Have you ever felt like transcending your passion into once-in-a lifetime opportunity? This is how I would describe the premise of Gran Turismo, a film adaptation from the mind of District 9 director Neil Blonkamp.
Here is the sleeper hit of the 2023 summer box office that had gamer and petrol heads flocking to theaters. As someone who grew up playing these games on the PlayStation 3, I felt obliged to watch the movie. I was excited to hear that not only would a movie adapt something I’m familiar with, but also base the plot on a real-life event that seems implausible but actually happened.
The gritty tone of the film accurately encapsulates the drama of a video-gamer climbing to the real wheel. Archie Madekwe faithfully portrays Jann Mardenborough, who was once an ordinary teenager who loved playing Gran Turismo but earned a chance to experience real racing. On his side are stern trainer Jack Salter and fellow Academy student Matty Davis.
The inciting incident began with Jann’s future trainer who left his racing team to answer the Academy’s call dialed by the Nissan executive, and now Jann must push the team’s white GT-R to overcome the antagonistic gold Lamborghini driver if he wants a major league contract.
While every Gran Turismo iteration placed the focus purely on the player acquiring vehicles to compete in various events, the human element is never a factor in the gameplay. Instead, the adaptation rather takes inspiration from the real-life GT Academy sponsored by Nissan. When the Academy students arrived at the facility, little did they know how a non-digital vehicle felt, let alone the training required. Jann and other players were pushed to their racing theory smarts beyond describable words.
While the wheel-to-wheel action is impressive, the human emotion is understandable. Blonkamp put in effort to the connect the on-track moments with intense emotion that illustrate Jann’s adverse endgame to Le Mans. Jann’s retired soccer father initially refused to allow his ambitious son to step in real racecar, but changed his perspective once Jann proved his meddle.
Fans of the video game series will feel Gran Turismo’s roots in the SFX. The choices of “Orinoco Flow” by Enya and “Songbird” by Kenny G as Jann’s relaxation music alongside ambient electronic music capture the auditory soul that emanated over the games’ menus. Jann applies his virtual racing knowledge by discovering a strategy when braking early to overtake opponents, which he calls ”finding his line,” visualized by an imaginary braking line highlighting the track.
Although the film is technically based on a video game, the execution is closer to auto racing movies such as Days of Thunder, Ford vs. Ferrari, Rush, and even Cars. The depiction of gamer’s journey is a testimony to creator Kazunori Yamauchi’s vision of making auto racing accessible to everyone, hence the series tagline “The Real Driving Simulator.” Though the plot follows a familiar formula in fellow Le Mans story Ford and Formula One’s Rush, the story is also a real driver’s biopic but with the twist of someone who started from the bedroom. Although not particularly groundbreaking, Gran Turismo is a recommendable watch for petrol heads and video game fans.
Jordan Prewitt is a fourth-year English major at the University of Science and Arts of Oklahoma.
