Baby Driver (2017) Review

“The moment you catch feelings is the moment you catch a bullet.”

After openly walking away from both Marvel and the Ant-Man film he had been working on for years, Edgar Wright had to find himself a new project. As it turns out, he had another long gestating idea in mind; Baby Driver. Following early positive reactions, the studio decided to move the release date forward by two whole months. So, is Baby Driver all it’s cracked up to be? Or is it a car crash?

Regardless of your personal preference, undisputedly no one makes films quite like Edgar Wright. He might have once been known for his fantastic visuals, but now we feel he will also have made a name for himself with his audio, as Baby Driver shows us his clear love for sound, utilising it as a storytelling technique. Just as “Baby” uses a constant stream of music as his inspiration and muse in the film, so too does Wright.

But let’s first shift back to the film itself for a moment. Made famous by his role in The Fault in Our Stars Ansel Elgort here plays the titular cool guy character Baby. He’s an insanely good wheelman, who, while helping pull off heists, is constantly blasting music from his (now iconically “retro”) iPod. At the start he’s almost out from under the thumb of his crime boss Kevin Spacey, but then of course a beguiling beauty in the form of Lily James confuses and complicates things.

It’s a typical set up, one that inevitably benefits from Wright’s undeniable ability to make anything energetic and cool with his iconic zoom in smash cuts. Pair this with his inventive camera shots and snappy editing, it’s a match made in heaven, that keeps things entertaining with energy levels high throughout. The film is genuinely engaging from the get go, showcased brilliantly and effortlessly through even the most trivial tasks e.g. going to get coffee. The way the film merges and unifies both its visuals and audio together is an art form.

This intrinsic inventiveness runs through to the editing, most notably in the action and driving scenes. They’re near perfection, its exhausting to even wonder about the innevitably obsessive amount of work that went into the planning, choreography, filming and editing to bring it all together (every single gunshot alone is synched exactly to the beat of the music).

The film is tongue in cheek, jumping between being a homage and/or a spoof, and throws a ton of comedic irony into the heists. Yet it’s never dumb, the car chases might be almost at Fast and Furious levels of over the top and ridiculous, but it always remembers to play its action straight forward and serious, keeping the element of tension and danger in the dramatic moments.

On the acting side of things we’re still unsure if Elgort was doing his best parody of Ryan Gosling in Drive, but whatever his reasons, we didn’t find it quite believable enough. Described as “…a good kid and a devil behind the wheel”, a fitting line, and explains his casting choice as he does manage to bring a sense of innocence through his performance. It’s also a delight to see a protagonist use both his love of music and sign language as a means of communication. Filling in the rest of the characters is an all-star cast and every one of them capably fills their given role, with Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm and Lily James being our clear standouts.

As mentioned Wright’s style does dazzle, to the extent of distracting from the scattershot plot and inconsistent pacing problems. The longer the film goes on however, the clearer these problems become. We felt the second half really does lose a lot of what the first built up so well, as it decides to switch to a love story and throws out multiple characters personal development for the sake of a few quick turn surprises. Also worth mentioning is the weird fact that side characters are brought in and dropped or forgotten about without any real rhyme or reason. They are set up with interesting quirks initially, but unfortunately that’s about it. And for all the effort they put into the stylish camera work, it appears sacrifices were made to the plot, especially to the third act that is all rather conventional and disappointingly predictable.

Let’s get back to the films defining characteristic though, the music. We can guarantee there will be something for everyone to enjoy; glam rock, britpop, jazz, soul etc. As a whole it may not be as connected to what is going on within the film itself, a la Guarians of the Galaxy, and is sometimes just an excuse to play great songs, but that’s perfectly fine. The cuts between diegetic and non-diegetic sounds are seamless, and utilized perfectly. And through the constant bombardment of songs, Baby Driver becomes a borderline musical. It lands somewhere in the middle of Drive & La La Land.

Perhaps not as down and out funny as his previous works, but it has all the hallmarks of a Wright film, filled with references, including the music video for “Mint Royale” that acts as a prototype Baby Driver.

Final Decision:

It might not be flawless, but when tires are screeching, bullets are flying and music is blaring it simply doesn’t matter. But the uninteresting interludes put the brakes on this being the amazing film it could have been. Baby Driver is a fun ride making a fresh change from the norm of current blockbusters, and we think you’d be mad to not grab your mates and go watch this.