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• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by fb100002891058690

  Stylish, fun, and well acted.Nice soundtrack is always a bonus.

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by ironclad1609

  High adrenaline heist action thriller with a very musical flow. All shoot outs are in sync with the ... read moremusic playing on the protagonist's ears, just like the car chases. Those scenes are exciting and fun. In the end it's the victory of _b_style over substance, because the plot actually does not have all that much new to add to the genre. The characters, music and editing more than make up for it, though. The definition of a fun ride!

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by mrbungle7821

  Car chases are one of the greatest things in movie history. The visceral sensation, the speed, the u... read morergency, the thrills, the syncopation of edits to carry out the escalating collateral damage and stakes, it all works to seamlessly create one of the pinnacles of moving pictures. If you're going to create a musical where car chases are the chief instrument, then you could do no better than having director Edgar Wright as the maestro. Baby Driver is being hailed by critics as a blast of fresh air, an eclectic wild ride of an action movie with _b_style to spare. That's true. Unfortunately, this is the first movie of Wright's career where it feels like the gimmick is all there is to be had.
  
  Baby (Ansel Elgort) is the getaway driver for Doc (Kevin Spacey) and his crews. Baby was in a car accident that killed his parents when he was a child and he was left with tinnitus (a "hum in the drum" as Doc dubs it). To drown out the ringing, he listens to music at all times, including during those high-speed getaway chases. In his downtime, Baby romances Debora (Lily James) a diner waitress eager to hit the road without a map. Pulled into one more job, Baby is paired with a hotheaded group of dangerous criminals (Jamie Foxx, Jon Hamm, Eiza Gonzalez) that could threaten his future plans with Debora.
  
  Baby Driver is a gimmick movie, but this isn't exactly unheard of from Wright. Each of his movies has a strong genre angle that can tip over into gimmicky, so a gimmick by itself is not an indictment. This is, by far, the least substantial film of Wright's career. Let's study his previous film, 2013's The World's End. Like the other entries in the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz), that film has a clear adoration for a certain genre and its styling, in this case alien invasion/pod person sci-fi. It didn't just emulate the _b_style and expected plot trappings of its genre. It spun them in a new direction while telling an engaging story on the strains of friendship over addiction and stalled maturity. It's the heaviest and most emotionally grounded film in the trilogy. Every single moment in that movie adds up, every line, every joke, every plot beat, it all connects to form an inter-locked puzzle that would make Christopher Nolan whistle in appreciation. It wasn't just clever plot machinations of genre parody. It was a layered and heartfelt story. It all mattered. With Baby Driver, what you see is pretty much what you get.
  
  It's a car chase musical, a novelty that certainly entertains with Wright's visual inventiveness and ear for music. The film has that alluring quality of wondering what will happen next, especially with its extensive collection of songs on the soundtrack. A trip to get coffee can become a long take perfectly timed so that graffiti and prop placement along street windows lines up with lyric progressions in the song. Some sonic standouts include "Bellbottoms" and Queen's "Brighton Rock" during the climax. There's a fun sense of discovery with the movie and each new song presents a new opportunity to see what Wright and his stunt performers do. The car chases are impressively staged and the stuntwork has dynamism to go along with Wright's high-level energy output. The emphasis on physical production goes a long way to add genuine excitement. This isn't the ricocheting CGI car chase cartoons of the Fast and Furious franchise. As far as gimmicks go, it's at least an amusing one. Perhaps I'm just a musical philistine, or more likely my brain just isn't as accustomed to sound design idiosyncrasies, but I actually wish Wright had done more with his central gimmick. I'm fairly certain I missed half of the connections with the music. If this is the film's calling card then it needs not be subtle; rub my face in all the clever edits and how the gunshots equal the percussion, etc.
  
  The ceiling imposed upon Baby Driver is because of its characters. Wright and his collaborators have done effective work shading depth to genre characters in the past, even Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, which examined unhealthy usury relationships and entitlement. The characters in Baby Driver are defined by their archetype designations and often behave in unbelievable ways just because the plot necessitates them. The worst offender is Baby's love interest, Debora. Her initial scenes with Baby are sweet and work on their own, but when she's ready to abandon her life for a guy she met days ago, Debora comes across like one of those people who write engagement proposals to incarcerated felons. Her decision-making leaps don't feel plausible. I don't think she's acknowledged her lingering co-dependency issues. The problems are magnified when so much of the second half involves Debora being put in harm's way or needing to be rescued. Then there's Baby, a kid with a conscience who uses music as an escape figuratively and literally. He's too bland and uncomplicated for the lead. Baby takes care of a deaf foster father. He surreptitiously records conversations to remix them into Auto-Tune cassettes. Yes that really is as dumb as it sounds especially when those conversations involve criminals. All we know about Baby is he's nice, he wants out, and he's good at driving. Elgort (The Fault in Our Stars) doesn't have the space to do anything but look cool and springy. The supporting characters are assorted hardasses and nincompoops. Foxx (Django Unchained) seems like he's there always to push contrived conflict.
  
