and cocksure strut, Dominic Cooper is nearly a caricature of wanton privilege as Dino Brewster, the hometown boy turned NASCAR pro, newly back in town with Pete’s sister Anita (Dakota Johnson), who happens to be Tobey’s former high-school flame, on his arm. Dino has come into possession of the prototype 50th-anniversary Ford Mustang that legendary designer Carroll Shelby was working on at the time of his death in 2012. He has a British buyer on the line for a cool $3 million, and he proposes to hire Tobey and company to finish building the car in exchange for a cut of the sale. But Dino has a few dirtier tricks up his sleeve, too. After the Mustang is built and the sale is done, he challenges Tobey and Pete to a winner-takes-all road race in three identical, street-illegal Swedish Koenigsegg supercars.

Resembling sleeker, more aerodynamic Batmobiles, the Koenigseggs look like trouble, and prove to be just that for Pete, in what is certainly one of the most spectacular aerial car flips ever captured on film. The vicarious thrill-making of that scene and others that show drivers racing in excess of 100 miles per hour through crowded city streets can’t help but hit a slightly queasy note arriving barely three months after the death of Paul Walker. Then again, it’s hard to shake the feeling that “Need for Speed” is a movie Walker himself would have very much enjoyed.

Framed by Dino for Pete’s death, Tobey does his time and emerges two years later with revenge on his mind. At which point “Need for Speed” evolves into a kind of latter-day “Cannonball Run” or “Gumball Rally,” with Tobey hightailing it from New York to San Francisco to compete against Dino in the Super Bowl of illegal street racing, the De Leon. His car of choice: the custom Mustang, whose owner agrees to lend it on the condition that his associate Julia (Imogen Poots) travels with it. The tart, spunky Poots has some fun playing a woman for whom the sound of grinding gears is close to a mating call, but make no mistake: The true romance here is that of man and machine, as Tobey races against the clock, the cops and (in one of the movie’s dumber plot twists) some high-octane bounty hunters dispatched by Dino.

A veteran stunt performer and coordinator, Waugh isn’t as distinctive an image maker as longtime “Fast and Furious” helmer Justin Lin (or Ron Howard in “Rush”), but he certainly knows his way around a stunt sequence and, as in “Act of Valor,” draws heavily on practical special effects with a minimum of CGI. That includes the Mustang’s gravity-defying, 160-foot leap across multiple lanes of downtown Detroit traffic — a stunt so dazzling it help to compensate for some of the movie’s even more death-defying leaps in logic, such as why one would detour through Detroit en route from New York to California in the first place. The rest of the time, Waugh and stunt coordinator Lance Gilbert and d.p. Shane Hurlbut keep the screen busy with lots of fancy driving shot from a battery of dizzying but never disorienting angles (two additional d.p.s, David B. Nowell and Michael Kelem, are credited with the frequent aerial images).

When we finally get to San Francisco, the De Leon almost feels like an anticlimax — unsurprising, given that we’re already well past the 90-minute running time Roger Corman deemed ideal for such fare. But there is an oasis of private amusement waiting in the form of Michael Keaton as the Monarch, mythic impresario of the De Leon, who beams his rhythmic color commentary over the Internet from an undisclosed locale, working himself into flurries of manic intensity as he goes. It’s a tailor-made role for the sly, inventive and chronically underrated Keaton, and he does much to guide “Need for Speed” ably across the finish line.

Reviewed at AMC Empire, New York, March 5, 2014. MPAA Rating: PG-13. Running time: 130 MIN.

Production: A Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures release of a DreamWorks Pictures and Reliance Entertainment presentation of an Electronic Arts/Bandito Brothers/Mark Sourian/John Gatins production. Produced by John Gatins, Patrick O’Brien, Mark Sourian. Executive producers, Stuart Besser, Scott Waugh, Max Leitman, Frank Gibeau, Patrick Soderlund, Tim Moore.
Crew: Directed by Scott Waugh. Screenplay, George Gatins; story, George Gatins, John Gatins, based on the video game series created by Electronic Arts. Camera (Deluxe color, widescreen, HD), Shane Hurlbut; editors, Paul Rubell, Waugh; music, Nathan Furst; music supervisors, Season Kent, Gabe Hilfer; production designer, Jon Hutman; art director, Steve Graham; set decorator, K.C. Fox; set designer, Thomas Minton; costume designer, Ellen Mirojnick; sound (Datasat/Dolby Digital/SDDS), Gene Martin; supervising sound editors/sound designers, Ethan Van Der Ryn, Tobias Poppe, Erik Aadahl; re-recording mixers, Scott Millan, Greg P. Russell; visual effects supervisors, Tony Lupoi, Kevin Baillie; visual effects, Cantina Creative, Atomic Fiction; special effects supervisor, Joe Pancake; stunt coordinator, Lance Gilbert; assistant director, David Sardi; casting, Ronna Kress.
With: Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Imogen Poots, Scott Mescudi, Rami Malek, Ramon Rodriguez, Harrison Gilbertson, Dakota Johnson, Stevie Ray Dallimore, Michael Keaton.

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REVIEW: <i>Need for Speed</i>: It Kills and Thrills. Deal With It.

REVIEW: Need for Speed : It Kills and Thrills. Deal With It.

I n the canyon-wide disconnect between what moviegoers see on screen and what they find in real life, consider the race-car film genre in the wake — the literal wake — of Paul Walker. Co-star of the immensely popular Fast & Furious franchise, which glamorizes stunt driving, Walker died last Nov. 30 when the red Porsche Carrera GT two-seater his pal Roger Rodas was driving crashed into a light pole in Santa Clarita, Cal. Police said the car may have been going 100 mph; both the Porsche and its passengers were incinerated. Walker’s death interrupted filming of Fast & Furious 7 , which was due out this summer, though shooting is to resume next month.

Can’t wait till 2015 for a movie about car races, chases and crashes? Here’s Need for Speed , based on the world’s top-selling racing video game. In the first act, three guys — brooding speedster Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), his cute greasemonkey Pete (Harrison Gilbertson) and the rich bad guy Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) — race identical cars down the highways of Mount Kisco, N.Y. When Dino realizes he’s about to lose the race, he back-ends Pete’s car, which takes flight, hits a light pole on a bridge, bursts into flames and crashes in the river below. Dino’s killer car, like Paul Walker’s, is red.

(READ: Fast & Furious 7 director Justin Lin on the life and death of Paul Walker )

And the weird thing is that, while watching this scene, even a viewer who had the details of Walker’s death seared into his brain doesn’t think about them. His eyes are transfixed by the choreography and spectacle of the stunt, the horrific majesty of the red car’s launch and torque, its fiery collision with the pole and its fatal descent, like winged Icarus, into the water. Such is the (possibly toxic) power of a superbly crafted action sequence over the moviegoer. Kinetic immediacy obliterates factual memory, and art — which in today’s films so often, too often, means gorgeous VFX or daredevil stunt work — transcends life and death.

Later in Need for Speed , Tobey, driving his retooled Ford Mustang cross-country with Brit bird Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots), is pursued by Dino’s rifle-toting goons through the Utah Canyonlands and toward the Moab Fault. Fortunately, his buddy Benny (Scott Mescudi, aka rapper Kid Cudi), who spends most of the movie hijacking one plane or another, has accessed a U.S. Army Apache helicopter. Flying above the car, Benny drops a long seat belt, which Tobey buckles just as the Mustang sails off a cliff, and the chopper totes him and Julia to safety. They’re like Thelma and Louise, only with a happy ending.

(READ: Richard Schickel’s 1991 cover story on Thelma & Louise by subscribing to TIME)

Happy middle, actually, since Tobey is headed to San Francisco for the big, super-secret De Leon race masterminded by a manic entrepreneur named Monarch (Michael Keaton), who oversees and narrates the action like Wolfman Jack in American Graffiti . Winding through the forests and coastal highways of Mendocino, this is a winner-take-all challenge for six contestants — including, of course, Dino — and, eventually, dozens of police cars and copters. Dino’s thugs have totaled Tobey’s Mustang, so he’s at the wheel of what car? The red one Dino was driving when he sent Pete on his trip to that automobile graveyard in the sky.

Like an abandoned vehicle with a complex motor that legendary Mustang retooler Carroll Shelby would be proud of, Need for Speed won’t win prizes for dramaturgy. The script, by George Gatins from a story he contrived with his brother John (who wrote the Denzel Washington drama Flight ), is generic revenge motif: the poor boy hates the rich kid not only for his myriad evil qualities but because he stole Tobey’s girl Anita (Dakota Johnson, quite a bit of whom will be seen as the female lead in next year’s Fifty Shades of Grey film). Tobey’s pit crew mirrors the tokenistic ethnic diversity of Fast & Furious — the black guy (Mescudi), the Hispanic guy (Ramon Rodriguez), the Arab guy (Rami Malek) and the cute blond dead Pete (Australia’s Harrison Gilbertson) — each with one quirk, none with distinctive appeal.

