From Meth Heads to Muscle Cars: Aaron Paul Takes on The Big Screen
By Kartik Chainani
(Interview at bottom)
After watching an actor shine as a lead on a
hit TV series, it's often difficult to picture them as anyone else when seeing
them in other roles. This is not the case for Aaron Paul. Aaron's performance
in the new Need For Speed film is
proof that his post-Breaking Bad
career is sure to be a success, and he has the talent to make it in film as
well as television.
The movie follows the story of street
racer Tobey Marshall (Aaron Paul) as he gets released from prison after serving
2 years for a crime he didn't commit. Hell-bent on revenge against the man who
framed him, Tobey races across the country to prove his innocence.
Action movies don't normally have me on the
edge of my seat during action-packed scenes, but perhaps it was knowing that
none of this movie was computer-generated and was all actually done that had me
biting my nails throughout. Director Scott Waugh, who has a heavy background in
stunts, was dead set on creating a racing movie that was 100% real. Knowing
this prior to watching the movie really makes it that much more incredible, as
there are many intensely crazy moments throughout. Because nothing was done
with CG (computer generation), this meant Aaron Paul had to attend stunt school
himself in order to really learn how to do the things he did in this film.
Like me, when Aaron first heard of the
NFS project, he thought of Fast and the
Furious. After watching the movie, I'm happy to say that it's nothing like
the Fast series. Not to take anything away from the action-packed Fast
franchise, but viewers will be happy to see that Need For Speed stands on it's own in the street racing film genre.
Writers George and John Gatins developed a strong storyline of a racer's quest
for redemption against all odds, and each scene is unique to the film. That
being said, director Scott Waugh did pay homage to many classic car movies
throughout the film that any car enthusiast is sure to enjoy when noticing
them. Additionally, much of the camera work is very similar to racing video
games, which is a nice nod to Need For
Speed games that this film has been adapted from.