  As a genre movie with above-average execution, Baby Driver is going to be a suitably enjoyable time at the movies for most. Wright couldn't make a boring movie if he tried. However, it doesn't feel like he tried hard enough with Baby Driver, at least to make a full-fledged movie. It's an admirable assemblage of music and visuals but after a while it feels like a collection of music videos, albeit with highly impressive stuntwork. The movie suffers from overblown hype because it doesn't have the characters or story to balance the action. There isn't much of an attachment to what's going on beyond the surface-level thrills of Wright's central gimmick. As a result, you may get restless waiting for the next song selection to kick into high gear to provide another pert distraction. It feels like the gimmick has swallowed the movie whole and Wright was too busy timing his precise edits to notice the absence of appealing, multi-dimensional characters. Baby Driver is a fun movie with plenty of sweet treats for your senses but it's too devoid of substance to be anything other than a rapidly dissipating sugar rush.
  
  Nate's Grade: B

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by ApeneckFletcher

  Incredible car chases, a thick, pulsating soundtrack, lickety-split editing, and choreographed moves... read more very nearly like a musical, or at least a music video, this is one bad boy that ain't sorry for a thing. Enjoy some stone legit movie magic for a change.

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by fb1576983399

  This film is great in some aspects, but poor in others. Baby Driver gets its fuel from its soundtrac... read morek, choreography and directing. The film hits some snags when it comes to acting and writing, especially in developing the characters and the messy final act. If you like great car chases, throwback music, heists, and are okay with an average story then this film is for you. Personally, I wish the writing went a little deeper and was a little cleaner.

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by fb1442511448

  Sleek, rhythmic, intricate and synced to the smallest of details. Baby Driver is the quintessential ... read moreexample of the formulaic beauty of music and film. Masterfully executed by Wright and a colorful and powerhouse cast of characters, the film is as dazzling as it is precise; making for a personal best as well as one of the best of the year. 4.5/5

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by MrMarakai

  With his "Cornetto trilogy" and Scott Pilgrim vs The World, Edgar Wright has amassed a fervent follo... read morewing. He's a director that can seemingly do no wrong in many people's eyes but this enthusiasm is one that I've often questioned. I don't think that Wright has produced enough overall quality to be considered so highly in people's estimations. Stylistically, he's fantastic and there's always an energy and a plethora of good ideas on display but I've always struggled with how much mileage he tries to squeeze out of his material and how he brings his stories to a close. Baby Driver, as enjoyable as it is, suffers a similar fate.
  
  Plot: Crime boss, Doc (Kevin Spacey) is a meticulous planner of robberies but the one Ace in his pack is getaway driver, Baby (Ansel Elgort). Baby has a partial hearing impairment but when he's listening to music, there's nothing he can't do when maneuvering a vehicle. Baby doesn't want this life anymore, though. All he wants is to spend time with his new girlfriend, Deborah (Lily James) but when she comes under threat, Baby is forced back into working with Doc and a crew of unstable thugs in order to break free for good.
  
  There's a lot of impressive ratings and reviews flying around for Baby Driver and they seem to be coming from very reputable critics into the bargain. I would love to feel invited to the party but for as much as Baby Driver is exciting and hugely enjoyable it has issues that prevent me from agreeing with the majority of overly positive buzz surrounding it. For a start, the film begins so enthusiastically that the rest of the film never quite matches its early promise.
  
  Credit where it's due, though, Wright has crafted a very clever take on the heist film and plays things out with a blend of La La Land's musical numbers and the stylish and exciting getaway scenes from Drive. It would seem that there's certainly one thing Wright got wrong and that was his failure to cast Ryan Gosling. Throw his expertise into the mix and this could have achieved another half star. Jesting aside, if you don't put Baby in the corner and just let him do his thing, there's plenty to enjoy here. The eponymous Ansel Elgort is a more than able lead and he delivers a fine central performance where his reservation is complimented by his background in dancing. He's abley surrounded with an impressive and colourful collection of support as well; Jon Bernthal, Jon Hamm and Jamie Foxx trying to outdo each other in the menacing stakes is a lot of fun in itself and it's great to see them spearheaded by the reliable and infinitely watchable Kevin Spacey. There's no denying that it's a great cast but even they are overshadowed by the structure and panache of Wright's approach. It's his use of music that's the biggest draw and Wright skillfully blends an abundance of classic tracks that seemlessly fit the action onscreen - he even times Baby's movements to the beats of the particular song that plays at any given time. From this, it's obvious that he's done his homework on synchronising this whole thing together - with the occasional nod to the influence of Tarantino and how he incorporates music in his films.
  
