Need for Speed

Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) is one of the best drivers in the underground street racing scene. Although the mechanic is a stand-up guy at heart, he uses the illegal races to bring much-needed cash into the coffers of the garage he inherited from his father. But in the long run, that won't be enough to pay off the immense debt. That's when Tobey's arch-rival Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper) offers to pimp out a valuable Mustang Shelby for him. Tobey and his team do a great job, but that's only the beginning of the trouble. Instead of paying up, Dino challenges Tobey and his buddy Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson) to a race that ends fatally for Little Pete. Although the blame clearly falls on Dino, he procures a false alibi and so Tobey is sent behind bars for his friend's death. When he is released a few years later, he starts a fast-paced and ingenious campaign of revenge against Dino, which quickly degenerates into a wild chase across the USA.

Fast cars, cool guys and sexy girls - at first glance it looks like Need for Speed is just another Fast and Furious clone. But the action flick based on the successful EA™-video game series, despite some similarities, ultimately drives enough of its own paths to jet out of the oversized shadow of the popular Fast and Furious franchise. With stunts that rely almost entirely on computer effects and fast-paced car chases, Need for Speed has plenty of adrenaline and fodder for the eye. Too bad that the very fast-paced production is always slowed down by the only partially convincing dramaturgy.

Because the script is truly not the great strength of the film. Although Breaking Bad star Aaron Paul obviously tries hard to give his character something like depth and Imogen Poots at least manages in places to fill the character of quick-witted Brit Julia Maddon with life and charm, the characters overall remain very one-dimensional and almost as flat as the dialogue put into their mouths. The whole thing is so filled up with clichés that even minor surprises remain the absolute exception.

To enjoy Need for Speed, the brain activity should therefore be turned down to a necessary minimum. Because only when you don't care about the stencil-like plot and the very simple dialogues, the whole thing is really fun. Director Scott Waugh and his team did a great job of staging the racing scenes. Waugh's goal here was to bow to action classics like Bullitt or San Francisco Escape Point and stage the stunts in the tradition of those films. Although there are of course some rather absurd moments where the whole thing overshoots the mark a bit, it did the film a lot of good overall that the focus was primarily on practical effects here. Whether across the city, on highways or on somewhat rougher terrain, the numerous car chases and car stunts make this film an extremely entertaining pleasure despite its many dramaturgical weaknesses.

Even though the running time of over two hours wouldn't really have been necessary to tell the rather meager story, Need for Speed is never really boring. Scott Waughn has directed an intellectually deeper action thriller, which admittedly ultimately fails at too many hurdles to become a true classic of its genre. But for an entertaining visit to the cinema for all PS freaks and muscle car fans, the whole thing is definitely enough. Not quite as cool as Fast and Furious but still: worth seeing!

An article by Frankfurt-Tipp