You'd be right to be cautious of a film based on a video game franchise with no storyline.
The film details the mostly true story of the GT Academy, essentially a PR stunt dreamt up by Nissan to attract more viewers to racing. The idea was to take the best Gran Turismo players in the world, and pit them against each other for a chance to become a real racecar driver.
Jann Mardenborough is the perfect sports film protagonist, sure of himself but never too cocky, surrounded by parents and peers unsupportive of his dream and when he enters the GT Academy, he's the last person anyone would expect to take out the top spot.
Of course as an audience member who has been following Mardenborough as the main character, he's probably the only person we would expect to take out the top spot.
The marketing around Gran Turismo has heavily leaned into the fact that "this actually happened". Trailers for the film mention it over and over again and multiple sites list the film's full title as Gran Turismo: Based on a True Story.
"There's a reason there's so many underdog sports movies," says 1News film reviewer Richard Martin. (Source: 1News)
Sony really wants you to know that this is based on reality, seemingly so any complaints that it's cliché or unrealistic can be refuted pretty quickly. Although as with 99% of films based on a true story, the narrative is altered somewhat to fit what the film is going for. There's one particularly egregious example where a real-life incident which resulted in the death of a spectator is slotted into the film in a very different place as I guess it wasn't dramatic enough when it actually happened.
Gran Turismo is directed by Neill Blomkamp, mostly known for his debut film District 9. He burst onto the scene with a beautiful, original film and such a clear vision as a filmmaker and has really struggled to follow that up since then. His followup films Elysium and Chappie had the same distinct style of District 9 but nothing near the quality.
For the last decade, Blomkamp seemed like a one-hit wonder, doomed to desperately have "From the director of District 9" in trailers for all of his movies until the end of time to remind people of the promise he once showed. Gran Turismo may not be the exact return to form we've been after, but it shows there's still life in him yet.
The film's strongest element is the racing scenes. Which makes sense in a racing movie. Blomkamp adds little flairs here and there which are pulled straight from the video game, as well as some fun drone camerawork. Drone technology has evolved a lot in the last few years but few directors are actually doing anything impressive with it, so it's exciting to see it be utilised to great effect here.
The obvious standout from the cast is David Harbour, who manages to shine in almost everything he appears in. But oddly enough, the one that had me talking about them most afterwards is the actress playing Mardenborough's mother. Not because it's a particularly incredible performance or role, but for some distracting reason she is played by Ginger Spice herself, Geri Halliwell.
I didn't play much Gran Turismo growing up. I had the second one on PS1 in the mid 2000s (it came out in 1999, I was a latecomer to video games) but the overwhelming feeling I had after watching the film was a desire to go out and buy the all new Gran Turismo 7, only on PlayStation.
I actually quite enjoyed the film. It kept my attention the whole way through and there's a reason there's so many underdog sports movies. I personally have a soft spot for sports films where the goal isn't to win, just to get noticed and gain the respect of your peers. But despite me being a sucker for this kind of storyline, I couldn't help but feel the fact that I was being sold something the entire time.
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