Review of Baby Driver (2017) by Rawan A — 13 Jul 2017

Edgar Wright is a master of the craft. He's proven time and time again that one is not confined to a single genre, putting his take on zombie flicks, buddy cop romps, comic book adaptations, and alien invasion films. The one thing that does stay the same between these features is Wright's signature visual style which makes the most of every shot, turning normal things such as location transitions into comedy gold and making his sets a character in themselves. This style is evident as ever in Baby Driver, which might just be Wright's most ambitious film to date.

The narrative of Baby Driver follows Ansel Elgort's Baby, a getaway driver for shady and ever-charismatic Kevin Spacey as Doc. Baby owes money to Doc and is on the verge of the last job he needs to pay off his debt. Of course, being an Edgar Wright film, things don't go quite smooth for Baby and he soon realises that being debt-free doesn't mean he's out of the game. During the film Baby meets Debora (Lily James) and quickly falls head over heels, though her involvement with him leads to a lot of danger and high stakes for the two of them.

Really the story just serves as a tool to stitch together Baby Driver's incredible action scenes, which combine music with visual cues to fantastic effect. Baby has tinnitus, a constant ringing in his ears which he developed after an accident when he was a young boy. Because of this he decides to drown the ringing out with music, it's a way of coping and it helps him to focus when it's time for him to put his foot on the pedal. Whenever Baby puts his earphones in you know you're in for a treat, and Wright doesn't disappoint. From the opening scene he sets our expectations, throwing us straight into a white-knuckle car chase set to Jon Spencer Blues Explosion's 'Bellbottoms'. It's a real risk putting music at the forefront of an action film, but it adds to every hit instead of distracting you from it. Wright doesn't let up from here, spare from a lull in the second act in order to build up the romance between Baby and Debora.

A lot of reviews from the U.S. release and earlier screenings have mentioned the relationship between Baby and Debora as one of the film's weakest points, saying that it takes you out of the fun and intense action. I could not disagree with this more, as I found their chemistry very strong and entertaining to watch. Without these two characters being given the time to form some sort of connection you wouldn't bat an eyelash when that connection is threatened. It does take you out of the movie a little, which is a valid criticism, but it still serves a purpose to the latter half of the film.

Aside from the action and it's unique use of music, the standouts from Baby Driver were Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx. The two played Buddy and Bats, some of the goons working for Spacey's Doc. Bats is a loose cannon who provides the film with some of it's funnier moments while Buddy really allows Hamm to show some serious range, jumping from friendly to menacing at the drop of a hat. When things start to rev up in the third act they're the ones who keep you glued to the screen.

This is not to discredit Elgort, who does a fantastic job as Baby. His role is more along the lines of a silent film character, he doesn't say much other than what he has to and focuses on what he's good at, driving. Wright spoke recently about his preference of practical effects over CGI when it came to his car chases, when a film like Baby Driver comes around you can really see why this mattered so much to him. With practical car chases everything is real, allowing you to get more involved in the scenes where the leads could be killed if Baby makes one wrong move.

Baby Driver is a relentlessly fun ride, effortlessly combining it's varied soundtrack with the action on screen to create something truly unique and memorable. It may be full of cliches and it does drop back into first gear for a while during the second act, but this is a small gripe of a film that overall was thoroughly enjoyable. One can only think and look forward to what Wright will tackle next, as he's once again shown that no genre is immune to his stylised charm.