(SEE: The Need for Speed trailer )

Paul, known to Breaking Bad fans as the whiny, needy, half-bright Jesse Pinkman, originally auditioned for the Dino role. Short and unprepossessing, he’s not hero material, though by glowering and dropping his voice an octave he can pass for an outlaw adult. Cooper is a better choice for Dino; he mans the wheels of his swank cars with the shifty-eyed intensity of a guy watching porn in his work cubicle. And Poots recalls English actresses of 40, 50 years ago — the enormous eyes of Rita Tushingham, the fetching, platypus mouth and careless sex appeal of Susan George — and is nearly plausible as a capable racer. Still, it’s not until the last lap of their 45-hour cross-country journey that Tobey lets the girl drive so he can take a fast nap before the Mendocino finale.

It will not surprise you to learn that character complexity is not why people — do I mean only men? — go to car movies. Directed by stunt coordinator Scott Waugh in an ambitious step up from his Navy SEALS superhero picture Act of Valor , Speed gets souped up with eight to 10 action scenes, from a drag race through the streets of Mount Kisco and a police chase through Detroit to the Mendocino gig ending at the Point Arena lighthouse — a berserk Baedecker tour of the Lower 48. Waugh also showcases fast driving against the traffic, the chaining of a cop car to a gas-station pump and a high-speed refueling of the Mustang from the gas nozzle of his crew’s van driving next to it. Call it rampant assholery or just cool guy stuff.

(READ: Corliss’s review of Act of Valor )

Besides filching plot lines from ’70s car-crazy films like Vanishing Point , Death Race and Dirty Mary Crazy Larry , Waugh has the big lug nuts to show a clip from Bullitt , the 1968 movie starring the original Steve Queen that provided the blueprint for urban car chases. Yet Waugh backs his nerve with cinematic verve — as long as you suspend the usual disbelief and don’t tot up the damages to the cars and lives of cops and civilians. The stunts, like the best ones in the Fast & Furious films, are often primally thrilling. They work on the most primitive part of the brain in the most sophisticated manner

Need for Speed is also going up against its own video game, which has sold something like 150 million units over its 20-year span. But video races, even with the viewer at the digital wheel, can’t compete with a movie version of the real thing, executed by insane geniuses who put their lives on the line so you can pretend to risk yours. This is cinema reduced or distilled to its purest definition, of movies that move. If you want dewy humanity in your entertainment, watch Lifetime.

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Need For Speed (2014)

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Need For Speed

DreamWorks Pictures’ “Need for Speed” marks an exciting return to the great car culture films of the 1960's and 70's, when the authenticity of the world brought a new level of intensity to the action on-screen. Tapping into what makes the American myth of the open road so appealing, the story chronicles a near-impossible cross-country journey for our heroes -- one which begins as a mission for revenge, but proves to be one of redemption. Based on the most successful racing video game franchise ever with over 140 million copies sold, "Need for Speed" captures the freedom and excitement of the game in a real-world setting, while bringing to life the passion for the road that has made our love of cars so timeless. The film centers around Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), a blue-collar mechanic who races muscle-cars on the side in an unsanctioned street-racing circuit. Struggling to keep his family-owned garage afloat, he reluctantly partners with the wealthy and arrogant ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). But just as a major sale to car broker Julia Bonet (Imogen Poots) looks like it will save Tobey's shop, a disastrous race allows Dino to frame Tobey for a crime he didn’t commit, sending Tobey to prison while Dino expands his business out west. Two years later, Tobey is released and set on revenge -- but he knows his only chance to take down his rival Dino is to defeat him in the high-stakes race known as De Leon—the Super Bowl of underground racing. However to get there in time, Tobey will have to run a high-octane, action-packed gauntlet that includes dodging pursuing cops coast-to-coast as well as contending with a dangerous bounty Dino has put out on his car. With the help of his loyal crew and the surprisingly resourceful Julia, Tobey defies odds at every turn and proves that even in the flashy world of exotic supercars, the underdog can still finish first. Based on the most successful racing video game franchise ever with over 140 million copies sold, “Need for Speed” captures the thrills of the game in a real-world setting. “Need for Speed” is presented by DreamWorks Pictures, produced by John Gatins, Pat O’Brien and Mark Sourian and directed by Scott Waugh. The screen story is by John Gatins and George Gatins and the screenplay is by George Gatins and John Gatins, based on the video game series created by Electronic Arts. The film releases in U.S. theaters on March 14, 2014.

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Need for Speed Review

(Insert Punny Car Metaphor/Fast & Furious Comparison Here)

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DVD & Streaming

Need for Speed

Action/Adventure , Drama

Content Caution

In Theaters

March 14, 2014
Aaron Paul as Tobey Marshall; Dominic Cooper as Dino Brewster; Imogen Poots as Julia Maddon; Kid Cudi as Benny; Ramon Rodriguez as Joe Peck; Rami Malek as Finn; Harrison Gilbertson as Petey; Dakota Johnson as Anita; Michael Keaton as Monarch

Home Release Date

August 5, 2014
Scott Waugh

Distributor

Walt Disney

Movie Review

Visit sleepy Mount Kisco, N.Y., and you’ll be forgiven for thinking you’ve gone back in time. That’s largely because it’s here that vintage car tuner extraordinaire Tobey Marshall and his posse of gifted wrench spinners devote most of their waking resources to resurrecting the hot rods of yesteryear—rides from a time when engines were still measured in cubic inches and motivated by barking four-barrel carburetors. After hours, it’s off to the drive-in where hot rod classics like Bullitt play on the big screen, and then to a clandestine street race to see which car—and which driver—has what it takes to win.

Wrenching and racing … it seems like a pretty good life to Tobey and his tool mates. But there’s a screwdriver hitting the cooling fan.

Tobey’s garage is on the verge of foreclosure, a secret only he knows. And so Tobey does more than just half-listen when the much-loathed Dino Brewster shows up with a lucrative offer up his sleeve. Dino is another local who nabbed Tobey’s ex-girlfriend Anita, and became an IndyCar champ before setting up his own high-end tuning operation in California. No one’s happy to see Dino drive up. But he thinks Tobey’s is the best outfit in the country to finish work on a very special project: hot rodder extraordinaire Carroll Shelby’s uncompleted final Mustang with Ford.

Dino thinks they can get $2 million for the 900-horsepower monster when it’s done. And he promises to give a quarter to Tobey’s garage. It’s an offer the cash-strapped and struggling mechanic-cum-racer can’t afford to refuse.

Dino actually manages to fetch $2.7 million for the fabled car—with payment made by a rich business magnate and negotiated by his beautiful assistant, Julia Maddon. And that’s when screwdriver No. 2 starts to twist.

Dino invites Tobey and the youngest member of his crew, Petey, to go for a spin in three Swedish Koenigsegg Agera supercars. And he ups the ante: Beat him on the road, and he’ll give Tobey the full $2.7 million. Lose, and Tobey surrenders his quarter. Tobey, of course, isn’t about to say no to a race. And Dino, of course, isn’t about to lose. Even if he has to take out Petey in a fiery accident to win—a murderous act he then pins on Tobey.

Two years later, Tobey gets out of prison, determined to prove that Dino killed Petey. The only way to get justice, he believes, is to enter a top-secret (and illegal) road race that Dino’s participating in. It’s dubbed DeLeon, and it’s sponsored annually by a former racer known only as Monarch.

But it’s invite only. And to get an invite, you have to get Monarch’s attention. To get Monarch’s attention, you’ve got to have a fast car with some YouTube exploits to prove it. Even then, Tobey’s got only 48 hours to drive from New York to California, where he thinks this year’s race is being held.

Easy peasy. Because, after all, Tobey already knows exactly what car he needs: the Mustang. And it turns out the new owner is game to loan it to him … on one condition: Julia has to ride along.

Positive Elements

Justice is the endgame here, and if you completely overlook all the illegal racing that’s going on to get to that goal, you can hand out compliments to Julia and the three guys from the garage for lending a hand. Anita, too, finally realizes what a louse her boyfriend is and gives Tobey critical information to help him prove Dino’s guilt.

[ Spoiler Warning ] It’s also great to see moments of self-sacrifice, like when Tobey decides to rescue Dino from the wreckage of another explosive crash when he could have just let his nemesis burn. And the fact that Tobey gets arrested again after the DeLeon at least offers the suggestion that he’s being punished for his illegal activities.

Spiritual Elements

Petey’s funeral service features a pastor reading verses from Isaiah 41, including the lines “Fear not, be not dismayed, for I am your God,” “Those who war against you will be as nothing,” and “Fear not, I will help you.” One car gets dubbed a “chariot of the gods.” Twice we hear “Godspeed.”

Sexual Content

Young women at a street race wear short shorts paired with tiny tops that bare cleavage and midriff. Tobey’s crew uses a camera to zoom in on the jiggling forms of three female joggers. While quitting his office job, Finn (one of Tobey’s guys) strips to just socks, leaving his clothing strewn behind him as startled onlookers stare. (The camera repeatedly shows his bare rear.) In the elevator, an older woman looks down at Finn’s crotch, prompting him to quip, “It’s cold in here.” When Finn’s asked why he did it, he says it was to make sure he could never go back to the job again. We see a couple kiss, and it’s implied that they’re want to go quite a bit further than that.

Violent Content

Need for Speed is chockfull of high-speed and very dangerous racing, with crashes galore and many, many innocent and uninvolved drivers being forced to take evasive action. When Tobey goes the wrong way on a freeway (sometimes the racers get up to speeds of 270 mph), the results are predictably destructive. Dino purposefully bumps Petey’s car, sending it flipping into the air. Many rolls later and on fire, it flies off a bridge, then explodes. Tobey clips a homeless man’s grocery cart, destroying it (and prompting jokes about it).

One cataclysmic street skirmish, this time with police in Detroit, gets filmed and uploaded to YouTube. The reward for all the recklessness? Monarch sees the clip and welcomes Tobey to participate in the DeLeon.

Thugs try to force Tobey and Julia off the road, using shotgun blasts to “persuade” them. Several of those attackers, not surprisingly, end up dying in explosive crashes. A crash in California flips the car Tobey and Julia are in, bloodying both of them and landing Julia in the hospital with a broken arm and concussion. Tobey ties a chain to a policeman’s car, ripping off the rear axle of the vehicle when he tries to pursue.

The DeLeon race obliterates five of the six cars participating in it, along with numerous pursuing police cars. Several of the crashes involving the police are quite serious, and we hear radio calls for aid for the injured officers.

After dragging Dino from the burning wreckage of his flipped Lamborghini, Tobey makes sure he’s OK … then punches him in the face.

Crude or Profane Language

One muffled f-word. A dozen-plus uses of the s-word. Two misuses of Jesus’ name and half-a-dozen of God’s. Six or seven uses each of “a‑‑,” “h‑‑‑” and “b‑‑ch.” “B‑‑tards” is tossed in once, as is “douche bag.” We hear four or five crude slang terms for the male anatomy (“balls,” “nut sack”) and see one obscene hand gesture made by a woman mocking a man’s “size.”

Drug and Alcohol Content

Empty beer bottles sit in Tobey’s shop. We see folks drinking wine and champagne.

Other Negative Elements

A particularly perilous stunt involves refueling the Mustang while zipping down the freeway. Julia hangs out the window of the car while one of Tobey’s friends in a truck feeds a hose to her. Afterward, the guy stands atop the truck (it’s still moving) and raises his hands in victory.

Note that most of the time, cops are made to look like annoying buffoons here. And at one point, Monarch tells his online audience, “Racers should race. Cops should eat donuts.”

One guy instructs another not to “soil your panties.”

Need for Speed is not a movie about the subtle nuances of character transformation. It’s a souped-up, turbocharged melodrama with the struggling Good Guy facing off against the nefarious ‘n’ dastardly Bad Guy, with a damsel who eventually manages to end up in distress plopped down into the passenger seat. There’s not much more than that going on here, really. And in an almost cartoonish (read: video game-ish) way, the movie asks us not to think too deeply (or at all) about Tobey’s breakneck, utterly illegal cross-country sprint to make sure Dino gets what’s coming to him.

If you’ve owned a video game console recently, there’s a good chance you’ve played one of the 20-plus Need for Speed titles that Electronic Arts has published since the franchise’s inception back in 1994. Since then, EA has sold a combined 150 million units, making the series the most popular racing franchise of all time. No doubt DreamWorks and Disney are counting on that built-in marketing advantage when it comes to this big-screen adaptation.

Tobey takes the games’ devil-may-care approach to careening through traffic at obscene speeds, with never so much as an afterthought being proffered for those trying desperately to get out of his (and other racers’) way. And the fact that several of the cars he drives (most notably that rocket-like Mustang) sport heads-up displays projecting aforementioned obscene speeds on the windshield only helps to reinforce the story’s video game credentials.

Yes, Tobey gets locked up again in the end. Yes, the movie’s producers have dutifully tacked a big ol’ “DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, KIDS!” disclaimer onto the closing credits, a tardy and ultimately timid attempt to remind impressionable or unstable moviegoers that what they’ve just seen really is a fantasy, not something they should go out and imitate.

Still, it’s not hard to see how this movie, just like its go-fast soul mates in the Fast & Furious franchise, could nevertheless inspire teens (and teens at heart) who have fast rides to see just how far they push down that pedal, too. (And who cares about those goody-good cops, the movie snipes.)

If they get in trouble or hurt innocent bystanders along the way, they’ll quickly learn that life isn’t a video game—even if some movies are.

Adam R. Holz

After serving as an associate editor at NavPress’ Discipleship Journal and consulting editor for Current Thoughts and Trends, Adam now oversees the editing and publishing of Plugged In’s reviews as the site’s director. He and his wife, Jennifer, have three children. In their free time, the Holzes enjoy playing games, a variety of musical instruments, swimming and … watching movies.

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Movie Review

‘Need for Speed’ review: not so fast, not so furious

Aaron paul can't break the video game movie curse.

By Chris Ziegler on March 12, 2014 09:04 am 108 Comments

As the lights go down in the theater, an “EA” logo flashes across the screen, which prompts a few errant chuckles from the moviegoers around me. I laugh too, and I’m not exactly sure why. Maybe it’s that it looks like a video game is booting up, or maybe we just all know movies adapted from video games are at a high risk of being absolutely terrible. Super Mario Bros . Street Fighter . Mortal Kombat . Doom . I could keep going.

This one is Need for Speed , a movie based on EA’s long-running game franchise with just the thinnest of plot parameters to work with: there are fast cars, and there are cops. The fast cars are running from the cops. That’s pretty much it. Presumably, everything else was fair game for screenwriter George Gatins, who shares a credit for the movie adaptation with his more broadly accomplished brother John ( Real Steel , Flight ).

In other words, the Gatins brothers were basically working with a clean slate. Alas, they still arrived on an elementary, age-old formula. It involves a down-on-his-luck kid, Tobey, played by Breaking Bad 's Aaron Paul, with a talent for racing and a heart of gold. It has a bad guy (who’s conveniently always wearing black clothes to remind you he’s the bad guy), a love interest, and a final showdown involving — you guessed it — a bunch of exotic cars. There’s rarely a moment in the film’s two hours and ten minutes when you can’t roughly predict what’s going to happen next.

That’s not necessarily a bad thing, of course. With a name like Need for Speed , moviegoers have a very good sense of what they’re going to be getting for their money. And this formula has practically printed money for decades: if you made NFS animated, you’d have a bizarro analog of the Pixar classic Cars . If you swapped cars for boxing gloves, you’d have the rough outline of Rocky IV .

It’s particularly true that you can lean on a tired plotline when you’re appealing to gearhead culture; you certainly won’t find any Oscars on the mantel for The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift , but for all its silliness, it’s endlessly entertaining. Unfortunately, it’s that unavoidable comparison to the Fast & Furious series where NFS starts to look like the freshman effort that it is. Apart from Michael Keaton, who plays an eccentric millionaire operating an illegal street race, the only recognizable star from the film is Paul himself, and he hasn’t yet shaken his image as Breaking Bad’s rage-prone loser Jesse Pinkman. (Somehow I kept expecting him to slink off somewhere and smoke meth.) No doubt there are A-listers who have built an entire career playing more or less the same character — Bruce Willis, to name but one example — but Aaron Paul is a long way from Bruce Willis,.

Still, for what it tries to be, a movie like NFS can be saved by the action alone. You might think that a film filled to the brim with exotic cars and testosterone would beget an endless string of massive explosions, but NFS is a surprisingly low-explosion affair. Apart from a fiery Koenigsegg Agera flipping spectacularly off of a bridge, most of the action is limited to driving and the occasional crash. That may be due in part to the movie’s budget, roughly a third of last year’s Fast & Furious 6 . Impressively, NFS involves essentially zero CGI and the actors did many of their own stunts. Aaron Paul took a crash course in stunt driving, and Scott Mescudi — better known by his stage name, Kid Cudi — actually learned to fly for the role, which involves spending most of the film piloting an aircraft or helicopter of some sort.

But that DIY attitude of the film’s production comes out in places; I couldn’t shake the feeling that the adrenaline-packed action sequences could’ve been considerably more intense. Even a high-speed cliffside chase felt strangely brief and low-stakes. If this had been a Fast & Furious movie, the sequence would’ve been three times longer, more people would’ve died, and something — something — would’ve exploded. A cargo plane, a battleship, a speedboat, I don’t care. Something!

NFS has turned out to be an odd pairing of a big-budget video game franchise to its mid-budget film adaptation, a dangerous equation that comes off feeling like an actual video game cutscene: lifeless, ill-conceived filler that gamers just want to skip through to get to the good parts.

