Movie Review – Need for Speed (2014)
“I feel the need. The need for speed!”
It may have been Top Gun that made that quote famous, but it was the Need for Speed racing games by Electronic Arts that connected it with racing fans of all ages.
The Need for Speed racing games began in 1994 with its first title, The Need for Speed. After that followed over twenty sequels and spin-offs of racing action in one game after another. The games have been hits and misses over the years, but as a whole the series has been a major success. The same goes true for the Test Drive racing games (published by Accolade) that preceded 1994’s The Need for Speed.
It was just a matter of time before the Need for Speed series made its way onto the big screen. The only challenge is making the film NOT look like a rip-off of the incredibly popular The Fast and the Furious racing films.
On March 14, 2014, Need for Speed was released to the theaters. The film captures the racing spirit of the video games as well as a somewhat interesting story involving payback and revenge.
Directed by Scott Waugh, Need for Speed stars Aaron Paul as Tobey Marshall, a mechanic who specializes in street racing. Supporting him are Dominic Cooper as Dino Brewster, and Michael Keaton as Monarch, the eccentric host of an illegal supercar race competition. The rest of the cast is pretty much a who’s who in the world of Hollywood nobodies.
Need for Speed begins with Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) and his mechanic friends, Benny (Scott Mescudi), Joe Peck (Ramon Rodriguez), Finn (Rami Malek), and Little Pete (Harrison Gilbertson), working at Tobey’s garage in upstate New York.
That night the gang heads to a drive-in theater that’s actually the starting point for a street race. Before the race starts Tobey is able to briefly talk to Anita (Dakota Johnson), Little Pete’s sister and Tobey’s former girlfriend. There’s a little bit of tension between Tobey and Anita, but we don’t know any back story, so what little happens on the screen is quickly forgotten. The important thing is that Anita is there with her boyfriend, professional racecar driver and entrepreneur, Dino Brewster (Dominic Cooper). Dino also happens to be Tobey’s top rival in the world of street racing.
The drivers line their cars on a street, and when a passing freight train sounds its horn, the drivers race down the streets. There’s a lengthy segment as the drivers race along the main streets and alleys while dodging other traffic as well as police officers. Benny (a.k.a. Maverick) flies overhead in his Cessna and provides navigation and hazard tips to Tobey and Little Pete. Tobey wins the race and collects the $5,000 prize.
That night at the garage, Tobey mentions that the garage is in serious financial trouble. They’re behind on their bills and the bank is going to foreclose the places. The $5,000 that Tobey won will help with some the bills, but there’s still a long way to go.
The solution to the financial problems is discovered when Dino arrives and makes Tobey an offer. If Tobey’s mechanics can complete a Shelby Mustang that Carroll Shelby began building before his death, then Dino will give Tobey 25% of the car’s selling price at an auction. Dino’s expecting to be able to sell the car for $2 million, resulting in $500,000 to Tobey’s garage. As much as Tobey dislikes helping Dino, the project is just too good to refuse. He accepts and the mechanics begin working on the unfinished Shelby Mustang the next day.
The film then jumps to the auction where the finished Shelby Mustang is revealed to the bidders. One of the bidders is Julia Maddon (Imogen Poots), an Englishwoman who knows her way around a car. She agrees to pay around $3 million (give or take a million) for the Shelby Mustang if it can go 230 mph. Tobey guarantees her that it can, and the next day at a racetrack he hits 234 mph in the car. Julia purchases the car on behalf of her buyer for $2.7 million.
That’s quite a payday for Tobey’s fellow mechanics. Surely their garage is saved from financial ruin, right?
Not so fast, my friends.
Egos collide and Dino challenges Tobey to a street race to determine who really is the better driver. If Tobey wins then he’ll receive Dino’s 75% cut of the Shelby Mustang deal. If Dino wins then he’ll take Tobey’s 25% cut of the deal. Tobey accepts the offer.
Tobey and Little Pete go to Dino’s father’s mansion where Dino shows them three illegally imported Koenigsegg Agera supercars. Little Pete wants in on the race, and each driver randomly selects a car.
