(spoiler free)
Edgar Wright has already cemented himself as one of the most talented individuals working in film today. The Cornetto Trilogy & ‘Scott Pilgrim vs. The World’ are proof enough of this. It’s no surprise then that his latest project, ‘Baby Driver’ has been the most anticipated film of the year for many. Superhero films aside, the summer movie season has been looking pretty dull so could Wright shake things up a little with his new action comedy?
Wright has assembled a really wonderful cast for ‘Baby Driver’ lead by Ansel Elgort. Elgort plays the titular Baby, and yes that’s b-a-b-y, Baby. He’s tremendous in the role, finding a fine line between being potentially irritating yet completely backable and effortlessly cool. It’s easily Elgort’s career best role to date which he takes full advantage of helping drive the film to the cult status that it’s already achieving. The rest of the cast includes Lily James, Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal among several others. Aside from Elgort it was Jamie Foxx & Kevin Spacey who stood out for me but there genuinely is no weak link here. Wright is a genius at writing comedy, he further proved this with his work on one of Marvel’s funniest films to date, ‘Ant-Man’. ‘Baby Driver’ is no different, whilst it’s maybe more action heavy this doesn’t stop the dialogue from being drenched in humour. The chemistry between the cast goes a long way in carrying this off but when provided with such an entertaining script it would have been nearly impossible not to click.
Whilst Wright has never shied away from action in his movies before, ‘Baby Driver’ is the most ambitious in terms of this element in his career so far. The end result shows just what a capable director he is. The chase sequences are executed so expertly without any CGI, they are so fluid and unbelievably fun. It’s impossible not to get caught up with them and you’ll find yourself not wanting them to end. One major reason for this is the toe-tapping soundtrack that accompanies all of this action. The tagline for the film is ‘all you need is one killer track’, so the fact that ‘Baby Driver’ has about thirty is nothing but music to the audience’s ears! More than this though, there is real solid reasoning for this soundtrack to exist. Much like ‘Guardians of the Galaxy’ here Wright develops the soundtrack making it intrinsic to the story treating it like a character of it’s own.
From the opening sequence you know that you are about to experience something special. It’s pure joy to watch from start to finish with every scene feeling important and worth investing in. The cast, action, comedy and music all combine in such a natural way thanks to the expertise of Wright. He knows how to tell a story whilst entertaining his audience in such an extraordinary way making ‘Baby Driver’ essential viewing. If you only see one movie this summer make sure it’s this.
Rating – 9/10
Question: What is your favourite Edgar Wright film?
(Leave your answers in the comments section below!)
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