Summary
- Gran Turismo's Rotten Tomatoes score is in Rotten territory, highlighting the ongoing struggle of adapting video games into successful movies.
- Despite its "rotten" rating, Gran Turismo still has one of the highest scores among video game movies on Rotten Tomatoes.
- While not receiving a "fresh" score, Gran Turismo's reviews suggest that it is better than many other video game adaptations, providing a small victory for the movie.
Gran Turismo's Rotten Tomatoes score has stabilized in Rotten territory, which makes it a harsh reminder of the history of video game movies. Hollywood has long attempted to turn popular video games into major box office and critical hits. The many failures in that quest have not deterred continued efforts to make video game movies, with Sony's live-action Gran Turismo the latest example. The movie directed by Neill Blomkamp brings the racing simulator game to life by telling the true story of Jann Mardenborough (Archie Matekwe) as he goes from gamer to professional driver.
Video game adaptations are notoriously tricky to adapt, which is why the supposed "video game movie curse" narrative became so popular. Gran Turismo's true story takes a unique approach to the genre instead of attempting to retroactively add a story to the racing simulator series. With practical racing sequences and a rather great ing cast, the optimism that Gran Turismo would be another win for video game movies and director Neill Blomkamp was understandable. Unfortunately, Gran Turismo's Rotten Tomatoes score is rotten - and how it stacks up to past video game movies is a harsh reality.
Gran Turismo Has One Of The Highest Video Game Movies RT Scores - Despite Being Rotten
It is accurate to say that Gran Turismo has one of the highest Gran Turismo's box office higher. However, the truth can be found by looking at the movie's actual Rotten Tomatoes rating. Gran Turismo currently has a 59% Rotten Tomatoes critics score based on 108 reviews.
The "rotten" score for Gran Turismo shows how poorly received the majority of video game movies are. Sony's 2023 racing movie is not even close to being one of the best-reviewed movies of the year or even getting high enough praise to get a "fresh" score, let alone a Certified Fresh tag. The problem is that it is incredibly rare for Hollywood to make video game movies that receive good Rotten Tomatoes scores. Only five video game movies are Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes, and only one is above the 75% score needed to receive a Certified Fresh designation.
How Gran Turismo's Rotten Tomatoes Rating Compares To Other Video Game Movies
Gran Turismo's rotten rating on Rotten Tomatoes might be discouraging in some regards, but there is a silver lining when looking at the grand scheme of video game movie adaptations. Sony's movie still earned one of the best scores the genre has ever seen. Although a fresh score would be better, Gran Turismo's reviews point to it being far better than the quality of adaptations that made the genre as a whole look cursed for years. Here are some notable recent video game movie Rotten Tomatoes scores compared to Gran Turismo:
Movie |
Rotten Tomatoes Score |
|---|---|
Werewolves Within (2021) |
86% |
The Angry Birds Movie 2 (2019) |
73% |
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (2022) |
69% |
Pokémon: Detective Pikachu (2019) |
68% |
Sonic the Hedgehog (2020) |
63% |
The Super Mario Bros. Movie (2023) |
59% |
Mortal Kombat (2021) |
55% |
Tomb Raider (2018) |
52% |
Rampage (2018) |
51% |
Uncharted (2022) |
40% |
How Gran Turismo ranks among video game movies on Rotten Tomatoes is a small victory for the movie. It is much higher than Hollywood's other notable racing video game movie, 2014's Need for Speed - which earned a 22% score. The good news is that early audience reactions are much more positive, which could help turn Gran Turismo into a sizable hit for Sony if that is the consensus with moviegoers.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes
