* Directed by Edgar Wright
* Starring Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza González, Jon Bernthal, Flea, and Lanny Joon
The Plot: A getaway driver by the name of Baby (Ansel Elgort) who has a strange humming sensation in his ears from a brutal car accident at a young age, partakes in various robberies while listening to music to help drown out that humming, but at the same time giving him the ability to focus driving and maneuvering out of different scenarios and function normally as a human being. These robberies are headed by crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey) and Baby's in the process of finishing off a debt between him and Doc, which would then lead him away from a life of crime. However, he meets a waitress at a diner named Debora (Lily James) and starts to gain feelings for her and then future situations in store for Baby start to go sour.
One of the things this movie had coming for it was the director itself Edgar Wright who is by far one of my all time favorite directors. With films like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim and The World's End I just love that this is a director who is in love with cinema and if you sit down and watch one of his movies you'll see that his passion for films and filmmaking shows. I even love his obscure late 90s/early 2000s show Spaced and if you haven't seen it yet all episodes are available on Hulu (not a sponsorship, you'll thank me later).
I mean sure he left Ant-Man for creative differences, but I still couldn't wait to see what this director had up his sleeve and in comes a brand new original film in the summer season. A time where sequels and reboots are released and annoy the crap out of some people and for the most part I enjoy franchise films if they're done right. Lots of great blockbuster films out there, but if you want to settle on something purely original with the same energy as blockbusters, Baby Driver is the film to see because it is just that freaking amazing!
With every Edgar Wright film I see it's insanely hard not to talk about his style of filmmaking because of the amount of energy that is infused in each scene. It just blows my mind how many shots there are in the action scenes and that the editing is so good that each shot cut together flows perfectly. Same could go for scenes with no action because there is never a time where the pacing feels off putting where maybe the film's moving too fast or too slow. This has some of the best film editing I've seen all year. You're in each scene and you're not clamoring for more of the action. I was invested in the overall story and fascinated by each and every character the film presented.
Speaking of great characters Ansel Egort as Baby did a terrific job in this role and was one of the most compelling lead characters I've seen all year. I cared so much about him and completely bought into the decisions he made because with such a great screenplay and performance in place the execution felt so natural. It was just so refreshing to gain an attachment to such a great, layered lead hero in the best display.
I also thought the romance between him and Lily James as Debora was very well handled and how it had its place for the emotional driving force (no pun intended) of this movie. There was also excellent screen presence by the always talented Kevin Spacey as Doc and very different roles for Jamie Foxx as Batts and Jon Hamm as Buddy as we saw them depicted as more reckless criminals. I thought they presented those types of characters on screen very well. I have to use this word again, it's refreshing just to see a fine ensemble of actors so into these characters where you don't get the impression they're just phoning it in just to earn a paycheck (*cough* Mark Wahlberg *cough* Anthony Hopkins).
Each and every single performance delivered and whether it was seeing great chemistry between Baby and Debora or conflict between Baby and some of the criminals I felt in the moment because of how genuine all these performances were. Edgar Wright is just one of the best directors for leading these actors in order to leave such an impression by these characters. His amazing screenplay was in place, but in order to garner a response out of the story and characters you had to have great performances in place and I felt each actor knocked it out of the park.
The car chases and action sequences are just as gripping and intense as something you'd see in Hot Fuzz. The guy just knows how to direct action, but like I said before I was still into it when there was no action because Edgar Wright just knows how to direct a movie and tell a story that has you invested in said action that adds to the story. I love that this is a director who can have me enraptured in a story and intrigued by these characters, but have such unique visual filmmaking in the mix of it that just truly immerses me into the film I'm watching.
I didn't even mention how brilliant the soundtrack was in this movie and how I can't wait to listen to it multiple times. I loved that similar to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies that the music isn't just fun to listen to and a great throwback to older songs, but that it also makes up the heart and soul of the film as well. It all has purpose for being there and I, of course, love how Edgar Wright orchestrates the action and sound effects of each shot to the rhythm of a song. The stylistic choice he utilizes is super one of a kind and is such a joy to see play out on screen.
I don't really have any issues with this movie, but I guess if I were to pinpoint one I'd say that like in his previous films I kinda wish there was a little more of that shock value maybe in the violence. Like you had such striking grotesque images in the violent scenes in Hot Fuzz, but this time around while there are great violent scenes I kind of wish the film didn't pull back as much. It was a little more reserved, but probably kept that way since maybe modern audiences prefer not to see such imagery. I get it, but maybe it could've added to the great emotional gravitas in the's film action/suspense. That's it really.
Baby Driver is one of the best directed films I've seen all year with really strong characters, a rich, investing story and action presented in the best fashion, which probably leads to the fact that this is one of the best action films in recent years.
The Plot: A getaway driver by the name of Baby (Ansel Elgort) who has a strange humming sensation in his ears from a brutal car accident at a young age, partakes in various robberies while listening to music to help drown out that humming, but at the same time giving him the ability to focus driving and maneuvering out of different scenarios and function normally as a human being. These robberies are headed by crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey) and Baby's in the process of finishing off a debt between him and Doc, which would then lead him away from a life of crime. However, he meets a waitress at a diner named Debora (Lily James) and starts to gain feelings for her and then future situations in store for Baby start to go sour.
