"Need for Speed" Review

Despite some confusing moments, "Need for Speed" proves to be a very entertaining action flick with enough racing scenes to go around.

There is no question that this movie will be compared to the "Fast and Furious" films. Those are about street racers, and this one is about street racers. The thing that disappoints me about the other films is they do not always take advantage of this fact. There are some awesome race scenes, but they are so few and far between. "Fast Five" even brushes over one. It implies that a race occurred, but it never actually shows it.

"Need for Speed" takes advantage of the racing by utilizing a plot that serves as nothing more than a tool to keep the audience involved. The story is simple: in order to get revenge, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul), an expert street racer, needs to travel from New York to California within within about 50 hours (give or take) with a hot British woman named Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots). His goal is to enter the De Leon, a prestigious street race, in order to get back at Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), who had done something very bad.

Of course, he has to drive very quickly, often recklessly just to make it on time. Furthermore, in order to enter the race, he needs to get noticed by a vlogger named Monarch (Michael Keaton). Tobey gains the man's attention by showing up on the news after committing traffic violations and being chased by the cops.

Furthermore, Dino does not want Tobey to make it to the race, so he offers a reward to anyone who stops him from making it to California.

All of these plot points together create a fun-to-watch, fast-paced film. The writers do a great job throwing conflict at the characters including from the cops and from Dino, which keeps the audience involved. Furthermore, Tobey's motivation for entering the race is in and of itself interesting.

The main reason I was looking forward to this film is because of Aaron Paul. Those who know who he is probably recognize him from "Breaking Bad" as Jesse Pinkman. He has been nominated for four Emmys and won twice for not only portraying the drugged-out meth cook, but causing the audience to love him as a person.

Paul does a great job with what he has in this film. There are several parts that require him to show some extreme emotion, and he does it well. However, his character is not given much. All that is known about him is he is a good person and a good racer/mechanic. There is not a lot of depth to him for Paul to showcase.

It really seems like he did not know what to do with himself during the first half hour. That time is mostly used for exposition, and it starts off pretty slow. Furthermore, it is often hard to follow because some characters are talked about before they even appear. They are not introduced properly.

Another confusing aspect of this film is the logic does not always make sense. The man who sets up the main race is a vlogger, who somehow has never been caught, yet everyone knows what he looks like. His voice is actually what sets up the opening scene, and this had me confused because it sounds like something on the radio, but that would be impossible since street racing is illegal.

As in most movies, a romance is built between the main male and female character. Imogen Poots does a very good job at portraying Julia, a car-saavy British woman. Her and Paul have a very good chemistry that works well.

Despite Tobey not being a very deep character, he is actually a pretty good role-model for someone living outside the law. When he gets caught, he serves his time. He never fights the police back. Whenever his friends are hurt, he goes back to help. The character does some great things, and he deserves to get what he wants in the end. I actually really like the character.

Another likeable character is his pilot friend, Benny (Scott Mescudi). He is partly there for the comic relief, and as a way for Tobey to know what is coming up. The character actually flies around in an aircraft to see what is happening on the road so he can warn everybody. It is a pretty brilliant idea.

This film is not going to win any Academy Awards, and it certainly does not try to be an Oscar contender. It is simply a fun racing movie that does not overstay its welcome. At just 130 minutes, it is the perfect length. I give it three and a half out of five stars. If you are looking for a fun flick to watch without thinking too much, this is one to go see. I would not mind seeing it become a film franchise like the "Fast and Furious" movies.

Content: Rated PG-13. There is a moderate amount of profanity throughout the film, and no "F" words. The film is mostly rated PG-13 for violence. There are some intense car crashes throughout the film. A little bit of blood shown is shown, which comes from scratches, but it is not gory. There is maybe one or two sexual innuendos that will go over children's heads. One scene features male backside nudity for about a solid thirty seconds (it is meant to be comical).

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