'Gran Turismo: The Movie' – video game vehicle avoids cheese (mostly)

In the racing scenes, some of the crashes do look slightly shonky, the cars almost seeming to glitch out like an early Playstation effort when they flip over.

In addition to those classic ‘oh fourth gear it is then’ moments when more speed is needed, some other aspects will have purists cringing and/or chortling even more.

As racing fans will immediately surmise, the film’s Le Mans climax is quite clearly not at La Sarthe but, err, the Hungaroring; the film made at the Budapest circuit for tax breaks.

Exactly the same rivals competing with Mardenborough in a formative race at the Dubai 24 Hours (which coincidentally appears to have achieved a record attendance) – and are interrogated pre-race by 50 journos with the eyes of the world apparently turned towards this middling GT event – follow him all the way through the various levels until they fight it out for Le Mans LMP2 glory at the film’s climax.

None of this is completely plausible when put in front of diehards, but does help make the film more compelling for casual viewers.

However, the overall quality of the film is pleasingly high – not surprising as a production with huge input from professionals like game designers Polyphony, whose speciality is realism through sound and visuals.

Eventually, the Gran Turismo movie does begin to draw the viewer in, primarily through strong acting, a ‘believable unbelievable’ story line and cute Tron-like special effects as Mardenborough, played by Archie Madekwe, shifts from computer game-fuelled dreams to actually being on the track.

Mardenborough’s terrifying 2015 Nürburgring 24 Hours crash when his car took off, vaulted the barrier and killed a spectator, is commendably included.

It would be easy to airbrush this harrowing event out for some slightly milder jeopardy, given that this is essentially a story for kids, but it does add depth to the film – Mardenborough apparently insisted on having the tragic episode included.

“It’s my life; it’s part of my story,” he told Sunday Times Driving. “So I feel it would have been a disservice for the audience for that not to be in there.

“I made sure all of us that were with the production — the producers, Jason the scriptwriter — that that was how it went down. Because it needed to be correct, because somebody lost their life in this accident.

“It shows as well the deep dark moments of my life when I was in the hospital by myself. You know, the mental aspects to such an event […] how you can rebound.“

As ever with these kind of pictures though, the emotional path that follows the scene feels slightly odd.

In the film Mardenborough’s character is traumatised, but it’s nothing a quick trip back to Flugplatz in a 911 shortly later can’t fix: cue a trembling-hand-slowly-opening-car-door scene to literally and laterally face up to an unenviable mix of fear, guilt and overwhelming sadness – then he’s suddenly good to go again!

All the way through the film, it feels like the makers are constantly grappling with a storyline that sounds ridiculous when you contemplate it, that the narrative could lose control and hit the barriers any second – as one of those scenes that’s almost impossible to get right, the Nürburgring crash is a microcosm of the whole film .

Gran Turismo’s greatest strength, and what makes it watchable, is the acting, despite Geri Horner’s excruciating best efforts Mardenborough’s mum.

Madekwe deftly plays the young character as the awkward, geeky gamer turned racing hero, while David Harbour (of hit Netflix series Stranger Things-fame) hams up the jaded hack mechanic-turned-good guy to the right degree – to be fair all he has to do is scream into a radio for most of the film.

Orlando Bloom also puts Darren Cox, the marketing guru originally behind the competition, over in a believable way too: the slightly seedy PR guy with a genuine vision, determined to push it through.

Although it might all seem a bit cliched, the acting is tied together well by the realities of the racing world: trying to convince manufacturer suits of your wacky idea, motor sport staff worn down by being at the beck and call of rich-kid pay drivers, and dealing with the everyday dangers of going racing for a living.

The mix of strong cast, engaging visuals and compelling core narrative ultimately holds what is a slightly cheesy yet unique film together, and makes it worth your time.