Still, despite the budget concessions, NFS can be rewarding for car lovers at times. It could’ve easily gotten by with bog-standard supercars like the Lamborghini Aventador and Ferrari F12berlinetta, but the producers dug deep to arrange appearances by unicorns like the GTA Spano, the Saleen S7, and Lamborghini’s glorious Sesto Elemento. Those appearances are brief, though: most of the movie focuses on Tobey’s 900-horsepower Shelby Mustang, which is cool but not that cool. And, unwilling to be a merchant of death for any million-dollar exotics, crews built low-cost replicas of many of the cars for use in dicey scenes — I may have been psyching myself out, but I felt like I could tell when and where the cars were fakes.

Rare supercars aside, I left Need for Speed feeling… well, I wasn’t really feeling much at all. I was never emotionally invested in the well-being of Tobey’s crew the way I’ve become invested in Dom’s through his adventures with Brian O’Conner and the motley Fast gang. I don’t blame the producers for spinning such a thin thread connecting this film to the video game franchise that created it; they had practically nothing to work with, after all. But in the age of Fast & Furious 6 , gratuitous car porn on the big screen only works when it’s over the top in every sense of the word — and the people behind NFS appear to have had neither the money nor the imagination to pull it off.

Need for Speed is now playing in the UK. It opens in the US on March 14th.

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Need for speed.

Common Sense Says
Parents Say 7 Reviews
Kids Say 27 Reviews

Common Sense Media Review

Fast-paced stunts, dangerous driving will thrill teens.

Parents Need to Know

Why Age 14+?

The movie includes many car chases and crashes, and filmed without the aid of CG

A male character quits his office job by stripping down to nothing. It's a long

Language is not very frequent but does include "s--t," "bitch," "ass," and "douc

A female character mentions her prized "Gucci boots." The brand names of cars ar

Characters occasionally drink in restaurants or in a background way.

Any Positive Content?

The main thrust of the story is revenge, and the main characters destroy countle

Aside from wreaking untold destruction and going out for revenge, the main chara

Violence & Scariness

The movie includes many car chases and crashes, and filmed without the aid of CG effects, the impact of these stunt sequences is quite strong. Characters die in car crashes. We see some guns and shooting, and some punching, but only a little blood is shown (mostly injuries after crashes).

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Violence & Scariness in your kid's entertainment guide.

Sex, Romance & Nudity

A male character quits his office job by stripping down to nothing. It's a long sequence as he walks through the building and outside, interacting with his friends, though only his naked bottom is shown. The main character and the lead female character share an almost-kiss.

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Sex, Romance & Nudity in your kid's entertainment guide.

Language is not very frequent but does include "s--t," "bitch," "ass," and "douchebag."

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Language in your kid's entertainment guide.

Products & Purchases

A female character mentions her prized "Gucci boots." The brand names of cars are mentioned, such as "Ford Mustang."

Drinking, Drugs & Smoking

Did you know you can flag iffy content? Adjust limits for Drinking, Drugs & Smoking in your kid's entertainment guide.

Positive Messages

The main thrust of the story is revenge, and the main characters destroy countless amounts of property with no consequences.

Positive Role Models

Aside from wreaking untold destruction and going out for revenge, the main character is a good team player, and has a sense of right and wrong. In two cases, he stops during a race to check on fellow racers after crashes, even though he risks his lead. (The bad guy does not show this same tendency.) Some female characters are treated as sex objects in skimpy outfits.

Parents need to know that Need for Speed is an action movie, based on a video game, and centers around car racing (and car crashing). Teens will be attracted to the movie thanks to its star Aaron Paul in his first lead role after the hit TV series Breaking Bad . Expect plenty of car chases, stunts, and crashes, and characters die, though only a little blood is shown. Infrequent language includes a few uses of "s--t" and "bitch." In some scenes, women are shown as sexual objects, a man strips naked (only his bottom is shown), and the main character and the leading lady fall in love and nearly kiss. Parents of driving-age teens should be aware that the very fast stunt driving in the movie was done by both stuntmen and actors after intensive training, and they might want to remind them that this kind of driving in real life is extremely dangerous. To stay in the loop on more movies like this, you can sign up for weekly Family Movie Night emails .

Where to Watch

Videos and photos.

Parent and Kid Reviews

Parents say (7)
Kids say (27)

Based on 7 parent reviews

What's the Story?

Tobey Marshall ( Aaron Paul ) could have been a champion racer, but instead he remained behind in his small community of Mt. Kisco, working on cars with his faithful crew. An old rival, the successful Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), returns to town with a lucrative offer to restore a classic Ford Mustang. An argument over the sale of the car leads to a race between the enemies, followed by an accident that lands the innocent Tobey in jail. Two years later, he plots to enter the dangerous "De Leon" race, run by the mysterious Monarch (Michael Keaton), but to do so, he must make a speedy cross-country run to San Francisco, with the daughter of the car's owner, Julia (Imogen Poots), in tow. Can Tobey beat Dino and restore his good name?

Is It Any Good?

Former stunt man Scott Waugh pays respectful homage to the classic action/car chase movies of the 1960s and 1970s by choosing to use all live stunts, with no computer-generated effects. He also casts an actual actor (Aaron Paul), rather than an action hero, to play the lead, resulting in more meaningful, human moments. So, even though the movie is a fairly routine popcorn entertainment with typical twists, romances, heroes and villains, it feels old-fashioned, organic, and exciting. It's based on a video game, but you'd never know it.

The stunts, especially one involving an Apache helicopter rescuing the escaping Mustang from the edge of a cliff, is tremendous, with far more powerful impact than CG effects could accomplish. It helps that Paul and his co-star, English actor Imogen Poots, are so good and sympathetic together, showing fear and doubt as well as exhilaration. And even though it runs past two hours, the movie is briskly paced; it's a terrific ride.

Talk to Your Kids About ...

Families can talk about the movie's violence and car racing. What would be the cost of all this violence and wild driving in real life? Does the movie reflect the true consequences of the way the characters drive their cars?

Could you tell that the movie is shot without computer-generated effects and used all real stunts? What is the difference?

What positive qualities does the main character have? Is he a good role model ? What would make him a better role model?

Movie Details

In theaters : March 14, 2014
On DVD or streaming : August 5, 2014
Cast : Aaron Paul , Dominic Cooper , Imogen Poots
Director : Scott Waugh
Inclusion Information : Female actors
Studio : Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures
Genre : Action/Adventure
Topics : Cars and Trucks
Run time : 130 minutes
MPAA rating : PG-13
MPAA explanation : sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language
Last updated : February 1, 2023

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Movie Review: Need for Speed (2014)

General Disdain
Movie Reviews
5 responses
--> March 19, 2014

Need for Speed (2014) by The Critical Movie Critics

Moseying down the line.

“The Fast and the Furious” is a great movie. When compared to the latest fast car drama, Need for Speed , that is. It has more fully developed characters played by more interesting actors, a less implausible plot, better choreographed racing and cuter cheerleaders. That last one is a bit of stretch, however; there really are no losers when comparing the looks of Imogen Poots (“ Filth ”) to Jordana Brewster (“ Fast and Furious 6 ”).

There are losers everywhere else, though. Namely, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul, “Breaking Bad” TV series). Like every movie in this genre, there is a criminal element to it and he is it, although director Scott Waugh (“Act of Valor”) tells us he shouldn’t be. The real bad guy is Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper, “ Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter ”), a successful legitimate racer who, during an unsanctioned street race, kills Tobey’s best friend Pete (Harrison Gilbertson, “ Beneath Hill 60 ”) but lets Tobey take the fall.

A man can dream up a great many ways to exact revenge when sitting in the clink for two years. Tobey, unfortunately, can only muster up wanting to challenge Dino to a race. Not just any race, mind you — it’s the “De Leon,” the most famous illegal street race of the year, or so says Michael Keaton (“ RoboCop ”) as the announcer/promoter/financer guy. Luckily, Tobey easily obtains a 2.7 million dollar Shelby Mustang and is able to reassemble his talented rag-tag team of automotive experts — Benny (recording artist, Kid Cudi), Joe (Ramón Rodríguez, “ Battle Los Angeles ”) and Finn (Rami Malek, “ Short Term 12 ”) — to help since their alternative is to continue sitting around doing a whole lot of nothing.

The final straw is Poots, and with her riding shotgun, the New York to San Francisco cross country adventure of Need for Speed begins.

The path to get there is fraught with obstacles, of course. There are traffic jams and those pesky toll booths to contend with! No, I kid you not, and the solution to such annoyances is to put the greater public in harm’s way by breaking every imaginable law as Tobey speeds down side streets, jumps curbs and weaves through parking lots to circumvent. It’s fun to watch — impressive car handling skills always are — but it makes absolutely no sense whatsoever since all he needed to do is activate the “traffic reroute” option on his navigation app on his smartphone. It would have saved him gas, damage to the multi-million dollar car he’s borrowed and eliminated every cop on Earth being in pursuit.

Also in pursuit are hapless bounty hunters but at least in their incompetence they’re treated to the best stunt of the show.

Readying for the race.

