Drifts Into Surprising Directions While Staying In Control

Rating: 8/10 (9 February 2019)

As an original piece in a market full of sequels, reboots, and adaptations, the gritty, action-packed crime story that is "Baby Driver" rose up as one of the most iconic movies of this past year. This gave director Edgar Wright a lot to uphold worldwide, being given a chance to show Hollywood that new ideas are worth taking chances on. Through my eyes and ears, the feature proved its point to viewers everywhere and shined through as a wonderful example of original filmmaking, free of any and all previous lore or convention. So sit down, put on your favorite 80's beats, and let's talk about what made "Baby Driver" such a great thriller.
A young man known only as "Baby" (Ansel Elgort) has a debt to pay to a crime lord under the codename "Doc" (Kevin Spacey), and the only way he can do it is by being his number-one getaway driver for every heist he plans. Near the end of his repayment, Baby meets a waitress (Lily James) at Bo's Diner singing a wonderful song, and immediately falls for her; Debora, without the H. Baby and Debora share the same dream of driving down the highway for miles, nowhere to go, nothing to do, no one but each other-but Doc doesn't care to let his top driver quit that easily. Keeping himself busy with his perpetual music drowning out his childhood tinnitus (among many other things), Baby has to find a way to escape the villainous life he's being forcefully dragged into, though he has no idea the sacrifices he's gonna have to make to get his freedom and come clean for the future. I must say, while Elgort portrayed Baby splendidly, there unfortunately isn't anything spectacular I can mention about his performance in particular. However, Debora's character arc twists and pops out just as much as it should with James at its helm, and Jon Hamm & Jamie Foxx as two of the crucial criminals in the piece bring forth the brilliant grit needed to drive it home (no pun intended). Overall, it may feel that Elgort's part is carried by his castmates, but that's just another part of acting; making your scene partners look as good as possible.
I'll be honest, I'm not usually one for action movies (keep that in mind as I'm giving my final thoughts at the end). Even with that being said, "Baby Driver" managed to keep me on my toes and interested from start to finish. I immediately admired all of its cinematography, the crew with their cameras as skilled as Baby with a car. Eerie stills or slow-moving shots during enthralling exposition complement the occasional rapid cuts of harsh action that disorients you just as it's designed to before you're brought back on track. On top of a beautiful visual job, sound design was essential for this movie to succeed at all, being so focused on Baby's music that he always listens to. The way it becomes a character in and of itself is breathtaking. The old classic tunes lots of the audience will remember play when life's going great for him, then cut out completely to hear the cold, harsh city environment when it's not as such (might I add that several other movies have tried and failed to replicate the whole "classic soundtrack" thing, and this one nailed it). Moderately bright colors dominate the entire feature, even in its dreariest moments, providing a strange false sense of comfort that gives a completely different tone to certain scenes. "Baby Driver" makes the viewer broaden their views on adolescent criminals, refine ideas of healthy and unhealthy relationships, and discover how to pull through toward one dream at the cost of another; at least, that's what I got from it, and I hope you do, as well.
I'm going to say what I always do as to the demographic of this movie; if you think you'll like it, you probably will. So long as you know what you're getting into with the R-rating (i.e. blood and guts galore), it's the perfect balance of great stunts and a greater story. For a fresh product to lay our eyes on, I say it's just what the doctor ordered. Overall, it gets an 8/10 from me.