I like Edgar Wright, but if I were to criticise him I would say that he's never made a great film. Don't get me wrong, all of his directorial efforts are remembered fondly (Hot Fuzz stands out to me as a personal highlight) and he's certainly never made a bad movie, but in my opinion his films have never transcended into greatness. Until now. His latest 'Baby Driver' is an exquisite blend of what we've come to expect from Wright's movies and brand new elements that make this film one of the most original and refreshing movies I've seen this year.
The story follows Baby (Ansel Elgort), a young boy who uses music to drown out the tinnitus he suffers from as a result of an accident he was in as a child, relying on his personal soundtrack to make him the very best getaway driver. When he meets Debora (Lily James), the woman of his dreams, he sees the chance to escape this shady life he's been coerced into. However, the crime lord Doc (Kevin Spacey) refuses to let him go so easily. Baby's 'final' job will threaten his life, love and freedom.
Perhaps a key reason for the the success of this film is that the narrative is propped up by an all star cast. There's always a danger of overcrowding and an imbalance of screen time in large ensemble movies, as seen in 'Ocean's 11' and more recently in 'Suicide Squad'. This is not the case here though. The lead actors get enough time to establish themselves as protagonists and earn the audience's approval, and whilst the supporting cast's roles are also fully fleshed out, they never invade space. As you can expect from such an outstanding cast, the performances are all fantastic. Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx and Jon Hamm are all amazing. Yet Ansel Elgort deserves a special mention. Before this movie, all I'd ever seen him in was 'The Fault in our Stars', which had left me with a less than positive opinion of him, but this film has more than redeemed him in my eyes. He is charismatic and charming yet quirky enough to be relatable. He never once appears arrogant or cocky though - he's likeable throughout the movie as an underdog that the audience are rooting for. Lily James is also great, offering the perfect companion for Elgort and the two share some excellent chemistry on screen. Jon Bernthal and Eiza Gonzalez both have more fleeting roles but are also both great.
The action in this movie is exceptional. Personally, I had liked the last few 'Fast and Furious' movies, mostly because they are very aware of what they are - high budget, low concept blockbusters that require minimal thought allowing audiences to switch of their brains for 2 hours and just enjoy some great car chases. Yet the action in this movie runs circles around anything on offer in that franchise, which is incredible considering that Wright, to the best of my knowledge, has never done stunts on this scale before. Ever. That's insane considering how good some of the action set pieces in this film are. All the car chases are great, especially the opening scene and one chase on foot may even top them all.
However, there's an element in this movie that sets it apart from others in this genre. The music. This movie is in many ways a musical masquerading as an action film. Over 75 songs are used to some extent in the final cut, which means that there is rarely a moment in this film where there isn't music playing, which helps the film maintain a frantic pace as well as inexplicably playing fantastic songs again and again and again. And this isn't the case of a studio just throwing a bunch of money at a film and buying whatever pop songs are popular to feature in the trailers and entice more viewers. It feels as though every single song was carefully hand picked by Wright himself and is implemented into the storyline masterfully. I'm not exaggerating when I say this, but the use of music in this film is genius. Pure genius. The way that each song is layered perfectly over the images, every action beat in unison with that of the song. Guns blazing, gear sticks clunking - every single detail is sheer perfection. And the scene I mention earlier, a chase on foot through the streets set to 'Hocus Pocus' by Focus is exceptional.
In a modern Hollywood landscape that is dominated by studios turning out the same junk every two years as a blatant cash grab, (cough Transformers 5 cough Pirates of the Caribbean 5) it gives me great joy to see a film like this succeed. It's a hit both critically and commercially and it absolutely deserves to be. It has all the characteristics of a modern blockbuster - a cast practically overflowing with stars and amazing action set pieces and it has classic elements of Wright's repertoire, dark humour and visceral action. Yet, this film feels like so much more than your average thriller. It feels almost handmade, you can sense the time and effort that has gone into it, especially the soundtrack. This is, in many ways a passion project, which has been executed exceptionally. I urge you to rush and see this film - the outstanding cast, fantastic action and incredible usage of a phenomenal soundtrack make it one of the best movies to be released this year. A must see!
4/5 Stars
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