Pure cinematic fun and revelry

Rating: Null/10 (21 July 2017)

As Bob & Earl's classic sixties song "Harlem Shuffle" blared in the cinema, and as the film's protagonist Baby (Ansel Elgort) boogied his way down the street in an unbroken Steadicam shot, I felt director Edgar Wright's passion for filmmaking. His filmmaking is as exuberant and vibrant as the film's soundtrack and even the most pessimistic critic would have a hard time not taping their foot to the music or revelling in one of the film's impressive action set pieces.
It was the film's riveting opening scene that reminded me of the directorial passion and creativity that I feel has sorely been missed in most modern commercial blockbusters. Franchises do not generally allow for individual creative identity, since the studio is beholden to making an ongoing story that is bigger than one single two hour film. But Wright's strengths lie in his unending creative energy and ability to take a fairly generic, hackneyed premise and breathe new life into it. The fact that some of the irreverent, almost self referential humour from Hot Fuzz and Shaun of The Dead has carried over into the film also helps garner likability. If there is one problem in working with a generic story with a new stylistic edge it's that it becomes harder to fully invest in a character. Baby becomes a likable character, mainly due to Elgort's charismatic energy, but characters like Doc (Kevin Spacey), Bats (Jamie Foxx) and Buddy (Jon Hamm) come across as underdeveloped and bordering on cartoon like. This was an issue I had with Wright's previous film Scott Pilgrim; when you decide to prioritize a stylish aesthetic over character development, the film will end up being solely a surface level pleasure. This is not to say that a film cannot be enjoyed in this way, but I think Wright's far too talented a director to settle for that. It is because of this that it took a while for me to fully invest in the movie. The first half, much like the Baby character, was too concerned with finding the right song, not wanting to start driving until the best tune was picked.
When the film gets out of first gear though, it soars with a palpable power and charm. The scenes between Baby and Debra (Lily James) work, once again despite their clichéd nature, because of the natural chemistry between the actors. Charm exudes out of this movie. I am once again reminded of that opening scene with the long take. I can see, just from that one scene, the joy for cinema that Wright has. It makes it feel exciting again. And if all it is to audiences is a two hour thrill ride then so be it. It will still be the most exciting movie you will see this summer.
Oh... and the soundtrack is great too.