User reviews

Ever since the popularity of video games skyrocketed in the 1980s, Hollywood has been trying to cash in on the craze by bringing well-known franchises to the big screen. While some adaptations have come close to getting it right (Silent Hill is probably the best), most video games movies have been absolutely terrible, with Super Mario Bros. and Street Fighter: The Movie serving as a shining example of what not to do.

With a well-documented history of failed projects, the expectations surrounding Need for Speed couldn't be much lower - after all, it's based on a decades-old franchise about illegal street racing, featuring a young cast that remains unproven at the box office - but what the film lacks in storytelling and character development is more than compensated for, thanks to the action behind the wheel.

Two years after being framed for the death of a friend, Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is released from prison with revenge on his mind. His target is Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper), the shady professional racer that put Tobey in jail and Tobey's friend in a coffin. Taking down Dino will mean beating him at his own game, a top-secret race featuring the world's most elite drivers, and hosted by the mysterious Monarch (Michael Keaton).

With less than two days to get from New York to California before the race begins, Tobey embarks on a cross-country trek that features plenty of jaw-dropping moments, made even more thrilling by director Scott Waugh's insistence that all driving stunts be performed by real drivers in real cars. This adds an extra layer of tension that's sorely missing from the Fast and Furious series (to which Need for Speed is destined to be compared), and the film's best moments come courtesy of E-brake drifts, squealing tires, and near collisions.

Despite its paper-thin plot and many, many failed attempts at humor, Need for Speed still works thanks to the generous amount of high-octane action sequences, and the undeniable charisma of Aaron Paul. Skeptics may not have believed that Paul could distance himself from his Jesse Pinkman persona, but he delivers a strong performance that should put him on the radar for future action roles.

Need for Speed is one of the better attempts at translating a popular video game into a big screen experience, with the practical stunts and real-world action serving as a nice counterbalance to Fast and Furious's ever-increasing ridiculousness. Its silliness, predictability and over- inflated running time keep it from being a truly great movie, but it's still a hell of a lot of fun.

-- Brent Hankins, www.nerdrep.com

Acting fine, very good cast.

Storyline OK, keeps you engaged throughout.

Racing scenes very good.

Overall I really liked it, wasn't expecting much but pleasantly surprised. Bit cheesy of course but a solid 7 from me. Enjoy.

And I'm a woman! I watched it alone and sweat was coming out of my pores the entire time. I know about Mustangs. I know about Bugattis. I didn't know about many of the different types of fast cars though. That Bugatti was sweet. All I want to say after watching this movie is....'This is for Pete' and I'll add to it for him.....'You Dirty Rotten Scoundrel!'....Justice SERVED!! Enjoy the ride, PHEW! It's worth it!

This is one of those clear cut action film which excel in its main goal (intense car racing) but kind of ignores everything else. Plot is straightforward & not emotionally driven, but is generally fun to watch and high in adrenaline.

So to begin with, the team seriously proved their ability in making the action sequences feel suspenseful and look awesome at the same time. And you can really feel intensity of the crashes and the speed. Furthermore, it feels more special with the inclusion of hypercars like Lamborghinis and Koenigseggs for the races. It is the first film for a long time to have really, really powerful cars like these, and they are simply a joy to watch. A dream come true for car fans.

However, though, the plot is very much straightforward, and predictable enough. And while the use of humour is good and energetic throughout, the same could not be said for the drama. There is a genuine feel for some of the characters, but I would say it was not plot driven and instead mostly due to the brilliant acting by Aaron Paul, who was the only stand out cast. His portray of emotions & joy, along with the charisma he brings to the screen easily makes him the likable action hero we want to root for, and so everything that happens around him kind of find its way to our hearts. I believe that after this people will remember him more than just a meth maker (Breaking Bad).

So, this is really an energetic and full of adrenaline action movie full of powerful, powerful cars, which makes it one worth the watch despite an ordinary plot.

