Music To My Ears

Rating: 9/10 (11 August 2017)

I really like Edgar Wright as a directors, he's not quite one of my favourite directors working today for the simple fact that despite Scott Pilgrim Vs The World (a film I've yet to see) I haven't seen him really get out of his comfort zone. As much as I love his Cornetto trilogy they're all, even if purposefully so, very similar so I wanted to fully see what he was capable of doing, a Baby Driver proved to me that he is a forced to be reckoned with, I do think this is his best film to date and one of the best of the year so far.
It's completely clear from the very beginning that this is Edgar Wrights movie, he has a very unique style that I've always loved, it's very sleek with a lot of quick edits which works perfectly with the pace of the action sequences. I loved his decision to match up his action sequences, as well as simple dialogue or movement scenes to music, though I've never listened to any of the songs in this film it made it more engaging as well as unique.
This film has a fantastic cast, Ansel Elgort has never impressed me so I wasn't sure how I would feel about him in this movie but I think he nailed it, playing on Baby's more tragic side as well as his complete commitment physically makes this easily his best performance. I loved Jon Hamm in this movie, I liked how he played his characters gradual downward spiral, Jamie Foxx was really intense in this movie as well as having a great back and forth with Elgort, I loved Kevin Spacey he was really ominous and you could tell that he had some kind of motive and other plan behind everything he did. Lily James was great in this movie she was very likable and had a really good romantic chemistry with Ansel Elgorts character.
I really liked the arcs of every character in this film, while not every character gets detailed backstory you get the impression that it was what Wright was trying to go for, to try and better show the ominous nature of this whole organisation and the people involved in it. I loved Baby's arc if learning from his mistakes and excepting consequences for his actions it made his character more likable as well as better rounded. There were definitely some cliché aspects of Kevin Spaceys character of a crime boss trying to get back a debt from the protagonist but I liked that they gave the character some heart as well as some good head butting scenes with the people who worked for him. I also loved the ever growing tension between Foxx and Elgorts characters that really came to ahead in a nice way.
I didn't know how I'd feel about the romantic sub plot in this movie but I have to say it really worked for me. I absolutely believed that these two characters had a connection. Not only do the actors play off each other very well but the characters are just written so well that you want the whole situation to end in their favour. It also felt very believable, it didn't feel like it was some cheesy romantic drama but a real relationship that I really could get behind.
My only real issue with this movie is some aspects of the way it concludes, now I did love how they wrapped up Baby's character and his romance with Collins but in some ways the conclusion to the arcs outside of that did feel a bit rushed, it seemed as if some many arcs had been built up throughout the film that needed to be concluded but it did feel a bit rushed in some ways they went about doing it.
Baby Driver completely succeeded at what it was trying to be, an entertaining crime thriller with a good heart, solid characters and an investing love story. I loved the way Edgar Wright directed this movie, all the actors performances as well as the arcs of the characters they played, though the conclusion to a lot of the films arcs did feel a bit rushed the overall quality of the film only makes me more excited for what Edgar Wright is going to do next.
9.3/10: A (Phenomenal)