Need For Speed
Walt Disney Studios Motion Pictures | Release Date: March 14, 2014 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
39
METASCORE
Generally unfavorable reviews based on 38 Critic Reviews
Positive:
5
Mixed:
19
Negative:
14
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
75
Philadelphia InquirerSteven ReaMar 14, 2014
It's the cars, and the mega-horsepowered action, that matter most. With its driver-POV spinouts, wrong-way chases, and multilane median jumps, the movie is a roaring revel of an automotive fantasy. Read full review
70
The DissolveGenevieve KoskiMar 13, 2014
Need For Speed modifies its outlaw antihero with all sorts of unnecessary pain and backstory, and the film is slow to leave the starting gate because of it. But once it does, Need For Speed becomes a much fleeter vehicle, powered by impressive practical stuntwork, eye-popping cross-country landscapes, and the sparking chemistry between Paul and Poots. Read full review
67
The A.V. ClubIgnatiy VishnevetskyMar 13, 2014
Need For Speed’s dialogue-centric scenes are often clunky, and its comic relief is at times embarrassingly unfunny, but whenever Waugh shifts his focus to figuring out how to best convey an ingenious practical stunt with the camera, the movie comes alive. Read full review
63
Chicago Sun-TimesBill ZweckerMar 13, 2014
The best parts of Need for Speed are the actual racing and chasing sequences — a true thrill ride for the audience as the story unfolds. Read full review
63
Chicago TribuneMichael PhillipsMar 13, 2014
When the actors are in cars, the movie's fun. When they get out to argue, or seethe, it's uh-oh time. Happily, director Scott Waugh comes out of the stunt world himself, and there's a refreshing emphasis on actual, theoretically dangerous stunt driving over digital absurdities. Read full review
60
The GuardianPeter BradshawMar 17, 2014
Subtle it isn't. But the entertainment rev counter more or less keeps turning over. Read full review
60
TimeRichard CorlissMar 17, 2014
This is cinema reduced or distilled to its purest definition, of movies that move. If you want dewy humanity in your entertainment, watch Lifetime. Read full review
60
The New York TimesA.O. ScottMar 13, 2014
An energetic, unpretentious B movie — the kind best seen at a drive-in like the one in an early scene — it is devoted, above all, to the delivery of visceral, kinetic excitement. Read full review
60
Film.comJames RocchiMar 12, 2014
A snoozy-but-diverting, lightly constipated B-movie. Read full review
60
VarietyScott FoundasMar 11, 2014
Paul plays the part with the flinty, tightly wound charisma of a small man who makes up in moxie what he lacks in stature. There’s something of the young James Cagney in him, and he’s by far the best thing Need for Speed has going for it. Read full review
50
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)Liam LaceyMar 14, 2014
Every stage of the race and chase is announced on a webcast conducted by the secret impresario of the illegal De Leon race, a billionaire car enthusiast known as the Monarch, who “nobody knows.” Actually, the Monarch is clearly visible in a corner of the computer screen and he’s played, with jive-spouting brio by Michael Keaton. Hey, the movie isn’t called Need for Logic. Read full review
50
San Francisco ChronicleMick LaSalleMar 14, 2014
Though overlong and formulaic, two things keep this street-racing movie of interest all the way to the finish line. The first is Aaron Paul ("Breaking Bad"), a sensitive actor in his first major movie showcase. The second: some extraordinary racing sequences.
