Baby Driver - Cinema Review

I'm having difficulty pinpointing what I didn't like about Edgar Wright's Baby Driver. His personal project first conceived 24 years ago that has finally come to fruition as he wrote and directed it for 2017. To just call it a "heist film" is something of an oversimplification.

It certainly wasn't the writing or directing itself. Edgar Wright's unique visual style and impeccable wit are present throughout and in many ways perfectly suit this type of film. As I mentioned, whilst overall a crime-heist-thriller type affair, the film has elements of romantic comedies and musicals whereas much of Edgar Wright's previous work would come under Action-Comedy or Horror-Comedy.

This is not to say the film isn't funny, but there is perhaps less comedy than something like Shaun Of The Dead or Hot Fuzz. This is really only a nitpick though and probably only noticeable because the jokes that are present are all spot on hits hence my craving for more of the rarity that is dry comedy with some actual thought put into it.

The acting and performances are also great so it can't be that which irked me about the film. Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal all bring stellar performances as you would expect but right down to the bit part extras, everyone puts in a solid performance here.

 Ansel Elgort is a relative newcomer who I hadn't seen in anything before this but as the film's protagonist he does an excellent if understated performance, carrying his weight alongside the big names aforementioned. The same is true of the love interest Debora played by Lily James who together with Ansel gives their relationship a charming quality reminiscent of Sandy and Danny in Grease (Yes I just referenced Grease.)

The technical aspects of the film are all fantastic from the camerawork and lighting to editing and set design. I don't want to spoil almost anything about the film but there's a superb sequence early on that could only be achieved by Edgar Wright's meticulous attention to detail. Said scene, as well as the whole movie is hugely reliant on the music which absolutely does not drop a beat.

With music arguably the core theme of the film, Baby Driver doesn't disappoint in its Bluesy-Pop soundtrack filled with some classic well known tracks and quite a few more unknown but high quality and expertly chosen songs that probably got a small percentage of the audience aware of them incredibly excited.

I would argue the film goes beyond a similarly music driven piece like Guardians Of The Galaxy in the way that the music is blended into the action, the characters and even the set design. It's that attention to detail I mentioned earlier that really imbues the scenes with a special sort of personal atmosphere that so many films lack even a trace of recently.

So what I didn't like wasn't the writing, directing, music, cinematography, acting, art design or anything else I've mentioned thus far. I suppose the only part of Baby Driver I wasn't entirely on board with was the subject matter. I'm rather indifferent to elongated car chases and actively despise casual singing the likes of which infests musicals and many romantic films.

So it's down to my own personal discomforts and yet despite this I still found the film immensely entertaining and plan to see it again soon so I would hope that is testament to the brilliance of Baby Driver. I highly recommend it if you enjoy stylish crime and action that knows how to have fun with memorable entertaining characters, romance, drama and a groovy soundtrack.