Movie Review: Hitting The Apex

Stop reading this fucking article, get the movie, and watch the shit out it.

If you saw yesterday’s race, I’m sure you enjoyed it. But I can assure you I enjoyed it exponentially more than you did. Why? Because I saw Hitting The Apex before I saw the race, which was probably the weirdest one out there that ever happened.

We like to think of people as people, we like to think of celebrities as not people. What we don’t realize is that everybody has a story, and only when you know the story, do you truly know the guy behind it. 

There are a lot of movies about MotoGP racing, maybe even a bit too many. I would love to know the story of Dakar riders, or Baja bikers, but unfortunately there aren’t many of those out there, at least not interesting ones. I think part of the reason is the difficulty of filming over such a vast area in a rally, as against the tiny circuit of a GP, but the biggest reason is most likely money. Dorna has a lot of it, and doesn’t mind spending some on marketing.

I’m not trying to take anything away from Hitting The Apex, it’s a brilliantly made movie. Narrated by Brad Pitt in a rather subtly glorious fashion, the story is well told by Mark Neale, with excitement, humor, and emotion at exactly the right moments. Personally, I liked it better than Faster and Fastest, simply because there was so much more to tell.

After watching Hitting The Apex, I respect Marquez a little more, hate Lorenzo a little less, love Rossi even more, and remember Simoncelli all over again. But the biggest change in perception I had in the course of those 2 hours, is definitely about Dani Pedrosa. He should’ve been World Champion, at least twice, if not more, but there he is, after 12 years in the premier class, still the second best.

You will understand after watching this film why people worship Rossi. You will also understand why Pedrosa is where he is. But most importantly, you’ll really appreciate the valor and courage of these people, who go out there on any Sunday and play with their lives.

It’s all without logic, nothing makes any sense, but they still do it, because people who know why understand that there is no other way to live.