VERDICT:

Good: Excellent & Intense car action, Beautiful inclusion of hypercars, Lots of humour, Great main character

Bad: Straightforward plot, Average supporting cast, Less emotionally driven

SCORE: 7.0

(blockbusted9.blogspot.com)

I saw an advanced screening of Need for Speed at NAS Pensacola for free and went in with no expectations. I actually expected it to be really bad. But my hand to god....it was awesome. There is not a dull moment in the entire movie. With a countless number of street races, police chases, and car crashes i was entertained throughout its two hour run time. But of course all of this time spent on the action scenes comes at the cost of a well thought out plot. It was pretty formalistic and predictable. but what did you expect from a movie based off a racing video game? There were no stand out performances by the actors but no one was bad either. Kid Cudi played the comic relief and he did a lot better than i expected having no prior acting experience. Overall if you're looking for a very intense and entertaining movie this is it. Hopefully now Aaron Paul wont just be remembered as "the guy from Breaking Bad". 8/10

I was expecting this to be hardcore car racing action movie.

But this movie, Need for Speed, gave me pleasant surprise.

It has action but story is good too. Does not bore the viewer.

Director exactly know what needs to be fed to viewer in what quantity.

Acting is well delivered. Aaron Paul and Imogen Poots are matching pair, especially the eyes. Dominic Cooper delivers well too.

I had an impression that this movie will be in line of Fast and Furious. But it is not.

Both are good but different.

Overall, enjoyable movie.

I was a bit apprehensive about watching this movie considering that the current RottenTomatoes score is a dismal 23%. So much for the critics.

Story-line is pretty weak, but I guess that's all could be done if you wanted to stick to the video game format.

Some good casting choices, some bad... Aaron, M Keaton, Rami, Dominic, Ramon did it for me, Imogen, Dakota, Harrison, Scott (he was so irritating - African-Americans should protest the stereotyping) did not. Couldn't understand how Imogen's character went from savvy biz to dreamy ditz.

Elements of the game like the build-up to the final race, police car chases, attempted roadblock (the police car-pile driver was really a low-point), helicopter surveillance, etc were featured.

The movie was engrossing and I didn't feel the length of the two hours. However, some major plot holes/ inconsistencies didn't work for me... but hey, its based on a video game. I appreciate the director for not resorting to the F&F style of direction.

Watch it if you like cars, chases and/or Aaron... Would have liked him to say "Bitch" at least once! :) But can't have everything.

What an atrociously feeble film. I love fast cars, trick engineering and am a big fan of Dominic Cooper. I also don't mind blatant product placement but this is so, so poor. Technically incorrect throughout (rev sounds never matched engine speed etc) and pathetic storyline & script. Maybe a Koenigsegg can outrun a Dodge Charger cop car but it can't outrun a helicopter or radio. Well it can in this drivel. At the risk of sounding like a middle-age conservative, the manifest disregard of other road users' lives is distasteful. These guys would have been locked up for 12 consecutive life sentences if not shot on site. And then where did Imogen Poots get that idiotic put-on accent from? I can find only two redeeming features – the Mustangs are pretty (even if they mistake wide-bodies and Shelbys), nice to see the 2015 model make an appearance and I watched it with a fast forward button (which got used a lot). My recommendation: even if you have two hours to waste, don't do it on this. How this ever got 6.7/10 fills me with dread for the intelligence of mankind.

I walked in the cinema expecting fast cars, street racing, crazy cop chases, drifting and explosions and that's exactly what I got!

This film is called "Need for Speed" and is based on a video game. This alone tells us not to expect character development, genius plot twists and memorable dialogues. This films delivers exactly what it set out to deliver.

If you like fast and beautiful cars, this is for you. If you like crazy stunts and cars chases, this is for you. If you enjoyed getting chased by the cops in the video game, this is for you.

Go to the cinema expecting the above and you'll have an excellent time.

I'll keep this short and sweet (like most of the cast, haha). The story has been done MANY times before, but for good reason - it's a lot of fun! It's kind of fast and the furious-ish, but it doesn't take itself so seriously or think it's more than what it is. The supporting cast makes this movie. They are so funny and there are a few really memorable moments that I still reference. If you have a rainy afternoon or can't think of something to watch on a Friday night, watch this!

Oh boy. Where to even start.

I suppose that first off I had way better expectations because I was a HUGE fan of Aaron Paul in Breaking Bad, considering it one of the most brilliant shows I have ever seen. I was let down. Thankfully, he wasn't the worst actor in this film. Every single other person was.

