People think of celebrated directors such as Christopher Nolan, Steven Spielberg, Martin Scorsese, Quentin Tarantino, The Coen Brothers, etc. But one name that is not mentioned that is under the radar is Edgar Wright: he made the successful Cornetto trilogy: Shaun of the Dead (my favorite of the trilogy), Hot Fuzz and The World's End. And, then he made a criminally underrated movie called Scott Pilgrim vs. the World mixing video-game action and romance that is wildly creative. But, also, he helped write the screenplays for The Adventures of Tintin and Ant-Man. Now, glancing at his filmography, Wright has not made a bad movie. And with this new project that was one of my most anticipated movies of the year, this movie has met the hype as another bright spot of 2017. June, so far, has been a pretty solid month and a redeeming month after a disappointing May.
The movie starts out with a heist just commencing as Baby (Ansel Elgort), a talented getaway driver that has permanent tinnitus, is transporting a crew of bank robbers: Griff (Jon Bernthal) and a flirtatious couple, Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Darling (Eiza González). After they successfully leave the bank, Baby performs his job driving while listening to music to heighten his focus and reflexes and evade the police pursuing them. Baby lives with his mute foster father after a car accident that killed his mother and abusive father. Later, that day, Baby and the crew meet the kingpin and criminal mastermind, Doc (Kevin Spacey), to collect their share. Doc highly regards Baby as a talented driver performing his duty, however, he owes a debt and Baby needs to perform one more job and then "he is straight" according to Doc.
While waiting for a call from Doc, Baby goes to the diner to have some coffee and meets a beautiful waitress, Debora (Lily James), who listens to pop songs that relate to either her name or some connotation according to the song's title. They start a nice chemistry. When Baby gets the call, he meets up with Doc and a newly assembled crew: Eddie No-Nose (Flea), JD (Lanny Joon) and the impulsive guy, Bats (Jamie Foxx). After the heist does not go as planned but has gotten the money, Doc kills one of the guys for his incompetence and Baby gets his money. However, during a dinner date with Debora, Doc spots Baby and assigns him another job. Baby misunderstood as to he was finished with getaway driving but Doc traps him in the world of crime. If he walks away, Doc threatens him that everyone he loves will get killed so Baby resumes working but he wants to get out of the criminal world.
I was thinking about this movie while I was walking out of the theater and the rest of the day. Initially, I liked it and then the more I remembered about the movie, the more I enjoyed watching the movie and it will definitely have replay value. And, maybe the more I watch it, the more I will like it. It definitely can be a contender for maybe the best movies of 2017. We will see but we are halfway through the year so it can be possible but I have heard buzz about other movies coming out soon. But, I digress. With Baby Driver, this movie is quite unique because the movie incorporates Baby's music to almost every scene of the movie. It is plugged whether he is in the middle of a job, enjoying life while he is walking around the sidewalk getting coffee or in the middle of a tense situation.
I have to admit that the soundtrack is a great collection of pop songs that is played into the tone of the movie because it does change like how a sound engineer would adjust the song. It is a collection of pop songs that range from Bob & Earl, the Beach Boys, Barry White to Simon & Garfunkel. This movie soundtrack would probably be played many times when it comes out so the fans of this movie could get into the spirit and be in Baby's shoes. But, do not drive like Baby when he is in the zone, otherwise, jail awaits you.
They have a fantastic cast ensemble. Ansel Elgort, who I've criticized a couple of times, displays an innocent and intelligent, childlike figure amongst a group of criminals while performing his job but displays great charm while he is getting along with Lily James' character. Speaking of which, James and Elgort have natural romantic chemistry and I wished they added a bit more to her character. And, sometimes, the romance is quite nice but sometimes slows the pacing as at times, I was watching another movie. Kevin Spacey balances humor and unrighteousness in a character that could've easily been one note but his character takes a surprising direction towards the end. Jamie Foxx has fun as he plays the jerk of the crowd. And, Jon Hamm's and Eiza Gonzalez's characters as a couple are reminiscent of movies from Natural Born Killers or True Romance. In particular, Hamm displays both charisma and menace in his character that was quite effective.
I may say that this is director Edgar Wright's best movie and it surpasses Shaun of the Dead as now my favorite movie from him because the one element, like I said earlier, is that it has replay value. This is a movie that you can watch with your friends and be entertained, thrilled or even be enamored with the romance. It has almost everything you want: action, car driving sequences, comedy and romance. I have quibbles with this movie which is that the pacing drags a bit in the second act and the romance should be a bit more tight as it gets carried away with a couple more cheesy lines than necessary. However, from the soundtrack to the characters to the snappy dialogue to Bill Pope's cinematography, Edgar Wright has to be looked seriously as one of the most talented directors out there. He has made another fun, original and tense film in a summer of remakes and superhero films (good superhero movies this year). Please go watch this movie and have some fun. You will not regret it. With Wonder Woman and Baby Driver out this month, this summer movie season is now shining brighter.
***1/2
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