If Vin runs on Diesel, Baby runs on High octane

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2017)

Baby Driver
Maybe the title for this review is a little misleading. This movie unlike Fast and Furious 25 (I've lost count) isn't all CGI crash bang and a wallop. Instead here the audience are treated to engaging characters and a thoroughly engaging storyline. Don't get me wrong there are some wonderful set pieces involving some fantastic car chases but all four wheels are placed firmly on the ground. Believable action, no jumping over submarines or parachuting cars out of planes here.
Baby Driver follows the lead character played by Angel Elgort who is named Baby. He's a young man with a special gift. He can make a car sing enabling him to be the best wheel man in the business. However an hearing deficiency caused by an accident when he was younger plagues him with a constant ringing in his ears. Music helps combat this and the beat of his favourite tunes help him perform car manoeuvres that would put the Stig to shame. Think of the music as being the fuel to his ability just as the sun is to Superman. Baby owes a debt to criminal mastermind Doc played by the excellent Kevin Spacey. By driving for him Baby is able to pay back the money he owes. I'll not go into too much about the storyline because as it unfolds it grips the audience and doesn't let go. The superb performances by all, well written material and the superior direction by Edgar Wright give us reason to invest and care about the characters on screen. In reality they're the bad guys doing bad guy stuff. Robbing banks and so on but it's hard not to root for them. Baby however isn't a bad guy he's just a guy caught up in the circumstances that life has dealt him. His goal to ride off into the sunset with the love of his life just out of reach. I recommend Baby Driver. It's not just a movie for people who like cars and car chases. It's a movie for people who like characters and good story telling. A refreshing action movie. Baby is fast but too cool to get furious.