Now I’m kidding. Actually the best stunt in Need for Speed comes from Aaron Paul managing to maintain a blank stare for the entire 132 minutes of mindlessness. It is, however, only mildly better than the Dominic Cooper’s constant glare — he even glares at his wife Anita (Dakota Johnson, “ 21 Jump Street ”) and she sticks with him even though she knows he is a lying asshat. I do feel bad for Imogen Poots having to stand between these guys. She’s got more than just pretty looks going for her but starring in throwaways like this and January’s “ That Awkward Moment ” is not helping her cause to gain a foothold in the states.

Need for Speed is quite literally a car crash on all fronts. Even its stunts, while commendable for actually being stunts done with real cars and real people, can’t hold a candle to its fancier brethren. At least that explains why more car manufacturers didn’t offer their flagship vehicles to the production (Ford didn’t seem to mind much). As to why everything else is so bad, there is no explanation.

Tagged: prison , racing , revenge , video game adaptation

I'm an old, miserable fart set in his ways. Some of the things that bring a smile to my face are (in no particular order): Teenage back acne, the rain on my face, long walks on the beach and redneck women named Francis. Oh yeah, I like to watch and criticize movies.

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'Movie Review: Need for Speed (2014)' have 5 comments

March 19, 2014 @ 10:33 pm Qwerty

I have no desire to see this but I just have to know: what was the tie-in to the video game?

March 20, 2014 @ 11:05 am Seegee

If I were to venture a guess it was the shot where the drivers were matched up against one another on Michael Keaton’s computer screen. It had a video game inspired vibe to it.

March 19, 2014 @ 10:40 pm Fitzwell

I couldn’t even classify this as mindless fun. It was so not good.

March 20, 2014 @ 4:46 am Ron Hopper

Funniest review I’ve read for one of the worst movies I’ve ever made the mistake of watching.

March 21, 2014 @ 9:12 am wombat

There may not have been many of them but those cars were nice.

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'Need For Speed' Movie Review: A Frivolous, Fun, High-Octane Action Film

Aaron Paul - Need for Speed movie review

Movies based on video games usually suck. They frequently graft dense, stupid stories to the tropes of a given game. In doing so, the soul of the game is lost, and you don't care about the story, either. Need for Speed , on the other hand, finds a near perfect balance. There's a story, but it contains just the bare minimum amount of logic and drama to make two hours of near non-stop racing believable.

Aaron Paul 's lead character, Tobey Marshall, is given a motivation, enemies, and the push of a ticking clock. He pretty much sits behind a wheel for the whole movie, but it's exciting. From the opening moments, Need for Speed puts the pedal to the metal and never lets up.

The most obvious comparison people will make with Need for Speed is the Fast and Furious franchise. Of course, this movie probably wouldn't exist if those weren't grossing billions. Need for Speed distinguishes itself by being even more about racing and cars than that franchise. It feels smaller, more succinct, yet it probably contains more actual racing than all six Fast and Furious combined. That racing also feels grittier because director Scott Waugh shoots action practically as often as possible. When a 900 horsepower, $2 million dollar Mustang is E-brake sliding through a crowded gas station parking lot, you tense up because it's happening for real.

You wouldn't care, however, if it weren't for the story; the one from screenwriter George Gatins wrote works well. Tobey, a talented local street racer, is framed for the death of his friend. The man doing the framing is Dino, an evil pro driver played by Dominic Cooper . After serving his prison sentence, Tobey immediately starts hatching a plan to get even. His means is a highly competitive, secret, and highly illegal street race. The only problem is, it's on the other side of the country and he has two days to get there.

So basically because of one race, Tobey has to do a second race to get to a third race. Yes, Need for Speed is that kind of movie. You have to buy into its tone. The second you take yourself out of the fun, realistic action, the plot is incredibly thin and vulnerable to be massacred. It works, however, because the stakes feel high, there's always tension, and Aaron Paul is damn charismatic as a leading man. That was one of the biggest question marks going into the film. Could he follow Jeese Pinkman, and thrive in a lead role? Rest assured, Paul is cool, confident and commanding as the lead.

The supporting performances all work, too. Imogen Poots is a great foil for Tobey. His crew members – including rapper Scott Mescudi, and Rami Malek – are perfect comic relief. They're all second fiddle to the main story, but that's okay because they serve their purpose well.

Despite some issues, Need for Speed surely ranks among the best video game adaptations ever. It never takes it self too seriously, but also takes itself just seriously enough. It's predictable, frivolous and all kinds of dumb. But the logics of the plot melt away as you enjoy this expertly made, fun, action film. Need for Speed is a hell of a ride.

/Film rating: 7.5 out of 10

Jason's Movie Blog

A movie blog for movie reviews, trailers, and more.

Need For Speed Review

A MINDLESS AND JOYLESS JOYRIDE

Any average person who has deep rooted ties into the world of video games has played at least one (Or simply know of) of the bolstering library of the Need for Speed franchise. With about twenty games that carry the brand name, players have raced cars through virtual cities with full throttle speeds and causing chaotic wreckage for shear unadulterated joy; insuring bountiful high octane thrills. Now Dreamworks Entertainment takes the lucrative racing game franchise to the big screen with the movie titled Need for Speed . Does this film adaptation of the popular video game finish strong or does it race too hard for the average moviegoer?

After dealing with a death in the family, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is desperately trying to keep his garage doors to his body shop opening. But without steady flow of cash to hold off the bank loans, Tobey and his friends, who work alongside him, might have to close up shop. With a last ditch effort, Tobey makes a deal with the once local townie now big time swinger Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) to fix up a famous race car and share in a third of the profits when car is sold. Unfortunately, Dino, who has a history with Tobey from long ago, gets the best of Tobey and frames him for murder and lands him in jail. Two years later, Tobey gets out of jail and with vengeance on his mind. With the help of an automobile analyst Julia (Imogen Poots) and his ragtag mechanic friends, Tobey hatches a plan to partake in a high profile and illegal race called De Leon Race, created by Monarch (Michael Keaton), to exact his revenge on Dino, who is participating in the race.

THE GOOD / THE BAD

Being based off a racing game, it’s clearly from the get go that film Need for Speed has to be a visual representation of its source material (I.e. sleek fast cars and accelerated thrills). With the success of the box office juggernaut in the Fast and the Furious franchise, which holds the top ranking spot for movies of fast cars and piston pumping adrenaline, Need for Speed seems also eager to cash in big on its skirt tails in an attempt to create a rival franchise from another studio. The result isn’t quite that dramatic or celebrated in its intended goal as the film is a blaring, bombastic feature, as it should be, but ultimately delivers an uninspiring dull coating of a movie rather than a movie with a glistening polish finish.

Scott Waugh, director of the fictional military film Act of Valor , helms this racing project and while his automotive heart may be in making this movie, his directorial soul is not. Need for Speed is riddled with problems; some that can be forgiven, but not all. First, and foremost, the film’s running time, which is roughly about over 2 hours long, is stretched to the max of being both tedious and strenuous. Viewers are forced to sit through a bloated feature of chaotic driving scenes and Tobey’s misadventures of narrow escapes across country as he inches ever closer to the big De Leon race, which in truth is not that all impressive for being the ultra be-all-end-all race of underworld racing. Truthfully, the film could have been easily reduced significantly, shaving off a good twenty minutes from the film’s final cut, and possibly could’ve achieved a slightly better narrative pacing (and a better rating from me and other reviewers like me). Just like in Act of Valor , which gave viewers plenty of POV’s shots of soldiers fighting, Waugh demonstrates that same tactic, but from behind the wheel of a drag racing car. It’s a nice feature, one that the Fast and the Furious movies didn’t use, as Need for Speed showcases these scenes with perfect timing to keep tension and adrenaline level high. The same can be said with the actual racing of the cars.

All the racing cars that are featured in the movie are those classy showroom automotives that will have most fast car junkies drooling over with glee as their power performances on the street level, which are executed and choreographed beautifully. However, while the Fast and the Furious entries are great with fanciful scenes of extreme racing, Need for Speed subjects viewers to racing scenes that come off as dangerous and slightly horrifying to watch. Almost all the main characters in the movie carelessly drive, though choreographed in style, through the streets filled with pedestrians, cyclist, and other vehicles. While this may be the harkening to the spirit of the video game, the jarring and guttural feeling you get in your stomach by watching these scenes have the opposite effect of what Waugh wanted to achieve.

Need for Speed’s character, whether by miscasting its actors or from its screenplay, are mixture of performances ranging from mediocre to deplorable. Aaron Paul, who’s well known for playing Jesse on the hit T.V. show Breaking Bad , does his best in playing and selling the strong, silent type character in Tobey Marshall (which I think he does an good job). Michael Keaton’s Monarch, the illusive Wolfman-Jack-esque radio broadcaster and game maker of De Leon race, seems to be having the most fun of the entire cast. His character’s is likeable and chews through his dialogue with great ease, even if it’s slightly over the top to beginning with.

