About – A young getaway driver is caught up in working for a crime boss. It all goes south after a heist goes terribly wrong.
Baby Driver, directed by one of Britain’s best directors, Edgar Wright. He’s well-known for directing the comedic Three Flavours Cornetto film trilogy featuring; Shaun of the Dead (2004), Hot Fuzz (2007) and The World’s End (2013), which really established him within film history. Baby Driver is a different take for Edgar as the film isn’t a comedic narrative, it’s an action-packed speedster.
Baby (Ansel Elgort) is caught up in working for a crime boss, Doc (Kevin Spacey). Baby is Doc’s getaway driver for every heist, however the team is always different from the previous attack. Baby has fallen in love with a waitress, Debora (Lily James) at a café where his late mother used to work. The two fantasise about driving off into the sunset but Baby can’t get away from Doc and his city criminals.
This isn’t the best film of the year and it’s not the worst. It’s a perfectly good film for families, year teenagers and early twenties, that fantasies about putting their foot on the gas. For all you car junkies and Motown swingers then this is the film for you too.
From a critiques point of view, the narrative isn’t strong enough to endure us into wanting more. Heist films are very similar and Baby Driver is no different. The only difference between Baby Driver and other heist films is that this is about a teenage boy that is in love, but he’s caught up with a crime boss. Majority of heist films including this one, concentrates on the heists and the people involved, which is a shame. The first act concentrates on Baby and Debora and then resuming with the couple at the end. In the middle, its rather predictable, you can usually guess what is about to happen. The narrative takes over and distances itself from the love affair that we see during the first act.
Apart from the narrative there are some extremely great elements within the film. The use of bright colours, the editing and of course the score. Baby Driver is up for three Academy Awards this year for, film editing, sound editing and sound mixing. Without doubt these are well deserved Oscars for Baby Driver. The mix of Motown and classic pop from every decade from the “60’s, mixed with the fast pace of getaway driving to love blossoming between the two young characters. It’s the perfect assembly of music, editing and colouring that a film has done in years.
Baby Driver has its flaws and they’re noticeable. However, the score, editing and bright colours make up for it, due to the excitement that these elements bring to the film. It’s not that different from other heist films. However, it’s exciting and it’s bright, exactly what you want from this speedy, glorious youngster film.
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