Need for Speed Review
RYAN: I’m thrilled to welcome back my associate Carrie Baker to the site!
CARRIE: Hi! It’s so good to be back!
RYAN: We luck out when we review films together and have so much fun – you’re like a charm and we’ve struck gold once again. I didn’t expect it!
CARRIE: Yes our streak continues.
RYAN: Need for Speed is so much better than the typical carsploitation movie or any of the Fast and Furious films. I really like the cast – it’s so great seeing Michael Keaton in a role he was just reveling in.
CARRIE: Yes and the cast had great chemistry. You leaned over at the beginning and went all Fashion Police in my ear about the costumes on Aaron Paul but halfway through I didn’t even care because I was so sucked into the movie.
RYAN: Yeah I was really annoyed by all of Aaron’s white leather going on at the beginning but the costumes improved as the movie progressed. His character graduated from the ’80s. Dominic Cooper was dressed pretty sharp the whole time. We saw it in 3D and some of the scene are not the typical 3D scenes because they’re just dialogue scenes.
CARRIE: There’s a nice romantic subplot.
RYAN: And it’s subtle. It’s not the obligatory, gratuitous romance you’d typically see in this genre. The women had decent roles in heroic moments without actually playing a hero.
CARRIE: I love that description of them. The themes that I loved throughout was friendship, loyalty, redemption and then the vengeance. And then the little bit of romance was great.
RYAN: Yeah, if the girls and the gays here are liking it, and you know it’s a boy movie – then who wouldn’t enjoy this?
CARRIE: For sure. My boyfriend, who told me he thought this looks just like another Fast and Furious, he had no interest; he would love this movie.
RYAN: It’s better than those movies because it’s not just using and abusing cars. It’s not a cheesy plot with wasted scenes to just get you to the next chase scene. There are dynamic chase scenes but there are points to them and the story comes first with the action augmenting it as opposed to being an action movie with the story wasted.
CARRIE: I totally agree. The storytelling was spot on. I was hooked into the plot and it was suspenseful. I cared about the characters. The 3D was good at helping to tell the story.
RYAN: It made me a little crazy though because I hate seeing car crashes in 3D!
CARRIE: Glass exploding in your face.
RYAN: I don’t normally shout out but I shouted out, like, four times during the film just because I reacted so instantly to certain moments. It’s a loud movie so I don’t think anyone noticed.
CARRIE: It was loud.
RYAN: Dakota Johnson is in this in a pivotal role. She’s, of course, one to watch with 50 Shades of Grey coming up later this year.
CARRIE: She doesn’t have that big of a role.
RYAN: I like Rami Malek, who was in the last Twilight movie and he’s in the new Alfonso Cuaron TV show Believe. He cracked me up.
CARRIE: A lot of the actors had funny moments. The comedy really blends well with the drama and action.
RYAN: They’re not just fast cars – they’re rare, expensive, fast cars. This should be Jay Leno’s favorite movie. It’s fun and worth seeing with friends.
CARRIE: It’s been a long winter. It’s nice to have a fun movie to escape to.