Besides those two actors, the rest of the cast is beneath them. Tobey’s motley crews of mechanics are clearly used as comic relief for the film, but are woefully not funny at all. Scott Mescudi’s Benny, Tobey’s aerial eye in the sky, tries his hardest amongst this group to be the funniest, but fails to execute a sucker punch of comedy in his character as it just becomes stupid and annoying. Only Rami Malek’s character Finn produces something funny in a scene where strips down naked and hands in his resignation to his meanly desk job. Dominic Cooper’s Dino is a one-dimensional, smarmy villain that we all have seeing before. Imogen Poots’s Julia Maddon, Tobey’s passenger companion for most of the movie, is pretty to look at, but comes across as just eye-candy for film that is dominated by male actors. And Dakota Johnson’s Anita, Tobey’s ex-girlfriend that got away, is forgettable with limited screen for viewers to even care about her (perhaps filming scenes for Fifty Shades of Grey ).

FINAL THOUGHTS

It’s hard to look at the Need for Speed film as its own entity rather than what it is more of less; a poor man’s attempt of making an unmistakably illusion of a Fast and the Furious movie. The film might feed the hunger for some adrenaline junkies out there until Fast and the Furious 7 comes out next year, but honestly, watching a previous entry in the Fast and the Furious series would probably suffice (and probably entertain more) to soothe your testosterone appetite. In truth, Need for Speed is a mindless movie, which there is nothing wrong with, but the film lacks that surreal fun that usually accompanies these typed of popcorn flicks. Coupled with bad writing, unlikeable characters, dangerous driving, and a lengthy running time, Need for Speed fails to deliver a sense of escapism in a movie and makes you want to observe the “Rules of the Road” rather than mimicking a drag racing fantasy.

2.5 Out of 5 (Skip It / Rent It)

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Need For Speed Parent Guide

Knowing the stunts are real makes the explosive and spectacular car crashes, the camerawork and the editing all that more impressive -- and possibly dangerous..

Based on the popular video game, Need For Speed pits Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) against cops and crooks as the street racer, who has spent some time behind bars, uses his new freedom to find and punish those who put the breaks on his former life.

Release date March 14, 2014

Run Time: 131 minutes

Official Movie Site

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The guide to our grades, parent movie review by kerry bennett.

Can you drive faster if you grimace? Apparently. That’s why all the drivers in the Need for Speed furrow their brows as soon as they get behind the wheel of a car. And nobody does it better than Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul).

Tobey supports his racing habit and pit crew with the earnings from his garage. But lately his income has been a little lean and that forces him to take a custom car job from his old rival Dino Brewster (Dominic Coouper). The two men have been at odds on the racetrack since childhood. Dino now has a professional gig as a driver but that doesn’t stop him from wanting to grind Tobey’s reputation into the asphalt.

Wrongfully charged with the death, Tobey spends the next two years behind bars. When he emerges from jail, his only goal is to make Dino pay for his unjust incarceration. But to do so, Tobey has less than 48 hours to drive all the way across the country and earn a spot in the secretive DeLeon road race.

Based on the EA video game, this storyline is all about one thing: illegal street racing. Honoring the memory of his father, stuntman Fred Waugh, film director Scott Waugh chose not to include any computer generated driving stunts. That meant the actors spent hours at driving school perfecting their skills. Knowing the stunts are real makes the explosive and spectacular car crashes, the camerawork and the editing all that more impressive—and possibly dangerous.

While the Fast and Furious franchise has dialed back on the depictions of street racing in more recent movies, Need for Speed runs at full throttle. Tobey’s hunger for revenge means he endangers, and likely maims or kills, a host of innocent victims. But the camera speeds away before showing any of the deadly consequences. Instead all audiences get is the adrenaline rush of watching high-powered cars careen down the roadways with their engines roaring.

Although that might be okay if you’re sitting in a theater or working the controls of your game console , Need for Speed sets a high-risk precedent for drivers who think they can recreate the rush when they get behind the wheel of a real car.

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Kerry Bennett

Need for speed rating & content info.

Why is Need For Speed rated PG-13? Need For Speed is rated PG-13 by the MPAA for sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language.

Violence: Cars race through city streets nearly hitting a homeless man. Cars race down country roads, among cars on the Interstate and on the wrong side of the road. Cars hurtle through the air, crash and in some cases burst into a fiery explosion. A character breaks into a building. A man steals planes and helicopters. Men fire at passengers in a car and try to drive them off the road. An explosive car accident results in the death of a man. Accidents cause some bloody injuries. A man is punched in the face. Numerous scenes of irresponsible and dangerous driving are shown. Characters seek revenge.

Sexual Content: Women drape themselves over cars. Brief moments of sexual innuendo are included along with embracing and kissing. A man takes all of his clothes off and walks through his workplace completely naked. Several scenes of buttock nudity are shown.

Language: The script includes crude sexual innuendo and anatomical terms, along with scatological slang, profanities, curses and vulgarities.

Alcohol / Drug Use :Characters drink to celebrate a race. Other brief scenes of drinking and one depiction of smoking are shown.

Page last updated July 17, 2017

Need For Speed Parents' Guide

What consequences are shown in this movie for dangerous and irresponsible driving? How does Tobey justify endangering so many innocent lives? What consequence does the organizer of the DeLeon race face?

How are police portrayed in this film? What affect might that have on real drivers?

The actors in this film spent hours and hours working with professional drivers at driving school. As a result they make the stunts look amazing—and easy. The movie also fails to give away the details behind the filming of these scenes and the special precautions. Why might that be dangerous for drivers who think they could pull of the same stunts on real roadways?

This movie is based on the video game Need For Speed .

The most recent home video release of Need For Speed movie is August 5, 2014. Here are some details…

Home Video Notes: Need For Speed

Release date: 5 August 2014

Need For Speed releases to home video (Blu-ray) with the following special features:

- Capturing Speed: Making An Authentic Car Movie

- Ties That Bind

- The Circus Is In Town

- Feature Audio Commentary with Director Scott Waugh and Aaron Paul

- Monarch & Maverick Outtakes with Introduction by Director Scott Waugh

- 4 Deleted Scenes with Introductions by Director Scott Waugh

- The Sound Of Need For Speed “B-Camera”

- Crash Compilation with introduction by Director Scott Waugh (Easter Egg)

- Need For Speed Rivals Trailer

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An unofficial disney cruise line news, information, weather, and photo blog..

Movie Review: Need For Speed

During our last cruise on the Disney Fantasy, DreamWorks’ latest movie, Need for Speed had it’s PremEAR at sea in the Buena Vista Theatre. I am sure some of you are saying, wait a minute, I thought only first run Disney movies played on the Disney Cruise ships. Well, that is true, but this includes movies from other studios that Disney is distributing, which had previously been the case with Lincoln.

Honestly, I did not realize Need for Speed, the movie based on the EA video game franchise, was playing on our cruise until I saw it listed on the day one Personal Navigator. I mentioned to my wife while we were having our first lunch on the ship, that I wanted to go see the movie, and I’m sure she thought I was joking. However, I was not. Still, it was a game time decision. At 11:30 PM I was still awake, and knew we had an relaxing day planned at Castaway Cay, so I filled up my travel mug at the drink station and stopped by the late night snack set up in Europa before making my way to the Buena Vista Theatre. I was rather shocked by the turn out for a non-Disney movie that started at midnight with an over 2-hour running time.

Need for Speed starts out as a throwback, classic car racing movie then abruptly changes to the fast lane into a world of multi-million dollar vehicles in a high-stakes race against time. After a few setbacks and a tragic loss Tobey Marshall played by Aaron Paul sets out on quest for revenge where the only way to clear is name is to earn a coveted spot, and win the De Leon, a high-stakes winner take all race. The De Leon is organized by a mysterious car fanatic, Monarch played by Bruce Wayne… No Beatlejuice… No no, Michael Keaton, thats it, Michael Keaton.

Keaton’s part in the film was one of my favorites and at times I thought he was channeling characters from his previous roles. However, if there was a Hunt Stevenson or Assan Motors reference in Need for Speed I missed it. Other than Keaton and Paul, the other actor that stood out in the film was Rami Malek who you may know from a role as King Ahkmenrah in the Night at the Museum movies. I have to admit, Malek’s character Finn, had the best albeit most un-Disney-like scene in the film, when he walks out of his office.

While we are on the subject of the character Finn, I think it is a good time to talk about Need for Speed’s PG-13 rating which according to the MPAA is for sequences of reckless street racing, disturbing crash scenes, nudity and crude language. Here is link to the IMDB parent’s guide for Need for Speed for you to decide if it is right for the young ones in your group.

Overall, I found Need for Speed entertaining and it held my interest throughout. If I did go see it again in the theatre I’d defiantly pay the extra for the 3D showing as it really immerses you in each of the races and is not just used as a gimmick. Although, the story was predictable and at times unrealistic, it really did not matter. Why? Simply because the movie was inspired by a video game, not real life. This film should be of interest to moviegoers seeking mindless entertainment. The storyline is a mix of personal relationships and humor capped off by explosive racing that screams for a DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME disclaimer.

Did you see the film? What did you think?

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4 Replies to “Movie Review: Need For Speed”

Do you think that the Muppet Movie and Winter Solider be on the boat(s) in the next week or so?

