Style Over Substance

Rating: 10/10 (29 July 2017)

Style over substance. It's a term thrown around when defending a film that has artistic merit in visuals but lack a strong story. The films of Michael Bay and Zack Snyder frequently get this defense. The reason why that defense fails is because those movies are actually style with no substance. Baby Driver is an example of a style over substance movie.
I can literally break down the entire plot for you in this review without fear of spoiling the movie. A young man (Ansel Elgort) finds himself indebted to a criminal (Kevin Spacey) and has to commit crimes to pay off the debt. Eventually he's clear but he quickly finds that getting out from under the criminal's control isn't that easy. Of course, the young man meets and falls for a girl (Lily James) who reciprocates and becomes involved in the chaos. Not only did I not spoil anything, it's the same plot as about fifty other movies.
That's where the style comes into play. Director Edgar Wright fills this world with characters that are more than just one-dimensional plot contrivances. The young man, called Baby, listens to music almost none-stop to drown out a hum in his hearing he got as a child. That music is the film's soundtrack and frequently leads to scenes playing out like music videos but it always feels natural. Flowing from story to music video seamlessly. That's style.
Added to this, is the fact that Wright also throws a lot of curveballs into the standard plot of the movie including some skillful bait and switch with the person who ends up as Baby's main antagonist. The cast all embody their characters. Elgort holds his own, but the supporting cast still shine. And when that support includes Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal, and Jamie Foxx it's easy to see why.
Despite this impressive star power bringing their sizable skills to play, the real talent that shines here is Edgar Wright's sharp script and clever direction. I wonder how much of this was brought over from his work on Ant-Man. I do find it interesting his first film after leaving a superhero heist film is a heist film.
And even though the film's origin may be an interesting tale, it ends up being a moot point. All the matters is the final product, and the final product is something really special that stands with some of Wright's best work (Scott Pilgrim vs. The World and Hot Fuzz). That is exceptionally fine company with which to stand.