Director Waldemar Fast celebrates the 50th anniversary of Germany’s largest theme park with a turbo-charged animated coming-of-age story engineered around two lovable mouse mascots, Ed and Edda, who greet guests at the Europa-Park Resort.
Conceived as a classic “undermouse story”, Grand Prix Of Europe takes Zootropolis and the Mario Kart video games into a chop shop and emerges with a madcap motor racing adventure bolted together with bare-bones storytelling, solid vocal performances and considerable heart.
Fast’s picture spices up the traditional auto race format by devising “traps, tricks and treachery on the tracks” that drivers navigate to reach the chequered flag and advance in the competition.
Giant snowballs roll down mountains in the Swiss Alps and robotic tentacles emerge from the sea along the Italian coast to pummel cars into the asphalt.
Despite this choreographed carnage, on-screen violence is minimal and there are no visceral thrills for back seat drivers in the audience.
By the time the championship reaches London and racers are swerving to avoid a demonic red bus, which chomps unwary competitors with razor-sharp metal teeth, jeopardy has applied the handbrake.
Heroine Edda’s character arc is linear. Thankfully, arrogant rodent counterpart Ed, who bullishly asserts that “great drivers don’t need help,” learns a heavy-handed life lesson about friendship to provide a modest return on our emotional investment.
Edda (voiced by Gemma Arterton) works alongside her widower father Erwin (Lenny Henry) in their struggling amusement park, secretly dreaming of racing in the high-stakes Grand Prix Of Europe like four-time champion Ed (Thomas Brodie-Sangster).
Erwin used to be a driver but since the death of his wife, he has lost his va-va-voom and there are debtors at the door, threatening to burn the family business to the ground unless he can settle the arrears within seven days.
To raise funds, Edda hand out flyers to the park at the launch of the 50th anniversary Grand Prix Of Europe masterminded by Cindy (Atwell again).
The excitable youngster takes a joyride in Ed’s car and the champion sprains his arm during the subsequent chase.
Injury means instant disqualification so Edda, who resembles Ed while wearing a helmet, proposes that she drives in the three elimination races in France, Switzerland and Italy against menacing raven Nachtkrabb (Colin McFarlane) and cheerful Scandinavian bear Magnus (David Menkin) while he recovers.
Grand Prix Of Europe zigzags merrily across the continent “like a kid dodging broccoli at dinner time”, contriving mild conflict between characters that can be neatly resolved on the streets of the English capital.
Rob Beckett provides mild comic relief as a motormouth parrot race commentator while supporting players like myopic fortune teller Rosa (Ayesha Antoine) are one-joke wonders.
Ironically, Fast’s film is comfortably stuck in second gear.
Rating: 5.5/10
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