More than any other video game developer, Sony believes in the cinematic potential of its products. This is evidenced by the directorial style of many leading projects of recent years, such as The Last of Us, Uncharted or the last chapters of God of War, but above all by the large number of transpositions on large and small topics. screen in production. Above all, the series shines: HBO’s The Last of Us series has received universal praise from critics and audiences. However, movie theaters are offering less-than-impressive products like the animated Ratchet and Clank movie or the Uncharted adaptation starring Tom Holland. Gran Turismo, which has always been a historical series for the PlayStation, doesn’t completely clear up this trend, but it is the best film to date inspired by Sony’s great games. It has a great cast, including Orlando Bloom and David Harbour, and is directed by Neill Blomkamp, director of District 9, Elysium and The Android Man. Gran Turismo manages to satisfy fans of the series and the casual viewer for a couple of hours, but it works primarily because of the solid formula of the genre to which it belongs rather than on its own merits.
As a driving simulator, Gran Turismo has never had a traditional story mode, so the smart decision was made to base it on events parallel to the game itself. The film is a fictionalized adaptation of the true story of Ian Mardenborough (played by Archie Madekwe) and his entry into the GT Academy, an initiative launched by then Nissan marketing executive Danny Moore (played by Orlando Bloom) to become a young man. -Sports champions and real professional drivers. Amid a thousand odds and against the expectations of everyone, especially his father, who warns him at every opportunity, it is the young man from Cardiff who will earn the coveted prize and win the race on the most difficult and prestigious track in the world.
In the sports film genre, the load-bearing structure is both a curse and a pleasure. The first half of the film tells the story of a typical “loser”: conflict with family and bosses over an impossible dream; there is an unwavering desire to achieve this dream and prove that you are ready for it; there is a very sketchy love story. You have won; gets lost; you confront your boastful rival; you are scolded by a rude trainer with a tragic past (played by David Harbour), whose heart the main character will inevitably win; We’re back in the race. A textbook structure, tainted by a lot of repetition that Gran Turismo is “the greatest simulator in the world,” which at a certain point begins to sound less like a line spoken by a character and more like a product. self-referential placement. Things get interesting in the second half, when Yann is forced to compete with professional racers and begins to accumulate defeat after defeat. Yann becomes easy to root for, even though the film never dwells too much on the fatigue the athlete experiences, and the racing becomes more exciting and with a more exciting direction that increases the variety of situations and tracks.
Gran Turismo
The efforts to recreate effects close to in-game racing are commendable, such as the use of a sound effect that is heard every time the player changes positions or completes a lap, highlighting optimal routes marked with blue or red dots, and having a mini-map in the bottom right corner of the screen when presenting a new diagram. These are all things that will please those who know the game mechanics, but they also fit well into the arcade context and the frantic pace of the film. Blomkamp knows the field of special effects well and always ensures that they are integrated into the footage. It follows that the director knows when and how much to show the contamination of play and reality, sometimes in truly creative situations.
Gran Turismo is more Rush than Le Mans ’66. This is a fun film to watch, but one whose strong structural predictability is made worse by its length. However, as a work of film and video games, it works brilliantly because it allows us to think about how the real and virtual worlds are becoming closer and more capable of influencing each other. On the other hand, the phrase “Based on a true story” takes on a completely different connotation when accompanied by the sound you hear when you turn on the PS5.
Gran Turismo