Baby Driver – 4.5/5 – Movie Reviews by Ry!
Baby Driver – 4.5/5 – Originality is something hard to find in any medium these days. No matter what form of storytelling, original detail can raise the experience. This is especially true when it comes to film. Through all the rehashing and remakes, there are always a few that provide that thrill through that specific draw. Beyond any rating, if you can make something enthralling in an original story, it will become memorable. Baby Driver, a film by Edgar Wright, is an experience of pure original fun. From the characters, relationships to the overall dynamic of the action scenes, you’re truly in for a ride. Baby Driver is one of the best films I have seen this year.
Premise: Being a driver for a crime boss; Baby must find a way to escape before one last heist ends his journey to freedom.
In the main roles are:
Ansel Elgort as Baby
Jon Hamm as Buddy
Elza Gonzalez as Darling
Lily James as Debora
Kevin Spacey as Doc
Jamie Foxx as Bats
There are a few other known names, but are left to being side characters. Within these main roles, the actors/actresses provide stellar bravado in pushing common archetypes to individualistic detail. From the titular character of Baby, the love interest Debra, the band of misfits that consist of Buddy, Darling, Bats and Doc and the rest; you feel a powerful sense of true characterization. They are unusual, raw, riveting and completely unpredictable. Each of the characters have a conviction that straddle the lines of good and bad. This provides a sense of intrigue when it comes to their interactions with one another. They are blunt, comical and witty within their dialogue, action and personal quips. The aura of satisfaction comes in their personal draw, providing a sense of rooting for certain individuals while understanding the antagonistic reasons behind others. This odd, smart and quirky detail in each character is a testament to the writing from Edgar Wright. He provides a ‘sandbox’ where the characters can act and react to situations that are odd, ambiguous but realistic. It is a creative draw that adds to the character development.
The direction goes beyond the traditional approach. Edgar Wright is a director that tackles storytelling through creative risk. He takes that chanced to provide a path of enthralling and unique detail that goes against normal act transition and basic outlines. Going beyond the norm allows him to solely focus on the witty, intense and dramatic situations through general focus on the characters. Like previous films (Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, The Worlds End), he implores the common ‘one shot’ method. This adheres to a story with a defined starting and ending point. This finite trip provides an enclosed ‘sandbox’, where the characters bring a tale of tales of ‘who, why, what and where’. It might seem formulaic at the start, but it is the unpredictable dialogue that provides a trip that arouses in action and endears in emotions. The fluidity of the indifferent genres and character development props Edgar Wright’s unique ability and vision. For this film, he takes the idea of car chases, bank robberies, romance and colorful characters and mashes them into a story that flows in one direction without a sense of predictability. We follow the titular character (Baby) as he is the sole driver for a group of robbers. He is tasked with driving them from the robberies to their hideout. From the initial prologue, you’re engulfed by the character dynamic that begins to unfold between Baby and three other characters:
- Deborah
- Buddy
- Doc
These characters create a connection that provides backstory, relationship building and foreshadowing of ‘things to come’. The foreshadowing doesn’t take away from the unpredictability, but adds that emotional fervor of what may or may not happen. Even if this forces in convenient plot devices, it never deters from the experience. Once the entangling of dialogue between characters leads to a major heist coming unraveled, all hits the fan in a big way. This leads us through an adrenaline pace of action, dramatic dialogue and unlikely decisions from all the main players. Once the film hits its climax, you’re amazed at the twist and turns, but welcome how much color, drama and witty interactions came on this journey. Once you hit the epilogue, you find enjoyment that this original ride has an ominous good ending.
The visuals are a mixture of common aesthetics with adrenaline pumping action/car chase scenes. The mixture helps provide that ironic grip for the audience to this ‘sandbox’ world. Set in a common urban sprawl, the film takes the ‘everyday’ look at life and mixes it in with the odd, unique dysfunction that happens between Baby, the crew and the heists. It is a colorful binding of visual appeal that is perfectly messy, but originally clean. This odd description of the cinematography is built from Wright’s own creative touch. Another strong part of the film is the score. The music helps provide another layer of character development and progression for the story. It adds meaning to certain scenes while not making the surrounding feel forcefully created. It is soothing, dramatic, tense and comical. The music helps provide more depth to an already amazing ride.
Baby Driver is an original, fun-filled time at the theaters. From the characters to the unique story, this is a film that will be memorable for years to come. If you’re a fan of Edgar Wright, original storytelling or like to see something that is truly amazing, check it out. It is worth the full price of admission.