Overdrive Blu-ray Review

THE MOVIE — 3.0/5

Don’t judge me too harshly but… I found this Fast and the Furious rip-off, Overdrive somewhat entertaining. No, it’s not good from a writing standpoint, and the performances are at best average, but the car stunts weren’t half bad and for what it is, it did manage to hold my attention and made me not regret seeing the film (unlike, say, The Emoji Movie).

What there is of a plot, revolves around car thieves, and brothers from another mother, Andrew (SCOTT EASTWOOD) and Garrett Foster (FREDDIE THORP), whose latest job finds them stealing a $13 million rare car. Unfortunately, the car belongs to ruthless crime boss Jacomo Morier (SIMON ABKARIAN) and he is intent on killing them both until they agree to make things right by stealing a special car owned by Morier’s crime rival, Max Klemp (CLEMENS SCHICK). And they only have a week to get it done.

With their lives on the line, Andrew reluctantly lets his girlfriend Stephanie (ANA DE ARMAS) in with her movie hacking skills and also on board is Stephanie’s friend, Devin (GAIA WEISS), a master pickpocket-er, able to nab anything. Tagging along is Morier’s cousin, Laurent (ABRAHAM BELAGA), to make sure they go through with the assignment.

Now they must get an ‘in’ with their mark, from Kuhn (MAGNE-HAVARD BREKKE), who gets them an introduction by stopping one of Klemp’s planes from taking off. Of course, Klemp is not too pleased but apparently Andrew and Garrett prove themselves useful, and to boot get a look at Klemp’s extensive, and expensive, car collection including the one Morier desperately wants.

So, they get a plan in motion but need even more help in a variety of nameless characters, who are skilled drivers. If that weren’t enough, add in a couple Interpol agents who could be a thorn in their sides. And obliviously things don’t go according to plan and we get some double and triple crosses and interspersed are some neat car stunt-work.

I think you can see one of the issues with Overdrive and that’s the numerous characters, including some that aren’t even referred to by name. Clearly the movie wanted to be Fast and the Furious without all the previous movies to introduce the characters who, as was in The Fate of the Furious at least, might’ve only had small roles (see: Leo and Santos).

The acting isn’t all that great. Scott Eastwood was in the aforementioned Fate and while I don’t believe he’s a bad actor, not entirely certain he’s leading man material unlike his father, but perhaps with better scripts (certainly Overdrive and Fate of the Furious don’t qualify), he could get better, just now doesn’t have the charisma to overcome bad material. Freddie Thorp is relatively new with only two other credits to his name and Ana de Armas is cute but was better in something like Knock Knock and Exposed, both movies I hated, though not because of her.

Overdrive was produced by Pierre Morel (Taken, From Paris with Love), written by Michael Brandt & Derek Haas (2 Fast 2 Furious) and helmed by Antonio Negret, mainly known as a television director with such shows as MacGyver, Arrow and Legends of Tomorrow under his belt. Honestly, the direction isn’t horrible but it is paint-by-numbers with no real style or flair, something even the Fast movies have.

In the end, the movie isn’t very good, that’s for sure, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say I wasn’t moderately entertaining for a movie that’s worth watching on a slow, lazy Saturday afternoon. Yes, it is completely a Fast and Gone in 60 Seconds knock-off but everyone has a few guilty pleasures, for me Overdrive is one of them. :\

SPECIAL FEATURES – 2.0/5

This release comes with a glossy slip cover and inside is a redemption code for the Digital HD copy. Not a whole lot here, but there are three featurettes, totaling only 18-minutes, covering The Caper (7:17; HD), The Crew (7:19; HD) and The Cars (3:34; HD).

Preview – Transformers: The Last Knight, Baywatch

VIDEO – 4.0/5

AUDIO – 4.25/5

OVERALL – 3.0/5

Overall, suffice to say, Overdrive is not a very good movie and yet I can’t help myself to be reasonably entertained if only for some of the respectable car chases and stunts and at least an tolerable story that kept me engaged for the short running time. The features on this Blu-ray release are rather light but video/audio transfers were alright.