Muppets Most Wanted started on the ships Friday. Winter Soldier will PremEAR the same day as on land.

Excellent! Thanks!! I am not familiar with “PremEAR” is there something special about that or that goes with the showing of the movie? Thanks again and keep up the excellent work on the site. We check it everyday!

PremEAR is DCL speak for premier. As in opening night or first showing on the ship.

Need For Speed: Most Wanted Unreal Engine 5 remake gets gorgeous gameplay trailer

It's about time.

Angharad Redden

Sometimes there is nothing better than booting up your favourite racing game and letting off some steam whilst you put pedal to the metal and zoom off into the sunset.

Originally released in 2005, Need for Speed : Most Wanted is one such example of a racing title that achieves that and now it has received an Unreal Engine 5 makeover.

Check out the original trailer for Need for Speed: Most Wanted below!

Winning the VGX Award for Best Driving Game, Most Wanted is one of the best of its kind so it is no wonder that fans have been calling out for a remake.

However, with Criterion Games working on more recent titles, it has been left to modder NostalgiaNexus to take hold of the reins and bring the title up to 2024 standards.

In a new video, NostalgiaNexus has shared over 50 minutes of gameplay from their Need for Speed: Most Wanted remake in Unreal Engine 5.

The video gives us an in-depth look at the game’s beautiful graphics, alongside a new feature that the modder has been working on; police AI.

We see a few police chases as well as some general roaming around the city and the latter has never looked better.

As a key part of Most Wanted, the new police AI brings even more life to the unofficial remake and this comes alongside improved textures and speed line effects like the ones found in the original Xbox 360 release.

There have also been improvements to the sounds of the cars which I’m sure you will agree is pretty important.

As a result, the BMW M3 GT sounds better than ever.

NostalgiaNexus also shared some comparison shots of their Unreal Engine 5 remake alongside the original 2005 release and it is safe to say that the differences are startling.

The modder has managed to capture the spirit and the vibe of the original title but has added a realistic and much-needed update.

Unfortunately, this mod is not yet available to download and it is unclear if it ever will be.

However, let us hope this inspires Criterion Games to work on that much-needed revival in the future.

Topics: Need For Speed , Unreal Engine , Mods

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Need For Speed: Most Wanted gets gorgeous Unreal Engine 5 remake
Need For Speed: Most Wanted gets stunning Unreal Engine 5 remake
Need For Speed Most Wanted Unreal Engine 5 remake looks damn-near photorealistic
Need For Speed: Most Wanted Unreal Engine 5 remake looks absolutely glorious

Need for Speed Review

The fast and the spurious..

We Own the Night

First-person fist bumping.

Need for Speed looks the part, sounds the part, and is surprisingly reverent to real-world car culture. I like the direction Ghost has taken here, and I think it’s the right one, but beneath its flashy exterior it's not quite firing on all cylinders.

More Reviews by Luke Reilly

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One Fast Move Movie Review [Motorcycle Roadracing on Prime]

BMX has Rad (1986), and skateboarding has Gleaming the Cube (1989). Thirty-eight years later, roadracing has One Fast Move (2024) , written and directed by Kelly Blatz. Action sports and motorsport are no strangers to the silver screen. In fact, they’re primed for it, with racing’s risks and rewards acting as an almost immediate dopamine hit for fans—jockeying for position at triple-digit speeds tends to lend itself to that kind of satisfaction. What One Fast Move shares with the 1980s cult classics is a cinematic embrace of a subculture that leads to real moments of two-wheeled authenticity. Beware, there are some spoilers ahead.

Now streaming on Amazon Prime Video, Blatz’s directorial debut rides into the world of club-level motorcycle racing with a cast comprised of KJ Apa ( Riverdale ), Eric Dane ( Grey’s Anatomy ), Maia Reficco ( Pretty Little Liars ), and Edward James Olmos ( Blade Runner, American Me, Battlestar Galactica ). One Fast Move tells the story of a struggling 20-something man who has set out on a journey to become a professional racer and reconnect with his estranged father.

Grounding the film for a broader, non-motorcycling audience is the inherent drama developed by exploring themes of desertion, regret, and parenting, creating believable real-world moments between characters—how our protagonist meets his love interest’s son is one of those moments.

One Fast Move Movie Review: KJ Apa and Maia Reficco

Crucially, dealing with such subject matter casts a more serious tone setting, avoiding the goofy pitfalls of motorcycle-related cinematic disasters such as Biker Boyz (2003) and Torque (2004), which only redeem themselves in the sense that they’re highly quotable parodies.

Wading into these situations is Wes Neal (Apa), who, after being released from a six-month stint in jail for illegal street racing, chooses to right his ways and pursue his lifelong desire to race by tapping his deeply flawed club-racing veteran father, Dean Miller (Dane) as a riding coach.

The two develop a convincing on-screen father-son chemistry, with the plot layered by Wes’s love interest, Camila (Reficco). She is a single mother and local waitress. Local speed shop owner Abel (Olmos) employs and mentors both male leads. The narrative, while compelling enough, is familiar ground for moviegoers and one that can lean into cliché from time to time.

One Fast Move Movie Review: Edward James Olmos and Eric Dane

Instead of using the motorcycles as an ignorable set dressing, the Director of One Fast Move achieves a recognizable depiction of the grubby, grassroots nature of club-level racing. When asked why he chose the decidedly unglamorous setting of club racing, Blatz said, “I love the world because there’s so much passion.” He continued, “Why isn’t there something set in the world of roadracing? It’s fascinating. It’s not a world I’m in, but I’m a motorcycle rider, and I would love to create this love letter to motorcycles set in this arena while also telling a compelling drama.”

Blatz homed in on the vibe when developing the script by attending WERA motorcycle roadracing events at Willow Springs International Raceway and Buttonwillow Raceway Park . This paid off in an authentic representation of life at the races.

Subsequent mock race meets filmed at Atlanta Motor Speedway and Road Atlanta showed the low-budget nature of racing at this level, with pop-up canopies, hand-me-down gear, and well-worn bikes—an immediately identifiable atmosphere to any rider’s discerning eye.

Some of that accuracy comes from familiar industry names, such as Hollywood stunt coordinator Gregg Smrz, a former AMA National race winner and the man responsible for the legendary motorcycle chase sequences in Mission Impossible – Rogue Nation. According to Blatz, a slew of active racers were tapped for advising roles and stunt riding. Two-time Daytona 200 winner and current MotoAmerica Superbike racer Brandon Paasch performs many riding sequences as Wes, while longtime Triumph associate and AMA Horizon Award winner Brian Stokes filled in as Dean Miller.

All too often, stunt scenes in sports dramas turn to CGI. Instead, Blatz wisely opted for practical stunts and riding that nets a sturdier foundation in realism—the film’s conclusion highlighting some of the best work.

Wes’s ascendance from a fledgling street rider to a bona fide club racer follows an accurate logic. He makes rookie mistakes during his first track outing by wadding his Suzuki GSX-R600 and trains on a Suzuki SV650 —arguably the most time-honored converted track bike in history. Wes eventually begins racing in the Twins class—a common starting point for many newly minted racers. While Wes’s meteoric rise through to the Supersport 600 ranks is rushed, raising red flags due to my racer’s perspective, it did avoid resorting to a contrived montage.

The bikes become supporting cast members within this world, as they’re all quite accurately depicted. The SV650 is a true-blue clapped-out club racing machine, with the prior-gen Yamaha YZF-R6 representing an accurate step forward in Wes’s progression. Finally, the race-prepped Triumph Daytona Moto2 765 Limited Edition stands as his final stepping stone during the film’s conclusion. Most importantly, One Fast Move avoids the cardinal sin of making every motorcycle sound like a screaming inline-4 or American V-twin—twins sound like twins, triples sound like triples, as they should.

In that sense, the film passes the motorcyclist sniff test. Numerous elements add up to something recognizable, such as Abel’s perpetually struggling shop.

However, One Fast Move isn’t immune to criticism. A few familiar motorsport movie tropes slide in with unnecessary shifting via infinite-speed transmissions, a killswitch is hit in a Romano Fenati-esque move, and Wes commits the greatest of all racetrack offenses—riding the wrong way on a live circuit, an act that would most certainly get you banned. Silly, sure, though the film is ultimately about redemption and growth, which is probably where we’re supposed to focus our attention.

Embracing a subculture to any accurate degree is an enormous task, and those who are part of that world will view any attempt to depict what they hold so dear through electron microscopes. One Fast Move , in specific ways, faithfully represents a niche part of motorcycling to a notable degree while lacing an entirely human drama into the mix for the average viewer. That’s fine, though it’s a rare occasion that a film takes the time to show roadracing. In that sense, it’s a movie for us, and I’m sure it will be quoted in paddocks for years to come. BMX has Rad. S kateboarding has Gleaming the Cube . Now, we’ve got One Fast Move.

