Turn up the dial and buckle in, Baby Driver is one hell of a ride. It’s a blast from beginning to end with soothing sounds of beats being dropped and cars dancing on the pavement. Director/writer Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, Scott Pilgrim vs. the World) tunes up and unfetters a brilliant, dreamlike story that floors it, driving the style and thrills over the limit. The exhaust fumes from Baby Driver fog up the screen with coolness. I dare you not to have fun watching this one.
Ansel Elgort is excellent as Baby, a kid who grew up behind the wheel. He’s the only getaway driver good enough for his crime boss Doc (a sinfully sly Kevin Spacey). Baby is a loner who doesn’t talk much. He survived a car crash but his parents did not, causing him to be raised by a deaf fella named Pops (CJ Jones); yet these days, their roles have become more reversed. Baby is never without his shades, and behind those are eyes that can see right through you. Living with permanent tinnitus, the buzzing in his ears is drowned out by earbuds blaring songs on numerous iPods for any mood in any given moment.
Baby and Doc have been quite the team for many years, but Baby’s debt is almost paid up, and he’s getting out. Not so fast. There’s just this one more job. You knew that was coming! With every heist, Baby stays in the car where there’s no violence or bloodshed. He’s not too fond of that stuff. That leaves plenty for the rest of the psychotic posse to run wild with. Doc sure knows how to pick’em too: Bats (Jamie Foxx), Griff (Jon Bernthal), and Buddy (Jon Hamm) with his audacious arm piece Darling (Eiza Gonzalez). All of them stay fired-up through the entire movie, but Hamm’s irateness beats them all by going bonkers for us all to relish in.
The only time the brakes are slightly pumped is when Baby gets to talking to Debora (Lily James). Love has a way of stopping you in your tracks. Their purpose is to get out of town, and cruise to music as they leave their pasts behind. Their romance is innocently sweet, and you’re going to find it adorable. I just know it! More so, there’s a sense of calmness when they’re together, a quiet spot hidden from the movie’s mayhem of squealing tires and bullets flying.
Baby Driver is a cinematic concert that deserves a standing ovation. So many terrific tunes playing, they’re the heart and soul of this exciting, fast-paced film. Wright links his eye-popping imagery with roaring rhythm and melodies of a sensational soundtrack. Combine that with sublime car chases that race past the Fast and the Furious franchise with grounded velocity, and you find yourself on a joyride with serious speed, style and spectacle.
“Nature Boy” Brandon Vick is the resident film critic of the SoBros Network, and star of Brandon’s Box Office In Your Mouth. Follow him on Twitter@SirBrandonV and be sure to search #VicksFlicks for all of his latest movie reviews.
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