Year: 2017
Director: Edgar Wright
Let’s skip to the end – I loved the fuck out of this.
This was the film that Edgar Wright was always destined to make given the breaks and the budget. A smart funny sassy flick, stuffed with pop culture references and a soundtrack intrinsic to the action.
The titular lead, young Ansel Elgort as Baby is cocksure and focused whether as a super skilled getaway driver or swaggering down the street in the beautifully choreographed opening sequence to Bob & Earl’s ‘Harlem Shuffle’. If there was no more to his character than this he would soon become an annoying little git. However as we slowly learn more about him, why his connection to music is so strong and the hold that criminal boss Doc (Kevin Spacey in excellent form) has over him.
Waitress and doll, Debora, literally sings her way into his heart and becomes his reason to quit. But, yes you guessed it, it’s not that easy to leave the criminal world now he has something to care about.
From the off the film has its own frenetic style and for narrative reasons a constant eclectic soundtrack which serves and is echoed in the image on screen. From John Spencer Blues Explosion to the Beach Boys and Focus to Beck it’s follows and drives the film in equal measure.
It’s use of a nerds choice Queen track is inspired.
John Hamm as Buddy with his moll, Darling are pure Bonnie & Clyde and Jamie Fox truly menacing as batty Bats. Acted and shot with such join de vitreous that it may annoy some as much as thrill but you would be wrong – this is what an action film should be.
Put simply Edgar has made a film that Danny from Hot Fuzz would have in pride of place in his DVD collection.
Might appeal to people who enjoyed:
That first rush film gave you when you were a kid. More fun than a barrel load of funky monkeys
Arthur Cowslip says
Argh, you beat me to it! I was JUST about to post my own review… It would be bad form to post it now, especially as you’ve just said everything I was going to say anyway, but more eloquently – but I fully agree this film is pure joy. I’ll be very surprised if it’s not my film of 2017 by the time it gets to the year’s end!
Here’s just a wee extract from the review I typed up:
“But, oh, that soundtrack. Eclectic, but not unbearably so – and obscure, but not intimidatingly so – it’s a hipster’s dream from back when hipster wasn’t a dirty word. Edgar Wright has been honing this stuff since those Spaced days, and he knows just how to drop the right track at the right time to bring a smile to your face.
I can only really approach this film as a fellow music geek. (I’m sure muggles will appreciate it as well – you can get off on the sheer effervescence of the thing – but an awareness and a love of mixtape culture will certainly help you out). It’s important to clarify that this isn’t just some High Fidelity level smugness – Baby Driver is nothing if not inclusive. You might love dumb party hip hop like Jump Around, or you might love cool soul like Harlem Shuffle. Either way, you’ll be welcome here. But if you know both songs start with that same horn fanfare, and more importantly you don’t care which one you’re just about to hear, then Baby Driver will hit your sweet spot.”
DogFacedBoy says
Best use of Queen ever. Yes that includes Shaun Of The Dead
Kid Dynamite says
My favourite bit of the music was the Shaft fakeout, when you realise it’s actually the Young MC track just as the car accelerates off.
Beezer says
Great review. I’m in.
Tiggerlion says
Good to see you around again, dfb.
bricameron says
Not Knowing.
SteveT says
Thanks @DogFacedBoy – how can I not go and see it after a review as good as that. Tickets booked for 14th July at my favourite local independent cinema.
Phil Pirrip says
On the back of DFB and AC’s reviews I took the opportunity to see Baby Driver this afternoon and can confirm it was just under two hours of cracking escapism. Great soundtrack.
aging hippy says
I’m surprised (no, shocked) that a review of this film on this site (of all places) didn’t point out the movie’s major flaw. When Baby and his love interest were discussing the song Deborah he says its by Trex, she says you mean T Rex, he’s says yeh that’s right. Wrong, wrong, wrongitty wrong!! To make matters worse the end titles also credit Deborah to T Rex. Peregrine Took must be spinning in his grave. Deborah was the only track I ever really liked by Tyrannosaurus Rex. Ruined the whole thing for me. (Not really. Loved it)
Kid Dynamite says
I was going to post a review of this one as well. I enjoyed it a lot. If I had to quibble I’d say I’m not sure there’s an awful lot of depth to it, but then again who cares when the surface is as good as it is? The editing and syncing alone are miles ahead of anything else I’ve seen this year.
bricameron says
Bravo! On that review DFB. Excellently written. 🎩
Bingo Little says
Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this all that much.
Was really buzzed for it, given the director and having read the comments above/received tons of other positive word of mouth. Perhaps my expectations needed managing down, but I found it all a bit soulless and lacking in depth. I know that’s kind of the point, per Kid Dynamite above, but for my tuppence the style wasn’t ultimately strong enough to make up for it.
I think it’s probably an important step in Wright finding an aesthetic that’s going to work in Hollywood long term, and he’ll undoubtedly go on to make something properly great, but this wasn’t it. Didn’t care about the lead character, thought the music choices were obvious and had largely been used before in other movies (there seemed to be quite a bit of Dead Presidents in the mix), and the last 20 minutes were 15 minutes too long.
Bit gutted, as I was really looking forward to it.
Bingo Little says
Don’t know where else to put this, so will leave it here.
The recent release I’m happy to hype is a Netflix exclusive: Bong Joon-Ho’s “Okja”. I really enjoyed “Snowpiercer”, and rate Joon-Ho’s direction (“Mother” and “The Host” also very good), so had been looking forward to this, and it was exactly as singular and well executed as hoped.
Basically, imagine if Wes Anderson directed a Studio Ghibli movie. Except don’t do that, because you probably hate Wes Anderson at this point. Just watch the trailer instead.
I’ll also give a shout here for Dunkirk, which is pretty fantastic. It’s turning out to be a decent year for movies.
Kid Dynamite says
A) how have you seen Snowpiercer? Did you do a naughty? As far as I can see the UK distribution is a mess, so I’ve not been able to get hold of it on physical or streaming.
B) is Okja just going to make me miserable? I’ve seen enough PETA videos to know factory farming is vile, and I’ve been a commie pinko vegetarian snowflake for the best part of quarter of a century. It just looks like a very sad film, which might spoil leisure time that could have been spent watching robots punch each other in space or something.
Bingo Little says
A) Waited endlessly for a UK release, without any joy. Eventually spotted it had been released in France and imported on DVD. Well worth the money, it’s a brilliant movie.
B) I more or less share your stance, but I didn’t find it sad at all. A couple of scenes were pretty unpleasant, but overall it was actually fairly life affirming, and definitely not sad. Certainly no darker than Snowpiercer.
ernietothecentreoftheearth says
I saw it last night and share your view. I can go for style over substance with the best of them, but there wasn’t enough of the former to make up the paucity of the latter. I can see why so many people like it, but not for me. Mrs Centreoftheearth was lukewarm, commenting that it would be loved by the offenders she deals with, most of whom would see themselves reflected in the Baby character, whereas in reality most are closer to the Bats character.
SteveT says
Loved it and agree that the Queen track was absolutely perfect.
Smashing film.