This is the first film I've seen that Imogen Poots had a lead role in, and I will probably never see one again. There were a couple of parts that I had hope for her, but it only lasted a few seconds until I was questioning if this was the first film she's ever been in. I was also unimpressed by Kid Cudi (Scott Mescudi)'s performance. He is one of my all time favorite music artists and that is definitely what he should stick to, music. I guess it's not really his fault that the script was so awful and he was required to recite "joke" after "joke" that they were trying SO HARD to make funny (failed immensely), but I figured he'd have the balls to say "I'm not reading this crap on camera." As far as the other actors and actresses, it would be a waste of my time to even say anything about them, because it is nothing good. I don't even want to get started on Michael Keaton's washed-up performance.

The entire movie flip flops between emotional scenes (which are anything but) and action scenes. None of this flows at all. The scenes where you're supposed to feel some kind of connection between characters does not succeed. Nothing builds you up to them and they're all really awkward and you will feel no differently about anyone or anything going on in the film. The action scenes seem like they were thought up last minute and felt very rushed. It was like they had a five minute time limit on each one or else someone was going to murder their family.

I guess one positive thing was the visuals, which were alright. That's probably where this movie is getting rated anything above a seven, it's from the gear heads (no offense to anybody.) There were some pretty bad ass cars that were nice to look at and some of the action scenes were done nicely (looked nice) aside from feeling hurried.

To wrap this up, this is one of the cheesiest and most predictable movies I have ever seen. I called everything that was going to happen in almost every scene because it's been done hundreds of times in hundreds of films, all executed in the same way. I'm still not sure why the synopsis starts with "fresh from prison" because how prison affected his life is touched nowhere in the movie. I know that isn't a big deal but for some reason that just bugs me.

If you must see this movie, make sure someone else is paying or you have a free rental up for grabs from your local video store.

Need For Speed is probably one of the least videogames that deserve an actual film adaptation. There's only two or so games of the franchise that have a storyline and they're nowhere as remarkable as the actual gameplay. For sure, this film takes none of the source material other than the cars and the title. The story here is mostly a straightforward chase reveled with elemental cosmic hate grown by revenge. Just like the game, only the racing that brings real appeal while everything else is a filler for the sake of forming a movie. Need For Speed can be a fun blockbuster, but not all of the ideas work.

The story is something not worth remembering, the simplicity at least acknowledges that the racing is the main deal here, but it's also not worth sitting through. The characters and their plight are neither remarkable nor compelling and it would be nice if they're just easy plot devices, but the movie stretches these to attempt a buildup. Unfortunately it instead makes it a long and less interesting distraction from the attraction. It only works when the cars are telling the story, shutting up the generic arcs and forced revenge movie elements that halts the excitement.

Lesser the CGI, better the thrills. The stunts are magnificent in its own way, though most of the credit goes to the camera-work for completely showing the mayhem going on within those tracks. You will find plenty of inventive set pieces where the speed and ridiculous majestically outshine the typical blockbuster explosions. The direction has an excellent taste for suspense and the camera really follows the heartbeat beneath those scenes.

The cast kind of improved the bland characters. Aaron Paul has the charm despite of not uttering his fans' favorite colorful language. He is more natural when he is with Imogen Poots which gives an interesting chemistry in their petty romantic subplot. Dominic Cooper boils a slight threat as the villain. And Michael Keaton preaches his enlightening racing speeches with ludicrous enthusiasm.

This Need For Speed is basically like an awesome video game but with nonsensically long cutscenes, if only we can press the skip button. It is better off sticking to the speed of the action, but the film is unable to make the audience ignore the generic plot, especially when it painfully extends them so it would get a two hour runtime. Stories are good only when they're well told, well defined, and worth listening. The film should have tried a little harder. Again, the momentum and the camera-work are instantly worth the price admission and that is what the target viewers came in for. If they can take the bloat, then it is a solid entertainment.

This movie is pretty poor, the acting is really cheesy. The action scenes are good which just about makes this film bearable. The story line is OK but its a bit of a let down considering all the hype around it, if your a fan of nice cars i would say go watch this if you can over look the above, the romantic cheese on toast story line nearly made me and 4 friends walk out of this film. Some films should not be made and this is one stick to the video game, far more enjoyable and you will actually get your moneys worth. As for Arron Paul you will always be jesse and not many people can see past that role. Such a shame to see!

