Gran Turismo (AU - M/UK - 12A/US - PG-13)

In a word: Surprising

Archie Madekew plays Jann Mardenborough in Gran Turismo. PICTURE: Gordon Timpen/Courtesy of Sony Pictures

At first glance, a film based on the car racing video game (err, make that a 'driving simulator') may not seem a compelling reason to head for the cinema. But this film, while the game remains at its centre and informs much of the way the movie is shot, has quite a bit more to it.

"Gran Turismo is based (loosely in parts) on the real-life story of Jann Mardenborough (played here by Archie Madekew), a British teenger and Gran Turismo obsessive whose skill on the game led him to win a place at the GT Academy, an initiative sponsored by Nissan which aimed to turn gamers into real-life race car drivers."

Gran Turismo is based (loosely in parts) on the real-life story of Jann Mardenborough (played here by Archie Madekew), a British teenager and Gran Turismo obsessive whose skill on the game led him to win a place at the GT Academy, an initiative sponsored by Nissan which aimed to turn gamers into real-life race car drivers.

The academy - and the worldwide contest to find the best Gran Turismo players - is the brain-child of Nissan exec Danny Moore (Orlando Bloom playing a character based on the real-life academy founder Darren Cox) who recruits reluctant veteran racing engineer Jack Salter (David Harbour). Salter, who doesn't support the concept of putting gamers into real cars, is tasked with the job of putting the successful candidates through their paces with the aim of turning out one real-life racer. 

There's plenty of noise and heat and a lot of time spent on the track in the film which deploys digital effects to track racers and create car schematics. And while the script is a little cliched and the acting a little overly-stylised in parts, it's an adrenalin-pumping story with Harbour in particular a stand-out among the cast (which also includes Djimon Hounsou as Mardenborough's father and former Spice Girl Geri Halliwell Horner as his mother).

Director Neill Blomkamp ensures the action moves quickly down the track and the "based on real life" aspect adds a frisson of interest to the film because this is, at its heart, a very engaging story threaded with the idea of the real-life danger those involved in the actual events faced.

A film about tenacity in overcoming adversity and pursuing the impossibe dream. And, yes, I do now want to go and play Gran Turismo.