Baby Driver

UK Release Date: 28 June 2017

Certification: 15

Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Jon Bernthal, Ansel Elgort, Jamie Foxx, Eiza González, Jon Hamm, Lily James, CJ Jones, Kevin Spacey

Rating: 83%

They call me Baby Driver

Review:

The cast assembled for Baby Driver are all terrific. Ansel Elgort is great in the lead as Baby. He’s charming without saying much, trained for weeks to perform the getaway scenes and his choice in music is sublime. Co-star, Lily James has great on screen chemistry with Elgort making their 'teenage romance' totally believable. Despite the controversy surrounding Kevin Spacey he's still an incredibly talented actor. He plays the role of crime boss, Doc, in a deadpan manner that makes him unlikeable, menacing and trusting all at the same time. Jon Bernthal, Eiza González and Jon Hamm all make brilliant and somewhat likeable gangsters. And Jamie Foxx's Bats may well be one of the most punchable characters ever put on the big screen. 

Edgar Wright is both a fantastic story teller and director. From his filmography I've only seen Shaun of the Dead and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World and I've been thoroughly impressed by both. The phrase often used to describe him is 'substance over style' but that in my opinion is a compliment rather than an insult, he takes his own character and personality and adapts it onto the big screen in his movies. His camerawork is also very well done with flawless transitions, match cuts and zooms that have become staples of his work. 

What makes Edgar Wright such a recognisable director is his ability to build scenes around a song. For example, in the opening scene every sound effect in the movie is in time with The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's 'Bellbottoms' from the changing of the traffic light colour to the drifting of the car. It's absolutely remarkable filmmaking and editing. Speaking of the music the movie's soundtrack has to be up there with Guardians of the Galaxy as one of the best movie soundtracks of all time. They aren't there to simply add some music into Baby Driver but instead each song is almost it's own mood. There's the joyous 'Harlem Shuffle' (Bob & Earl), the freedom of 'Easy' (Commodores) and the driven 'Never, Never Gonna Give Ya Up' (Barry White) just to mention a few. And when utilised Steven Price's score is excellent as well. 

My only slight complaint is that the second act dragged a little bit for me. It just was nowhere near as exciting or exhilarating as the first and third acts. 

The chase sequences put on screen are absolutely sensational, the drifting is so cool and ultimately Baby Driver is a brilliant car heist movie.