Review of Baby Driver (2017) by Chandler H — 14 Jan 2018

Baby Driver.

(2017).

Plot:

Baby (Ansel Elgort) - a talented, young getaway driver - relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to be the best in the game. When he meets the girl of his dreams (Lily James), Baby sees a chance to ditch his criminal life and make a clean getaway. But after being coerced into working for a crime boss (Kevin Spacey), he must face the music when a doomed heist threatens his life, love and freedom.

Review:

I was quite surprised with this film, because of it's unique use of music, great car action and intense storyline but the tempo does drop in the middle, due to the love story. Once the fast action kicks back in, and the "Tarantino like" plot gets more intense towards the end, you do end up on the edge of your seat, and the unpredictable plot throws in more surprises. The film is based around a getaway driver, Baby (Ansel Elgort), who does various jobs for a criminal mastermind, Doc (Kevin Spacey), to pay of a debt to him. As doc doesn't use the same work force twice, Baby is forced to work with different criminals to rob various places but his heart really isn't in it. Baby lives with his foster father, Joseph (CJ Jones) who can't hear or speak, and he also has tinnitus, due to a car accident when he was small, which is why he constantly listens to music. After finally paying his debt to Doc, Baby meets Debora (Lily James) in a diner, and he instantly falls in love with her. They go on a few dates and they plan there future together but Doc wants Baby to do one last job, which will pay out loads of money. Baby reluctantly takes on the job but it all goes wrong, due to Babies conscious, and most of the gang are murdered. One of the surviving gang, Buddy (Jon Hamm) seeks revenge for his wife's murder during the heist, so with the cops on his tail, Baby and Debora run for there lives, with nowhere to turn. The director chose the perfect cast for this movie, especially Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx who played "the baddies" well, and I also was shocked with Jon Hamm because he usually plays dashing roles. The stunts were great, along with the pumping soundtrack, and the character building throughout the film gave it some depth. One of the things that stood out for me, was the fact that the cast was doing things to the beat, which was cleverly done, so I will definitely say that it's worth a watch because there is something for everyone. Enjoyable!

Round-Up:

This movie was directed by Edgar Wright, 43, who also brought you Shaun of the Dead, Grindhouse, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim and the World's End. With such an amazing filmography, he was the perfect choice for this film, and judging by the box office profits, this is another smash hit that he can add to his list. As a big fan of Scott Pilgrim, which also had a great soundtrack, he certainly is a unique director who doesn't shy away from trying something new, which is why this was a surprise hit in 2017. Ansel Elgort, 23, starred in the Divergent franchise, Carrie and the brilliant the Fault In Our Stars, so he must be happy with the direction his career is going in so far but I still feel that there is a more to come from him.

Budget: $34million.

Worldwide Gross: $227million.

Genre: Action, Crime, Music, Thriller.

Cast: Ansel Elgort, Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm, Kevin Spacey, Jamie Foxx, Eliza Gonzalez, Lily James, Micah Howard and Flea. 8/10.