Baby doesn’t talk much. He’s constantly hooked up to his
iPod that pumps out tunes selected to suit his moods, prompting one character
in Baby Driver to ask “Is he
retarded?” about the young kid getaway driver named Baby (Ansel Elgort), in
this adrenalin rush, pulse pounding heist thriller with a shuffle mix beat.
Another character replies in his defense “Retarded means
slow. Is he slow?” From what we’ve just witnessed in the opening sequence of
the film, Baby is anything but slow. In fact Baby is a maniac behind the wheel.
Baby Driver is so fast it will make
your head spin with delight.
It’s a careening frenetic fun ride that hits all the right
notes literally with a wall-to-wall soundtrack that inspires the action
sequences and car chases in a way that we’ve never quite seen before. Edited
almost exactly to the beat of the music, Baby
Driver is precisely choreographed to the action with an eclectic mix of Rock,
Funk and Hip Hop songs as heard through Baby’s iPod and stolen car radios.
Baby learned how to drive like no one else after his parents
were killed in a car accident when he was little, with him being the only
survivor. Now slightly hearing impaired, he can’t live without the music
blaring in his ears to drown out the constant hum giving him the superhuman
ability to drive a car with a single minded focus.
His driving ability makes him a valued asset to a group of bank
robbers lead by a daring fast talking crime boss named Doc (Kevin Spacey) who
coerces Baby to work for him using his talent to get them out of sticky
situations.
The songs drive the film in such a way that the audience
hears what Baby hears through almost the entire film and the results are
fascinating and exhilarating, putting us right in the driver’s seat.
Baby Driver makes
a pit stop at a roadside diner where Baby hangs out when he’s not driving just
long enough to develop a quick love relationship with an attractive young
waitress, Deborah (Lily James), he has his eye on. When Baby thinks he is
finally free to leave his criminal past behind and make an honest living to be
with his new love, Doc has other plans for him which he cannot refuse.
A guy who wants to use his remarkable talent to break from his
past to be with the woman he loves is not that new a concept. Movies like Punch Drunk Love (2002) come to mind,
but what makes this film unique is it’s blending of genres like the heist crime
thriller with a unique musical slant. Here Punch
Drunk Love meets Drive (2011) but
with more action, humor and music.
British director Edgar Wright, well known for his hilarious
send ups of other genres with films like Hot
Fuzz (2007), Shaun of the Dead
(2004), Scott Pilgrim vs. The World
(2010) and The World’s End (2013), does
it even more successfully here while raising the bar for all future action
films and creating an instantly memorable film that will have audience’s jaws
dropping and heads bopping to the beat.
Don’t miss this insanely stylish and enjoyable film that’s
sure to make you a Baby Driver fan when
it comes to cinemas June 28.
JP