One of the things this movie had coming for it was the director itself Edgar Wright who is by far one of my all time favorite directors. With films like Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim and The World's End I just love that this is a director who is in love with cinema and if you sit down and watch one of his movies you'll see that his passion for films and filmmaking shows. I even love his obscure late 90s/early 2000s show Spaced and if you haven't seen it yet all episodes are available on Hulu (not a sponsorship, you'll thank me later).
I mean sure he left Ant-Man for creative differences, but I still couldn't wait to see what this director had up his sleeve and in comes a brand new original film in the summer season. A time where sequels and reboots are released and annoy the crap out of some people and for the most part I enjoy franchise films if they're done right. Lots of great blockbuster films out there, but if you want to settle on something purely original with the same energy as blockbusters, Baby Driver is the film to see because it is just that freaking amazing!
With every Edgar Wright film I see it's insanely hard not to talk about his style of filmmaking because of the amount of energy that is infused in each scene. It just blows my mind how many shots there are in the action scenes and that the editing is so good that each shot cut together flows perfectly. Same could go for scenes with no action because there is never a time where the pacing feels off putting where maybe the film's moving too fast or too slow. This has some of the best film editing I've seen all year. You're in each scene and you're not clamoring for more of the action. I was invested in the overall story and fascinated by each and every character the film presented.
Speaking of great characters Ansel Egort as Baby did a terrific job in this role and was one of the most compelling lead characters I've seen all year. I cared so much about him and completely bought into the decisions he made because with such a great screenplay and performance in place the execution felt so natural. It was just so refreshing to gain an attachment to such a great, layered lead hero in the best display.
I also thought the romance between him and Lily James as Debora was very well handled and how it had its place for the emotional driving force (no pun intended) of this movie. There was also excellent screen presence by the always talented Kevin Spacey as Doc and very different roles for Jamie Foxx as Batts and Jon Hamm as Buddy as we saw them depicted as more reckless criminals. I thought they presented those types of characters on screen very well. I have to use this word again, it's refreshing just to see a fine ensemble of actors so into these characters where you don't get the impression they're just phoning it in just to earn a paycheck (*cough* Mark Wahlberg *cough* Anthony Hopkins).
Each and every single performance delivered and whether it was seeing great chemistry between Baby and Debora or conflict between Baby and some of the criminals I felt in the moment because of how genuine all these performances were. Edgar Wright is just one of the best directors for leading these actors in order to leave such an impression by these characters. His amazing screenplay was in place, but in order to garner a response out of the story and characters you had to have great performances in place and I felt each actor knocked it out of the park.
The car chases and action sequences are just as gripping and intense as something you'd see in Hot Fuzz. The guy just knows how to direct action, but like I said before I was still into it when there was no action because Edgar Wright just knows how to direct a movie and tell a story that has you invested in said action that adds to the story. I love that this is a director who can have me enraptured in a story and intrigued by these characters, but have such unique visual filmmaking in the mix of it that just truly immerses me into the film I'm watching.
I didn't even mention how brilliant the soundtrack was in this movie and how I can't wait to listen to it multiple times. I loved that similar to the Guardians of the Galaxy movies that the music isn't just fun to listen to and a great throwback to older songs, but that it also makes up the heart and soul of the film as well. It all has purpose for being there and I, of course, love how Edgar Wright orchestrates the action and sound effects of each shot to the rhythm of a song. The stylistic choice he utilizes is super one of a kind and is such a joy to see play out on screen.
I don't really have any issues with this movie, but I guess if I were to pinpoint one I'd say that like in his previous films I kinda wish there was a little more of that shock value maybe in the violence. Like you had such striking grotesque images in the violent scenes in Hot Fuzz, but this time around while there are great violent scenes I kind of wish the film didn't pull back as much. It was a little more reserved, but probably kept that way since maybe modern audiences prefer not to see such imagery. I get it, but maybe it could've added to the great emotional gravitas in the's film action/suspense. That's it really.
Baby Driver is one of the best directed films I've seen all year with really strong characters, a rich, investing story and action presented in the best fashion, which probably leads to the fact that this is one of the best action films in recent years.
Verdict: A
Please support an original film this weekend with a filmmaker who loves to bring extremely quality entertainment to the big screen. I just want Edgar Wright to keep making movies forever. This is no doubt this film's going to be on my "best of the year" list. Cannot wait to pick this one up on Blu-Ray.
Stay tuned this weekend for Part 2 of my Spider-Man Retrospective discussing the two Amazing Spider-Man movies as we approach closer to Spider-Man: Homecoming. For updates be sure to follow me in the social media links below:
Thank you so very much for taking the time to read my review. Hope you get a chance to see Baby Driver. See this movie, see some movies and all that good stuff.
Take care. :-)
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