The race begins and the three drivers tear ass through the city streets. Tobey eventually gets in front and has the lead for the home stretch over a bridge. Little Pete is behind him and blocking Dino. Dino takes out his anger by clipping the back corner of Little Pete’s car, sending it crashing over the bridge and into a ravine. Tobey spins around and goes back to help his friend, but it’s too late. The car is a burning wreck and Little Pete is dead. Dino wins the race and slips away before the police arrive.
There’s a small funeral service for Little Pete in a local cemetery. Dino comforts Anita and the two of them grow closer. Tobey Marshall is unable to attend the funeral as he’s behind bars and being held for street racing, driving a stolen car, and vehicular manslaughter with the death of Little Pete. Dino paid off some friends to vouch that he was never at the scene of the accident, placing all of the blame on Tobey. Dino and his car had simply disappeared.
Two years later Tobey is released on parole.
He returns to his garage to discover that it’s been foreclosed and the garage itself is empty. There’s nothing to do now except avenge the death of Little Pete. That means not only finding Dino Brewster, but also beating him in a race. The only race Dino races these days is the biggest illegal street race of them all, the De Leon. The De Leon is run by a former racer called Monarch (Michael Keaton). It’s invitation-only and nobody knows where it takes place until a day before the race.
Since Dino lives in California, Tobey figures that’s where the race will take place. The only trick is getting there quickly and also finding a way to impress Monarch and receive an invitation to compete in the race.
Tobey calls the person who bought the Shelby Mustang two years ago and strikes a deal to borrow the car. The car quickly arrives with Julia behind the wheel. She insists on escorting Tobey to California as he’s a convicted felon out on parole, and her buyer isn’t too keen of a person like that driving one of the most prized sports cars in the world.
Julia informs Tobey that this year’s De Leon will have its drivers’ meeting in 48 hours, so they need to get moving if they’re going to make it to California in time for the race. The start in New York and begin making their way west at a high rate of speed. Benny flies overhead to help with navigation and spotting traffic and police officers, and Joe Peck follows along in his support truck.
There’s plenty of crazy driving as they make their way west to Detroit, Michigan. There they find Finn, who got himself an office job after the garage closed, and convince him to join them. Finn does so after quitting his job by stripping naked and parading himself around the office.
Tobey races through the city streets of Detroit and attempts to elude the Michigan State Police officers in hot pursuit. He eventually makes his way onto an interstate but becomes trapped. The only way to escape the police is to race up an embankment and jump over a bunch of cars. He does so and the Mustang miraculously lands without suffering from any damage. All of this footage is recorded on video and sent to Monarch in hopes of impressing him. Monarch is doubtful until Julia calls him and explains why Tobey is really driving like that, implying that Dino is covering up his involvement in the death of Little Pete. This impresses Monarch and he awards Tobey (electronically, of course) the final contestant spot in the De Leon.
After they’re clear of the Michigan State Police, Tobey takes a bunch of back roads to avoid the interstates and also make their way westwards. At one point Joe Peck and Finn drive right next to Tobey and use a fuel hose to refuel the Mustang while driving at high speed.
Tobey and Julia run into more trouble in Nebraska when a state police officer recognizes Julia at a gas station. She runs away and has to jump from a two-story window to escape the cop. She and Tobey then flee the gas station and keep heading west.
Dino Brewster knows of Tobey heading west and why he’s doing so. He places a bounty on Tobey by awarding one of his prized cars to anybody who can knock out the Shelby Mustang before he reaches him in California.
When they’re driving on a deserted road somewhere out west, Tobey and Julia switch seats so that he can get some rest. While he’s asleep their car is ambushed by some of Dino’s hit men. Julia is the driver as they have to elude the hit men and race their way up a dirt road. It looks like they’re trapped until Benny flies overhead in a military helicopter. He lowers a pair of cables and manages to lift the Shelby Mustang to safety, saving his friends. The car is then lowered on the Bonneville Salt Flats where they re-join Joe Peck and Finn. Unfortunately, the flying stunt lands Benny in hot water and he’s sent to a military prison in Utah.
