Review: Need for Speed

This is one of those movies that's about watching, not thinking.  The plot, what little there is of it, was so far-fetched that I had to actively remind myself to watch not think several times.  But after that, there was plenty to watch!  Real stunts too, not a bunch of CGI-only-possible stuff.  Honestly, it had nearly as much of a story and significantly more realistic physics than Gravity, and that was good for what, seven Oscars?  Believe me, the plot of Need for Speed wasn't really that much more far-fetched.

So... see it or not?  It's a car movie, with speed and crashes and hot chicks and fast cars and if that sounds good to you and you can turn off your analytical brain for an hour and a half and just enjoy the stuff, then go full-tilt and see it in 3D.  If you want two and a half hours of gut-wringing cinematic drama that deeply, deeply means something to film critics, it's probably not the movie for you.

Then we get to the Mustangs in the movie.  At times this flick was little more than a Ford advertisement.  If watching new Mustangs be unveiled before adoring crowds, if hearing Mustangs roar through American cityscapes and landscapes, if watching Mustangs going way too damn fast sounds like fun, then this is your movie.

There are a few bad things to say about this flick.  I had to keep reminding myself "watch, don't think."  The plot got kind of syrupy with some sub-plots that nobody really gave a rat's about.  Dunno, maybe it was a try at making it work as a date movie.  A times, the small-town-down-home-American cliches were coming on faster than the cars.  Those negatives have got to knock some points off, so call it all 2.75 out of 4 stars.  I was entertained.