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| Need For Speed |
Story: Tobey Marshall (Paul) and friends are struggling to keep their garage business from going broke. He reluctantly accepts an offer from wealthy ex-NASCAR driver Dino Brewster (Cooper) to soup up a Ford Mustang for a big price. However, Tobey soon finds himself in a race that's about revenge as well as redemption.
Review: Aaron Paul's (of Breaking Bad fame) character Tobey is loosely reminiscent of Ryan Gosling's look in 'Drive', minus the gore. He speaks very little and prefers to put the pedal to the metal. His friends Maverick (Mescudi), Joe Peck (Rodriguez), Pete (Gilbertson), Finn (Malek) and him make a living by modifying and racing muscle cars. But the money's barely enough, so when Paul's former rival Dino pays them a visit, he offers Tobey 25% to trick out the Mustang, valued at $2million.
While Tobey's pals are incredulous about the idea, he is more pragmatic and accepts, knowing that the money could really come in handy for the garage. They do the modification so well that an exotic cars investor called Julia Maddon (Poots), whom they meet at a party, is impressed and says she'd buy it for $3 million if it can exceed 230 mph. When the car clocks 234 mph, the deal is done.
But simmering tensions betw
een suave bad boy Dino and righteous Tobey come to a head during a race when Dino, Pete and Tobey race three illegally imported Koenigsegg Agera supercars. Tobey is double crossed by Dino and the former ends up serving a two-year prison sentence. When Tobey leaves the slammer, all he desires is vengeance - preferably on a racetrack and in fourth gear.
The setting for this 'battle royale' is the big ticket De Leon race organized by a reclusive individual called Monarch (Keaton). Although light on plot and performances, the film delivers exactly what it promises. Devoid of CGI, the races you see are real and the stunts, really well done. Apart from Paul's promising performance, it's the supercharged cars that tear up the asphalt and steal the show in this one.