2023 Gran Turismo movie review

Anyone who’s spent time playing games from the Gran Turismo franchise will be struck by the sound quality of the Sony Pictures movie adaptation.

The screen opens with a montage of JDM heroes, including a Honda NSX Type R approaching redline. There are no lawnmower engine sounds here – it's all immaculately recorded and makes for eargasmic listening.

Then we get into a tale based on the true story of Jann Mardenborough climbing through the racing ranks after he became the third winner of GT Academy in 2011 at just 19 years old.

5

Played by Archie Madekwe, Jann battles against his middle-class roots and a father who has little faith in the prospects a video game may bring.

With little support from dad (Djimon Hounsou) and mum (played by ex-Spice Girl, Gerri Halliwell) Jann has to balance a love interest and being a teenager with his secret racing life.

Predictably, there's a fast-talking Nissan marketing guy (Orlando Bloom), a Nikita Mazepin-type oligarch's son who races a gold Lamborghini, and the mostly-forgettable GT Academy racers. All-around automotive talent and television presenter, Emelia Hartford, also features as a fellow GT Academy competitor.

5

Jack Salter, a crotchety ex-racer whose career was cut short (David Harbour), is the exception for charcter development.

Salter grows to really believes in Jann and champions his skills after he identifies an issue with the physical car – but that’s the extent of character development outside of the protagonist.

Being an automotive publisher, we’re of course interested in the ‘cars-t’. This includes a lot of new Nissan products (Qashqais after Learjets seemed a bit odd), but there are also JDM classics – the Skyline R33 GTS-T that flashes past Nissan HQ and the gorgeous cars on display in the lobby, as well as dad’s Corrado VR6 that’s involved in a well-choreographed car chase.

The racing, though, is less convincing. Die-hard motorsports fans may be frustrated which seems to be the case for any car movie reaching for broad appeal.

5

Sony features in a cute gesture of product placement with a Walkman that’s linked to the movie’s fantastic soundtrack

My advice? Try and ignore the fact that Silverstone and Circuit de la Sarthe (Le Mans) are ostensibly played by a combination Fuji Speedway, Hungaroring, and the Red Bull Ring all at once. And don’t look too closely at the 997 Cup Car that’s competing against a Ford GT GTE and Jann’s R35 GT-R GT3 race car.

The race weekends are strangely dramatised – it appears that Jann and the rest of the racers only drive the race, rather than the reality that is multiple practice and qualifying sessions before the race proper.

Sony features in a cute gesture of product placement with a Walkman that’s linked to the movie’s fantastic soundtrack. From Chopin to Black Sabbath via Jamie XX’s excellent Colours album. Jann’s obsession with Kenny G provides some comic relief, too.

5

While the cinematography is not challenging or typical of most Hollywood films, it is a great analogue of Gran Turismo gameplay.

Think epic sun flares, vibrant colours, shallow depth-of-field and plenty of dramatic, high-speed pans. The vehicle stunts and driving (done by the real Jann Mardenborough) also deserve praise – especially knowing there were only seven weeks of filming.

Like Ford v Ferrari, Gran Turismo is not really a movie for mad fans of motorsport. Inconsistencies, excessive drama and stupidly superhuman driving talent get in the way of what is a vibrant and aurally pleasing movie.

Sit back, relax, enjoy the sights and sounds, and Gran Turismo might just have you reaching for the controller or simulator to test your mettle against the best of GT Academy when you get home. It might even inspire the next generation of racers.