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Stream It Or Skip It: ‘One Fast Move’ on Prime Video, an Underdog Sports Movie Starring ‘Riverdale’ Hunk KJ Apa

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One Fast Move

‘Riverdale’ Was Always A Show About Death

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You’ve seen many underdog sports movies , but what about a motorcycle-racing one starring Riverdale guy KJ Apa’s shredded abs? One Fast Move (now on Amazon Prime Video) shaves the redhead off the one-time Archie Andrews, drops him on a crotch rocket (after doing a zillion situps) and prays that that’s enough to get you to mash the play button. The movie’s banking on Apa as a headliner, because otherwise, it offers us McSteamy from Grey’s Anatomy , a gruff old-timer turn from Edward James Olmos and the type of fast-track racing action that struggles to differentiate itself from the rest of the sports-flick pack.

ONE FAST MOVE : STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: PSA: If you’re participating in an illegal motorcycle street race and the cops bust you, don’t try to outrun them. You’ll end up in the clink. So why does Wes Neal (Apa) try to do exactly that? Because it’d be a very unexciting opening to a movie if he just jumped off and let ’em cuff him. Six months later, he gets out of military prison with a dishonorable discharge in his back pocket and the only thing he can say is, “When can I get my bike back?” He LIVES to motorcycle around on a motorcycle, preferably at high speeds. There’s nothing back there for him – wherever there is, because nobody wrote that part of the screenplay – so he goes over yonder – wherever yonder is, because nobody bothered to write that part either – to track down the father who abandoned him while he was still in the womb. Does he have issues about this? Oh boy does he!

And so we meet Dean (Eric Dane of Euphoria ), the hard-partying pops that Wes never had. For the past 20-odd years, Dean’s been going around in circles, literally and metaphorically. Lots of motorcycle races, not many wins. And his back is effed up, to boot. He still races, but mostly he works at the speed shop owned by Abel (Olmos) and spends his evenings boozin’ and scorin’ with the ladies. Funny how Wes is a chip off the ol’ block even though he’s never even seen the ol’ block before, right? Wes shows up on Dean’s doorstep all hot and scruffy, and Dean sees an opportunity to chase a bit of secondhand glory – the type of glory he never reached as a third-rate racer. But first, Dean has to indulge the cliches of this particular brand of storytelling: Wes is too old to begin Jedi training. Wes needs to show What He’s Got. Wes needs to commit to this shit. Wes needs to listen to his old man, who’s been around the track many many times. And whaddayaknow, Wes not only does well in his very first race ever, but he goes out and wins the damn thing. Methinks he has What It Takes!

Amidst the manly-man scenes featuring all the racing and doing shots at the bar, Wes goes to the local diner so Camila (Maia Reficco, Pretty Little Liars ) can serve him scrambled eggs, and look really cute while doing it. She seems to like the fact that Wes doesn’t own a t-shirt without 200 holes in it – I think they’re SPEED holes, or perhaps strategically ripped to allow free emission of abs-originated pheromones – and they hit it off. Abel likes Wes, and gives him a job at the shop because he Could Use Some Help Sweepin’ Up Around Here. And everything’s just ducky until it isn’t, since there are daddy issues to be addressed, and when exactly is Wes going to tell Camila that he’s an ex-con? Lawd, the tension, the tension! Oh, and there has to be The Big Race at the end of the movie, because a teen comedy without a third-act prom sequence obviously isn’t worth the bandwidth to stream it.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: One Fast Move shows little interest in deviating from the Rocky formula, as applied to the racetrack-drama formula we saw in Days of Thunder and the like.

Performance Worth Watching: Speaking of Rocky , you can’t help but appreciate Olmos in the Burgess Meredith role here – except Olmos nicely underplays instead of letting ’er rip.

Memorable Dialogue: Dean speaks in metaphors: “It’s either full throttle or full brakes, and everything in-between is for pussies.”

Sex and Skin: One semi-steamy sex scene with a bit of mutual male/female toplessness.

Our Take: Those who insist there is nothing new under the sun will find affirmation in One Fast Move , which doggedly adheres to the creeds and customs of the genre. Something I’ve learned as a fan of pro sports is, they require a degree of precision and attention to detail that sports movies often choose not to explore. They’re often bland and toothless like this one, which takes barely a passing glance at the inherent danger of motorcycle racing, and shows little interest in earning its emotional catharsis.

Think about it. Wes is doing treacherous stuff here: He straddles a machine that goes 200 mph and puts nothing between his body and the pavement. He confronts the father who never wanted him. And he opens himself up emotionally to a woman who might reject him for his rough-and-tumble ways. This is decent-enough dramatic fodder, but the film doesn’t define its characters beyond bromidic templates of sports-film formulae, and the result is a frustratingly shallow experience. The opportunity is ripe for high-stakes drama, but the film is content to zoom by this stuff like roadside scenery, and banks on the attractiveness of Apa and Reficco to fuel its romantic chemistry instead of, you know, actually writing characters with any distinctive qualities.

The plot sets up Dean as a villain of sorts, a selfish opportunist and Bad Advice Dad with a massive ego, across from Wes’ angsty angst-ridden angstiness, but they’re both generic and underwritten, boilerplate arcs showing little interest in defying cliches. You will not be surprised to learn that Abel and Camila are positive forces in Wes’ life, but they can’t offer the rush and thrills and potential for motorcycle-based glory that toxic Dean does – so Wes follows the trail of psychotherapeutic bread crumbs right into the mouth of despair. Until he doesn’t, of course. The underlying theme here is that Wes needs to get the feel of racing with a pro bike on a pro track, and he can’t do that until he sheds his many burdens – the weight of his bad-boy past, the burdens Dean foists upon him, his tendency to think too much while racing instead of just racing. This is admittedly a rather generous reading of the text; in truth, the movie doesn’t go any deeper than a quarter-inch puddle in the oil pan.

Our Call: SKIP IT. One Fast Move circles the same old sports-flick track, round and round, round and round.

John Serba is a freelance writer and film critic based in Grand Rapids, Michigan.

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A good movie, however, will pump a viewer so full of adrenaline that problems are noticed only upon much later reflection. Director Scott Waugh makes sure you feel all 130 minutes of "Need for Speed," and even worse, he expects you to take this nonsense seriously. He pauses for all manner of false emotional effect, and the main character's ...
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Need for Speed is a thrilling action movie that follows Tobey Marshall, a mechanic and racer, who seeks revenge on his former partner Dino Brewster, who framed him for a crime. Tobey must outrun ...
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Need for Speed: Directed by Scott Waugh. With Aaron Paul, Dominic Cooper, Imogen Poots, Kid Cudi. Fresh from prison, a street racer who was framed by a wealthy business associate joins a cross-country race with revenge in mind. His ex-partner, learning of the plan, places a massive bounty on his head as the race begins.
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Film Review: 'Need for Speed'. The stunts are spectacular, the characters expendable in this modest, diverting muscle-car epic. By Scott Foundas. To say that " Need for Speed " is one of ...
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2014. PG-13. Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures. 2 h 12 m. Summary Framed for a crime he didn't commit, muscle car mechanic and street racer Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) gets out of prison determined to get revenge on the man responsible for his false conviction. Action.
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Summary. Need for Speed is based on the action-packed videogame racing franchise. In Need for Speed, the cars are hot, the racing is intense and the story keeps fans at the edge of their seat ...
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Summary. DreamWorks Pictures' "Need for Speed" marks an exciting return to the great car culture films of the 1960's and 70's, when the authenticity of the world brought a new level of ...
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A review by The Movie Mob. 70 % ... Need for Speed isn't mind-blowing or innovative, but with a stellar cast and great stunts, it's still an entertaining and exciting movie! Need for Speed is surprising! Let's start with this crazy stacked cast, especially for a video game adaptation: Aaron Paul, Michael Keaton, Rami Malik, Dakota Johnson ...
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Violent Content. Need for Speed is chockfull of high-speed and very dangerous racing, with crashes galore and many, many innocent and uninvolved drivers being forced to take evasive action. When Tobey goes the wrong way on a freeway (sometimes the racers get up to speeds of 270 mph), the results are predictably destructive.
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Parents need to know that Need for Speed is an action movie, based on a video game, and centers around car racing (and car crashing). Teens will be attracted to the movie thanks to its star Aaron Paul in his first lead role after the hit TV series Breaking Bad.Expect plenty of car chases, stunts, and crashes, and characters die, though only a little blood is shown.
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Need for Speed Review ... Need for Speed is a dumb movie, and not a dumb fun one. As far as video game movies go, Need for Speed is certainly not an unwatchable turd like Street Fighter: Legend of ...
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Moseying down the line. "The Fast and the Furious" is a great movie. When compared to the latest fast car drama, Need for Speed, that is. It has more fully developed characters played by more interesting actors, a less implausible plot, better choreographed racing and cuter cheerleaders. That last one is a bit of stretch, however; there ...
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I was rather shocked by the turn out for a non-Disney movie that started at midnight with an over 2-hour running time. Need for Speed starts out as a throwback, classic car racing movie then abruptly changes to the fast lane into a world of multi-million dollar vehicles in a high-stakes race against time. After a few setbacks and a tragic loss ...
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