“Need For Speed” Directed by Scott Waugh, is a high paced racing film based on the video game of the same name. The movie stars Aaron Paul as an experienced street racer who has his whole life brought down by his racing rival, played by Dominic Cooper. Now he must get revenge on his rival for framing him and getting him sent to prison. What follows is a lot of street racing, some nice character interactions and a great build up to a climax that doesn’t feel as epic as the rest of the movie. The movie is an adrenaline rush of fast cars, enjoyable characters.
The story is a simple revenge tale centered on street racing. Since the film is based on a game with little to no story there are plenty of opportunities for creating any kind of story they want. They chose to tell a very simple story with character stereotypes to a racing story but they do it well enough that those characters don’t get annoying and a few of them are likable. The film is not trying to be artistic or be original it is just trying to be a fun joy ride which it succeeds at being.
Aaron Paul plays a quiet and brooding driver and mechanic. He plays a man on a mission, which for this film works. He does a good job for the serious scenes and he has some awkward moments in the comedy department, which goes well for his character. Dominic Cooper is the rival. He plays a professional street racer who is greedy and power hungry. He makes a generic villain but with how he pulls it off makes the role interesting in regards of when you start to wonder what is mentally wrong with this character.
Imogen Poots plays a British woman who is high society but she knows cars in great detail. She is interesting to watch on screen and her character is at times boring but as the film goes on she becomes more interesting and very likable. The rest of the crew who works with the protagonist are fun characters to watch on screen. Each character has their own moments of comedy.
Most of the visuals are nice to watch but are not probable in real life. The stunts that the cars do is mostly impossible and there are too many coincidences in the film. They have some very nice cars that are featured in the movie. The film has some great moments but the final race is short and way too predictable and cliched, especially when the rest of the film is dedicated to setting up the final race. The setup was very well done but at times did drag on in regards of moving the plot forward, but the points that where moved forward where some good points. There are plenty of plot holes and impossible things done in the movie but there is plenty to enjoy visually.
It is entertaining but if you are expecting a complex or artistic story or you want to watch a realistic racing film, then look elsewhere. This film is just for some entertainment and for a nice adrenaline rush.
