SPLICED MOVIES \r\n\r\nREVIEW \r\nNEED FOR SPEED \r\n\r\nOne of my favourite sounds is the click of a gear change in a super car. It resonates with me. This was also the stand out feature of the new Need For Speed film: the cars featured sound exactly the way they would in real life without the hyped up sound effects usually added. Most everyone who has even a smidgen of interest in gaming has, at some point, played Need For Speed. As a teen I remember racing around tracks in pretty cars that easily bounced off the curb when I hit them. Something I’d learn, later on, wasn’t completely accurate. The EA team decided to pair up with DreamWorks and add a new dimension to the video game franchise with a feature film.\r\nThe film’s plot centres on our “hero” Tobey Marshall (played by Breaking Bad’s Aaron Paul). Marshall is commissioned by the “bad guy” Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) to refurbish a high value Shelby Mustang. Marshall is aided by his band of merry men who don’t have much of a role to play other than make wisecracks and die (every film needs a catalyst). The leading men are strong actors and the cast also brags Michael Keaton, Kid Cudi as well as my personal favourites Imogen Poots and Rami Malek. Big acting chops on most accounts but they failed to deliver (more on that later).\r\nOnce the Mustang is refurbished it’s sold courtesy of Marshall’s excellent driving skills. Brewster gets jealous, challenges him to a race in some Koenigseggs and they’re joined by the youngest of the Merry Men who dies in a crash during the race. Marshall heads to jail for a measly two years after being incorrectly blamed for the death and once out declares revenge on the bad guy. This sets him off on a cross country road trip in the Shelby Mustang to attend a race where he’ll finally face down Brewster. Lovers of the game will reminisce about Need for Speed: The Run at this point. \r\nThe plot is predictable. It’s filled with impracticalities and holes your brain will want to fill. The dialogue is cheesy and bad at best. Don’t watch Need For Speed for the “movie”, watch it for the cars. There are some beauties on display including a Bugatti Veyron Super Sport and Lamborghini Sesto Elemento. Some of the car chases give a nod to classic car films like French Connection with their settings and the filming techniques used. Those moments are something special, though sadly they’re few and far between. The on board computer systems in most of the vehicles will remind you of the game, as will some of the shots that take place behind the actual wheel of the car. \r\nDespite the good car stuff, the movie lacks substance and an hour in had me questioning when it would all end. As a woman, I found that the obvious sexism in the film got under my skin. Why is that car movies always need to feature either a dumb, helpless blonde always getting in the way and in need of saving (as is the case in this film) or a girl who knows her way around cars but is brash and tom boyish (Rodriques in The Fast & The Furious anyone?). The clichés are weathered.\r\nThe cars are sexy and the aerial shots on the races are appealing on the eyes but the movie is awful. Rather spend the few hours playing the console game and give this one a skip. \r\n\r\n