“Gran Turismo” presents a classic underdog sports story. Despite following typical cliches, Neil Blomkamp's direction and Archie Madekwe's standout performance deliver an enjoyable experience at the cinema.

The movie tells the true story of Jann Mardenborough, a “Gran Turismo” gamer whose gaming skills allowed him to compete to become a real-life professional race car driver. It's worth noting that this film is Neil Blomkamp's first wide-release theatrical feature in almost a decade, and it's great to see him finally succeed after being associated with several films that never made it past the production stage.

The film gets off to a slow rolling start setting up our main characters. Archie plays Jann, a “Gran Turismo” player dedicated to gaming despite his disapproving father, Steve Mardenborough, played by Djimon Hounsou. Steve Mardenborough was a professional footballer and wishes Jann would put the video game controllers down and be more physically active like his brother Coby. Across the world in Japan, Orlando Bloom plays Danny Moore, a marketing executive for Nissan who has been pitching an idea to host a virtual racing contest that would award the winners an opportunity to enter an actual racing academy. For this wild idea to work, Moore must find a driving instructor willing to take on the challenge (and risk) of training drivers. Enter Jack Salter (David Harbor), a former race car driver turned mechanic whom Moore must convince despite his initial cynicism.

Admittedly, the introduction is rote and cliche. Thankfully, the film takes off once we get to the first actual racing sequence. The direction in these sequences is excellent. Blomkamp fuel injects them with tons of energy utilizing high-speed drone footage, intercutting brief shots of the interior of pistons firing, and then marrying the action with overlays from the “Gran Turismo” game. Blomkamp also includes some very slick transitions from Jann in the driver's seat to Jann playing the game. Exploded views of car diagrams form around Jann on the track, or occasionally, a fully formed racecar is digitally drawn around Jann driving in the simulator. The point of these transitions is to constantly tie Jann's skills in the game to his performance on the track. It works exceptionally well and looks excellent on screen, too. I watched this in ScreenX, and its racing sequences translate well to this format for an immersive experience in the theater.

Beyond the exhilarating racing, “Gran Turismo” also nails the emotional moments of a sports drama. Archie portrays Jann with a certain composure that evokes both wide-eyed naivete and quiet, steadfast confidence in his skill. His performance toes this line to perfection and elevates the tension in the scenes on the race track. But the true emotional climax of the film comes not on the racetrack but when Jann and his father's relationship drama comes to a resolution. Throughout the film, Steve's perception of gamers is clichéd and outdated. However, as he observes Jann's rigorous training regimen, he starts to see the dedication and discipline involved in professional racing. Although Steve comes to accept Jann for who he is and learns to respect his passion for racing, it's not because of the sport's physical demands. Steve realizes that Jann's drive to excel comes from a deep admiration for his father rather than a desire to rebel against him. This emotionally satisfying conclusion rounds out a surprisingly exhilarating and crowd-pleasing sports drama.

— 3.5 / 5 ⭐