Very much a genre film, even if the soundtrack jazzes it up a lot

Rating: Null/10 (26 December 2017)

A lot of hype around this film, and a lot of big names involved on either side of the camera - Pope and Wright on one side, and many famous faces on the screen itself. I left it a while and approached it without expectation, and I was quite surprised by what I found, considering the praise lavished onto it. Despite being on almost all 'cool' 'best of' lists for 2017, Baby Driver is not much of a movie, although it is a decent genre movie and a great Original Soundtrack.
The plot does nothing to surprise or thrill, there are no twists that will knock you sideways, or developments that will feel new or fresh. Indeed it sticks very much to the basics without much added. Where the film works hard is with the production and style. In this way it does look good. It benefits a lot from having plenty of famous names and faces, as well as a comparatively big budget to work with. This budget ensures plenty of style and slickness. This is well combined with the music - which is not only great but frequently very well used; it flows like a musical at times, and I did like this aspect - although by itself it is not really enough to suggest it makes it a great film.
Perhaps I was not in the right mood to watch it, but I certainly didn't see the great film that many claim to have - and while I'm sure it will feature on many year-end lists, it was just a solid genre film with plenty of resources.