Tobey finally arrives in San Francisco and is 40 minutes late to the drivers’ meeting. He confronts Dino and Dino eggs him on in front of everybody, but Tobey restrains himself. He’s going to save his revenge in tomorrow’s De Leon. Everything seems fine until Tobey pulls out of the parking lot and is broadsided by one of Dino’s henchmen driving a tow truck. The Shelby Mustang is rolled and destroyed in the wreck, and Julia is seriously injured. Joe and Finn help carry Tobey and Julia to a hospital before the police arrive.
After Julia is taken to the hospital, Tobey calls his old girlfriend Anita. She’s married to Dino, but by now she knows his secret. Anita has removed her wedding ring, and she gives Tobey the secret location of one of Dino’s supercars. When he goes to the warehouse, Tobey and Joe discover the missing Koenigsegg Agera, the very one that Dino drove when he hit Little Pete. After two years the paint scratches are still on the bumper.
Tobey takes Dino’s Agera and uses it as his personal car for the De Leon. He makes his way to the starting point and is the sixth and final driver. Before the race starts, Tobey walks up to Dino and gives him Anita’s wedding ring.
The race begins and the six drivers make a mad dash through the Californian countryside. It’s not long before the California Highway Patrol discovers the racers and make several attempts at stopping them. The police cars obviously aren’t fast enough to keep up, so they try obstacles like moving road blocks and even using an unmanned car as a battering ram. Their efforts only stop a couple of drivers, and the rest of them race through a forest and then up their way along the coast.
More drivers are eliminated and eventually it’s down to Tobey and Dino for the win. Tobey has the lead and knows that Dino will knock him out in a turn. He anticipates this and when Dino does make his move, Tobey counters. Dino misses and hits an obstacle by the side of the road, crashing into it and sending his car tumbling across the road. Tobey cruises ahead to the finish line.
Tobey’s conscious gets the best of him when he sees Dino’s car upside down and on fire. He races back and frees Dino from the wreck before it explodes. Tobey then punches Dino in the face (for Little Pete), hops into his car, and then races to the finish line with the police back in hot pursuit. Although he wins the race (prize money of $2 million plus the opponents’ cars, which happen to all be wrecked) Tobey is still arrested for street racing, and he has to serve a few months in prison.
It’s briefly mentioned that since the police now have the evidence of Dino’s Koenigsegg Agera, he’s going to be charged in the vehicular manslaughter death of Little Pete. It’s implied that other charges will also be added and that Dino will be in prison for a very long time.
Need for Speed ends six months later when Tobey is released after serving time for street racing. Julia is driving a red Ford Mustang when she picks him up from prison. Tobey receives a call from Joe and learns that Benny is also being freed from military prison. He and Julia head to Utah to get their friend.
FINAL THOUGHTS
So is Need for Speed a good movie?
When it comes to the cars, the racing scenes, and the aviation segments as well, Need for Speed is a kick ass film. This one takes a much more realistic approach to illegal street racing than The Fast and the Furious films. Those segments are where this film really shines.
Unfortunately, the rest of Need for Speed could use a serious overhaul. Although the film is over two hours in length, the plot itself is extremely thin. There’s basically no back story behind any of the characters and their relationships with one another. From Tobey’s story to Julia to Dino Brewster, it’s hard to like or hate any of the main characters when we know virtually *nothing* about them or their views in this world.
Need for Speed could have been a great film if it actually had a decent plot. What we have here is a predictable racing film with a few clichés and almost no surprises or twists. It’s a film that tries to be dramatic and intense but it is too thin and simply underdeveloped in the end.
Need for Speed (2014) – movie trailer
The Need for Speed racing games are all about the cars, and that’s where this film shines. Just ignore a few plot holes here, the lack of a good story, and a bunch of nobodies on the screen and you’ll be set. Grab a big bucket of popcorn and be amused with the ludicrous amount of insane driving / racing through the city and country.
Monarch [While the California Highway Patrol chases the De Leon drivers] – “Racers should race and cops should eat donuts.”