50
Portland OregonianJamie S. RichMar 14, 2014
Credit to Aaron Paul for fully committing to this ridiculousness. There isn’t a scene he doesn’t play with the utmost seriousness. Read full review
50
New York Magazine (Vulture)Bilge EbiriMar 13, 2014
Based on the popular video games, this is a movie with breathtakingly visceral racing scenes, and they are matched by a breathtakingly, breathtakingly terrible script. Read full review
50
Los Angeles TimesBetsy SharkeyMar 13, 2014
Waugh has a good feel for the cars and action extremes, while director of photography Shane Hurlbut acquits himself nicely. But the screenplay written by George Gatins is full of potholes. Read full review
50
McClatchy-Tribune News ServiceRoger MooreMar 12, 2014
The cast doesn’t have the sassy swagger of the “Fast & Furious” crew. Paul, surrounded by co-stars of the same modest height, isn’t particularly charismatic in this setting. He’s not a natural “quiet tough guy.” But the actors are second bananas here — to the Koenigsegg Ageras, Saleens and Shelby Mustang that feed America’s Need for Speed, on screen and off. And the cars deliver. Read full review
50
Entertainment WeeklyKeith StaskiewiczMar 12, 2014
A moderately popular racing series that the powers that be have tried to turn into a turbo-boosted stunt-car extravaganza of the same make and model as the "Fast & Furious" franchise. Read full review
40
EmpireJames DyerMar 17, 2014
Less a three-lane pile-up than a minor traffic violation in a residential area. Three points for Waugh, then, and a £60 fine. Read full review
40
New Orleans Times-PicayuneMike ScottMar 14, 2014
If not for the "Fast and Furious" franchise, Need for Speed probably wouldn't exist outside of the video game series that inspired it. Read full review
40
The TelegraphTim RobeyMar 13, 2014
The racing scenes are its one hope of reclaiming your attention, but there aren’t nearly enough of them to justify such a killing duration. Read full review
40
Arizona RepublicBill GoodykoontzMar 12, 2014
If you like watching people drive really nice cars really fast, Need for Speed scratches that particular itch. But expect nothing more, because everything else about it is just running on empty. Read full review
40
Time Out LondonAnna SmithMar 12, 2014
After a creaky, clichéd start, Need for Speed picks up a bit. The script is still as corny as hell, but the chase scenes are pretty spectacular. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterMarc BernardinMar 11, 2014
Need For Speed is a flat, sexless movie that seems not to understand why people like to sit in the driver’s seat and rev that big engine: Because of the transgressive rumble in your nethers. Read full review
40
Total FilmJames MottramMar 10, 2014
The cars are hot, the action is decent, but the characters and plot need a serious tune-up. Read full review
38
ReelViewsJames BerardinelliMar 16, 2014
Director Scott Waugh’s intention may have been to elevate my pulse, but the only thing at which he succeeded was getting me to check my watch repeatedly. Read full review
38
USA TodayClaudia PuigMar 13, 2014
Ostensibly meant to be light entertainment. If light is synonymous with preposterous, frenetic and noisy, it qualifies. Read full review
38
Boston GlobeTy BurrMar 13, 2014
All that’s missing is Clyde the orangutan from Clint Eastwood’s “Every Which Way But Loose,” which, trust me, this movie could have used. Read full review
38
Rolling StonePeter TraversMar 13, 2014
There's nothing to distract you from a plot so tired there are tire tracks from other racing movies all over it. Read full review
38
New York PostKyle SmithMar 12, 2014
Young men and fast cars are automatically stupid together, but even if you set your intelligence level at “off” — and you should — you’ll get a hangover from this cocktail of 200-proof stupid, clinking with moron ice cubes and with an idiot cherry on top. Read full review
37
Washington PostJen ChaneyMar 13, 2014
Need for Speed is a piece of auto-collision pornography that weighs down its car-flip-and-massive-fireball money shots with a preposterous plot involving vehicular manslaughter vengeance. Read full review
33
HitfixDrew McWeenyApr 18, 2014
Need For Speed is several different movies at once, and most of them are very stupid. Read full review
30
Austin ChronicleSteve DavisMar 12, 2014
From the start, Need for Speed smells like a movie in search of a franchise. On that count, it’s somewhat fast but seldom furious. Read full review
25
RogerEbert.comOdie HendersonMar 14, 2014
The resulting mishmash is as exciting as getting a tow from AAA, and just as slow. Read full review
25
The PlaylistRodrigo PerezMar 12, 2014
Need For Speed possesses eye-rolling, tone deaf dialogue, passable performances (unless you’re Dominic Cooper or Kid Cudi) and plotting so conventional, there’s not even one surprise U-turn anywhere. Read full review
25
Slant MagazineChris CabinMar 11, 2014
Even when compared to other films posing as Ford Mustang commercials, Need for Speed isn't particularly memorable for anything other than the startling incompetence and dull sheen of the end result. Read full review
20
Wall Street JournalJoe MorgensternMar 13, 2014
Do not attempt to see this film, derived loosely from the videogame of the same name, unless you're prepared for wobbly writing, lead-footed direction and acting that must have been boosted by nitrous-oxide injectors, plus a starring performance that could have used a boost and didn't get one. Read full review
20
New York Daily NewsJoe NeumaierMar 13, 2014
This movie is so dumb for most of its running time, you walk away wishing there was less plot and pointless posing and more of the fuel-injected coolness that brought you to the multiplex in the first place. Read full review
10
Village VoiceAmy NicholsonMar 11, 2014
Scott Waugh's moronic flick has multiple personalities — it's the Sibyl of street racing, with a script that doesn't feel so much typed as button-mashed. Read full review
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