Hello and welcome to Ryan’s Movie Reviews!
I didn’t really find out about Baby Driver until about 2 weeks before I watched it. A good friend of mine and cinema-maniac Tom West shared a YouTube link with me for the ‘TeKillYah’ trailer for the film. After watching the trailer countless times, I knew this was a movie I had to see. A couple of weeks later I was in Leicester Square with some friends to see Guardians of the Galaxy 2. On that date was the premiere of Baby Driver in Leicester Square, and the press were raving about it. These must have been signs telling me to watch it! As I write this review, I’m listening to the soundtrack, and it’s reminding me of how fantastic this film was.
Action-packed, hilarious and full of amazing music, Baby Driver is one of my favourite films of 2017. Directed by Edgar Wright and starring Ansel Elgort, Lily James, Jon Hamm and a few more faces, Baby Driver looks at a getaway driver with the nickname Baby, trying to escape his life of crime yet always getting reeled back in some how.
Personally, I found this film hugely entertaining and stylish. Edgar Wright is one of my favourite directors, as his films are always so visually stunning. I’ve seen Baby Driver 3 times and noticed something new visually each time! In my opinion, Wright is a visionary genius. The Cornetto Trilogy is easily one of the most bingeable film series of all time! Ansel Elgort plays Baby, the young speedster, who has tinnitus from a car accident from when he was a child. To drown out ‘the hum in the drum’ (quote from Kevin Spacey’s Doc), Baby is usually seen with his earphones in and his music blaring. Elgort as Baby was a great casting, as he delivers the role fantastically. He really is quite the ‘Mozart in a Go-Kart’ (another quote from Doc). Jamie Foxx’s Bats had me laughing throughout, and it was evident this was a character that Foxx loved playing. The love interest of Debora was portrayed by Lily James, and as interesting as her character was, I would have personally preferred to see a bit more character development for Debora. It seemed she was just a girl Baby met, fell in love with and decided to run away with. I understand that he’s in love and wants to escape the life of crime, but it would’ve been nice if Debora was more than just the love interest. The head of the gang, Doc, was played by Kevin Spacey. It was an interesting role that I believe Spacey was well suited to. Eiza González played Darling, the partner (in crime) of Buddy. I would have liked to have seen from her character, particularly as González portrayed Darling with a sense fun and a tone of mysterious that was perfectly mixed. Again, she seemed like a really captivating character, but only really served as a love interest for Buddy. For me, Jon Hamm’s Buddy was the best character in the movie. He was cool, humourous and a really awesome character all around. Hamm portrayed Buddy perfectly, with the matching tone of González’s Darling, but with a hint more of humour and mystery. Jon Hamm and Eiza González had a fantastic chemistry in the film, and the love between Buddy and Darling was done wonderfully. As a criticism, I would have loved to have seen more of Jon Bernthal’s Griff. Jon Bernthal is an incredible actor, and having more of him in Baby Driver would have been amazing! Reports are saying that a ‘Baby Driver 2’ is in the works so hopefully, we will get a chance to see more of him in Baby Driver 2.
Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Darling (Eiza González) on the run
The music in Baby Driver was absolutely phenomenal! Take music away from Baby Driver and the film is simply incomplete. Every frame in each scene was perfectly matched to each beat in every song. I struggle to think of only one favourite music part in the film, but I managed to whittle it down to 5. The best scenes with music, in my opinion, were 2 in the first act of the film, 1 in the second and 2 in the last. The first was the opening scene of Bellbottoms with the Bank Heist. The second was the coffee cup scene, where Doc is sorting the money and coffee is being delivered in perfect time to Egyptian Reggae. In the second act where Baby takes the car to get crushed, The Commodores ‘Easy’ was perfect for the scene. The penultimate is Hocus Pocus playing in the back as Baby escapes from the cops, in one of the most enjoyable parts of the movie. The final was in the last act, with Brighton Rock blaring. In the final faceoff between Baby and Buddy, the 1974 classic blasts. All songs in Baby Driver were fantastic and I have the utmost respect for Wright and his sound editing and sound mixing team. They so rightfully earned the Oscar Nominations for the film, and also deserve to win. Good luck!
Catch him if you can!
The story was smart. I like the idea of having someone escape a life of crime, and the ways that Baby couldn’t escape was quite interesting. The first act was magnificent, it set up the story so beautifully. I think the second act was a little weak, it was really fun and cool to watch, but it just seemed like it was somewhat slower than the rest of the film. The third and final act brought it back for me. The Post Office heist, the escape, Baby on the run with Debora, it was exceptional! Overall it was thoroughly enjoyable and one of the best movies of 2017.
Out of everything in Baby Driver, the best parts for me were 2 chases scenes. The first was the opening, which was so wonderfully crafted, and it looked like the cast and crew had a ball creating such awesomeness. The second was the chase on foot from the cops after the Post Office heist with Bats, Buddy and Darling. Every time I’ve seen this scene I am in awe and have a great time watching it. The music of Hocus Pocus by Focus combined with the fast feet of Baby running was incredible!
Baby Driver gets itself a well-respected 8.5/10. As fun and awesome as it was, I felt it was a little slow in some places. But that being said, it was still one of the most breathtakingly thrilling and entertaining movies of 2017. To those who haven’t seen Baby Driver, I highly recommend it.
I also urge you to watch Edgar Wright’s films. The British director is well known in the UK and has a status globally. His films include Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End (these 3 make the Cornetto trilogy, what I referred to earlier as one of the most bingeable series ever) and Scott Pilgrim VS the World. His films are smart, hilarious and all round good fun. So check Edgar Wright out! Also congratulations to him and his team on Baby Driver. They deserve an Oscar at the minimum, as all the hard work and effort put into this film is evident and I have seen nothing like this before; and it was truly wonderful. Good luck!
That’s it for this week, thank you for reading week 2 of Ryan’s Movie Reviews. Let know in the comments what you think I should watch and review. A new review will be published every Tuesday. The blogs just taking off, and it’d mean the world if you shared this page with others! Follow me on Instagram, @ryans.movie.reviews and follow my WordPress to be the first to read the review.
Once again, thank you for reading, and I’ll see you next Tuesday when I review a comedy from fairly recently.
Ryan's Movie Reviews 