I am a huge fan of "Need For Speed Most Wanted" video game. I still do play it on my PC. Whatever the critics would say, I was sure I would see this movie. And now, it's here. The plot is way simple and predictable but it kept me excited till the end. The movie beats the Fast and Furious series (at least for me). The cars, racing and all those stunts were too amazing. I bet, any car fan would not be disappointed by this movie. They have made it too good that it would be hard to dislike it. It's the best video game adaptation I have ever seen, or could ever imagine. It's like I'm watching the recorded version of my playing but in the best graphics than the one I regularly play on PC. I've always wanted this movie to get released and here it is. The best racing movie ever made.

While there are hundreds and thousands of movies out there about fast cars and hot-headed drivers who were once scorned and then got out for revenge, this movie... oh, wait, actually, this is another one of those.

Still, I picked to watch it simply because who doesn't like fast cars and hot guys in that order? Please do note I am female, at this point. I am also a huge fan of NFS video games, so I decided not to miss the movie, even though I was not expecting much.

That said, you will not find an amazing or puzzling plot, it is pretty much linear and very predictable. The characters are also not that well developed and do not tend to stick in your mind long after movie. All in all, it gives you nothing of value except two good hours of great visuals, beautiful cars you can only ogle at in movies or games, amazing action sequences and some pretty nasty car stunts, though, sadly, not too much of those. Still, I did find myself enjoying those few hours quite a lot, despite the plot full of holes and the totally needless sappy romance thrown in for good measure.

So, if you can turn a blind eye to the lack of plot and are a fan of NFS, sleek cars, street racing and crazy velocity, you will find this movie pretty satisfying. If not, well, it will most probably be the longest two hours of your life.

I'm trying to swallow this movie, but so far I just couldn't.

I will be brief because this thing don't deserve more than a few lines from me, first the acting is poor from the beginning to the end, the characters are flat and history doesn't make any sense on the real world, I know that this is a movie based on a game and I may not expect too much, but this movie is a catastrophe.

There are several dramatic scenes that should make you feel something about the characters but you don't feel nothing at all, specially because everyone of the dramatic sequences are fallowed by an unrealistic and illogical event, you have to watch it to understand...

The races are boring, the action on the movie is kind of lazy, you feel like there are lots of ultra expensive cars running at 40 miles per hour and a Parkinson guy holding the camera.

So if you want to get a big disappointment watch Need for Speed.

If you don't believe me and want to watch this pearl make something as you watch, do the math and calculate the profit, you will know what I mean when you finish the movie.

Good film, hope there's a second one as it could be carried on quite well and Aaron plays his part well

I watched this due to my like of Aaron Paul. I was very pleasantly surprised, going in with low expectations. I expected a very OTT race movie. Likeable hero and crew, sneer-worthy villain in Dominic Cooper. Sassy love interest in my fellow brit Imogen Poots. Michael Keaton was great as Monarch, Rami Malek also superb in minor support. Dakota Johnson bland and forgettable as ever. What you get with Need for speed is just over two hours of solid respectable escapism, with great automotive stunts and some insanely skillful driving. Very enjoyable film. Recommended.

I came into this movie with low expectations. I'm a massive fan of the F&F franchise and have no issues with nonsense dialogue and thin plot - as long as it's entertaining i'm easy to please.

But boy, this is another level.

Characters - I could not care less about any of them if I tried. The English woman was just awful. Truly, awful. Kid Cudi was just painfully unfunny. Lead character (Aaron Paul) wasn't any better. Definitely not leading man material. Should stick to "geeky best friend" roles.

Script - Just unfunny and so cheesy. Switched constantly from "emotional" scenes (that just don't work) to action scenes (that are all a bit stale and have been done before). Kid Cudi randomly managing to get hold of all manner of air transport as if picking up a newspaper is just lame. Having to refuel "on the go" as they were pushed for time - but then spending the next 10 minutes drifting round a small town to scare the English girl, makes no sense.

And the killer for me - the cars. Being a car movie, you expect the cars to steal the show but we are treated to some American muscle that has been seen before. The Shelby mustang just came over as a massive ad for Ford motor co. And the sound of them was just terrible. I expected turbo whistle, the crackle of anti-lag, screaming engines and the throb of V8's. Didn't get it. All the cars sounded fake. Not once did anything rev over 5k. Plenty of tire squeal though if that's your thing.

Left me cold.

Any of the F&F movies does this so much better. Even the bad ones ;)

Well when I saw the trailer for the NFS movie, I thought "No just no, it's going to be terrible" - Then I saw the cast of Aaron Paul (Breaking bad) and Dominic Cooper (The History Boys). I loved Dominic in The History Boys and like most people enjoyed Breaking Bad.

But alas, having some aspiring actors isn't going to make a movie. Then I came here and found at the time a rating of 8.4 from people who had viewed the NFS pre-release. So at that point I thought, OK I'll give it a shot, worse case scenario it ends up being like a bad Fast and Furious rip off.

NOPE! Was amazing, never a dull moment, didn't have any scene that was just utterly pointless (which almost every movie does), the acting was fantastic, the action was intense, and the soundtrack and effects were spot on! As a movie it is great, but for someone like myself who grew up on NFS and loves car's it is EPIC. There's a great scene in the end, that anyone who has played the NFS: Hot Pursuit series will instantly go "Yep, this is really NFS!"

The only reason I wont give it a 10/10 is because of some minor plot holes - But nothing to bad, and most people wouldn't even notice. Otherwise brilliant, wouldn't be surprised if this becomes the next F&F Franchise.

I'm a child of the 60's, and to me as a young boy the films of the 60's and 70's that really spoke to me were those involving cars doing dangerous things: Steve McQueen in 'Bullitt' tearing round the streets of San Francisco; the Love Bug; the Monte Carlo race in 'Grand Prix'; Bond's Lotus Esprit tearing up the roads in Sardinia and – best of all – the Mini Coopers of the original 'Italian Job', which I must have dragged my poor mother to see dozens of times. Real cars, real stunt drivers with real danger involved. These were the days before CGI, where driving scenes involving dodgy green screens were blindingly obvious. So, whilst I'm all 'grown up now' (at least in body!) 'Need For Speed' still stirs memories of those original thrills, where the engines roared and the sumps sparked on the tarmac.

Let's be clear – this is a loud, bone-headed, popcorn muncher of a film. It is as obvious in terms of plot direction as you could possibly imagine. Aside from the occasional nice side-step, you just know as you meet the protagonists – the grizzled rivals, the young turk under the hero's wing, the love rival, etc. – exactly where the film will go, and it doesn't disappoint. It is no real surprise to find that director Scott Waugh was previously a stuntman on a plethora of films, including the Italian Job remake.

The plot, as it is, involves rivals in the dangerous and illegal world of street racing. A tragedy during one such street race puts our hero Tobey Marshall (Breaking Bad's Aaron Paul) into the clink for a couple of years. Once released, he promptly breaks parole to cross the country to get to California in time for a head-to-head revenge rematch against his wealthy and successful rival Dino Brewster (Mamma Mia's Dominic Cooper).

This Californian race along the coastline is organised by the ex-racing guru and video blog broadcaster Monarch, played with over-the-top glee by Michael Keaton. (In fact, he is so extrovert that he could be giving a great impression of Jack Nicholson at his Oscar-ceremony best!) Winner of the six-car race gets to keep all the cars: I'm not sure what the second-hand price of scrap carbon fibre is, but that probably isn't much of an incentive! Marshall is aided by the very English Jules Maddon (Imogen Poots), adding a bit of girl-power driving to the rather testosterone-heavy atmosphere.

Given less to do, Dakota Johnson – shortly to star in '50 Shades of Grey' – plays the love rival of Marshall and Brewster. Scott Mescudi adds comic touches as the eye in the sky for the racers (stay for the end credits to see his amusing 'Twerkocise' inmate session) and the strikingly different Rami Malek (memorable in 'The Pacific') is excellent as one of Marshall's support crew.

Where are the problems with this film? Well, a good chunk of the dialogue is inaudible, with many of the leads – notably Aaron Paul – mumbling their lines. And in terms of glorifying young people driving too fast in their cars, this film is not exactly going to help.

But none of that really matters: the cars and stunt drivers are the stars of this film, and there is a nice doff of the cap to 'Bullitt' near the start of the film that recognises the rich heritage being renewed here. With the CGI switch turned to "off" and a plethora of real life stunts on show, this is an entertaining roller-coaster of a film, all set to a thumping and catchy soundtrack by Nathan Furst.

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