  The thing is... apparently Wright had been mulling this project over for two decades. With that in mind, I'd have thought that within that time he would have been able to iron out some flaws in his screenplay. I feel as if I'm being unfair on the film as it's not my intention to overly criticise something that I found to be very lively and entertaining but I'm a bit taken aback that most critics seem to be glossing over the film's problems. These are most apparent in the denouement where Wright seems to run out of ideas. Shootouts become preposterous and his villains become caricatures while the motivation and behaviour of Spacey's character, in particular, changes so dramatically that you're left wondering if you've missed something. There's so denying that the film is a welcome breath of fresh air but it's not groundbreaking in any sense and, again, fuels the fire that Edgar Wright endeavours often have. It's a great idea and it's delivered with aplomb but on a basic basis it's nothing more than entertainment. This isn't a bad thing per se, but it's not revolutionary or likely to achieve any classic status.
  
  Despite succumbing to formula, Edgar Wright does a good job of providing the thrills. It's not perfect but I'd still goes as far to say that it's his most accomplished endeavour. It's snappy, it's fast paced and it has an abundance of _b_style. These attributes alone make it worthwhile.
  
  Mark Walker

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by blacksheepboy

  With thrilling action scenes, interesting characters, a killer soundtrack and exceptional editing th... read moreat follows the beat of the music as if the music is a character itself, Baby Driver delivers a hell lot of _b_style and substance, being always smart in the way that it tells its story.

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by phubbs1

  Stupid name for a heist movie, unless that movie is a kids comedy all about a bloke having to drive ... read morebabies around during a heist. Or maybe an adult who drives like a baby or some shit like that. Why hasn't anyone made a comedy about learner drivers yet? You could call it 'Learner Driver', hey that's not a bad idea (copyrighted).
  
  So this is a heist movie. In this movie a mysterious kingpin (?) called Doc (Kevin Spacey) uses various people to pull off various daring jobs, but he always uses the same driver. This driver is a young man called Baby or Miles (Ansel Elgort). Apparently Doc caught Baby breaking into his car many years prior and was so impressed with his skills that he decided to use him for his heists. Naturally Baby had to comply or face the obvious consequences. Now for a long time every heist has gone well for Doc, but clearly that doesn't last and that's the main crux here.
  
  So straight away there are various questions here. Firstly, who is Doc exactly? What is this guys deal? Where does he come from? How is he so powerful? What does he do? Nothing is explained about this character and its kinda frustrating because he simply doesn't come across like a bad guy (especially with Spacey's performance). The fact he also makes such glaring mistakes with his decisions also raises questions about how he's managed to gain so much power. Doc uses Baby as a getaway driver despite the fact he's literally only a teenager, or at least in his early 20's. Yeah OK Baby is a good driver, but is that still a good decision? To use such a young person as your heist getaway driver?? I can think of many problems that might arise with that.
  
  Doc also claims to never use the same people for each heist, but he does! He also uses Baby for every heist so what is he talking about. Then at one point when the gang suspects Baby of being an informant, and the fact he's being telling his foster father all about their deeds; Doc and co still allow him to carry on being their getaway driver! These are what you call eye rolling movie decisions.
  
  Now lets look at Baby, why is he called Baby? Dunno. This young man has tinnitus from an accident as a child (which killed his parents). Since then he's been raised by a black man who is deaf. Is it me or does that sound both unnecessarily pc and kinda counter productive? Would a deaf (apparently single?) man be the right choice to raise a child with tinnitus? I honesty don't know, it just seems like an odd decision, but hey what do I know. So Baby is a good driver, again we don't know how this is, it just is. He's a good driver don't question it. Baby is also very much into his music, mainly because of the tinnitus. He listens to music virtually all the time and uses it to help him concentrate, even on heist jobs. The weird part is he often records people (without consent) and uses snippets of their speech to make mix tapes. Its a very odd part of his character and really doesn't make any sense, or it didn't to me.
  
  So things all go wrong for Doc when he uses a (quota pleasing) team consisting of a couple of crooks who are in love, Buddy and Darling (Jon Hamm and Eiza González), and the violent Bats (Jamie Foxx). Of course the highly predictable outcomes are all a result of the highly predictable out of control character Bats. Because a trigger-happy, tattooed, ghetto lunatic is what you need in your specialised heist team, what could go wrong? The other two don't really do much other than smooch, although Buddy does stick up for Baby at times leading you to think he's a good guy. All the while Doc is supposed to be intimidating...but really isn't.
  
  What follows is a bog standard turn of events that see the plot holes get bigger and bigger. At one point after discovering one of Baby's mix tapes Bats and Buddy decide to go back to his place to get the rest of his stash, and question his foster father. Bats proceeds to knock Baby out...but how did they then manage to find Baby's place?? When the heist goes wrong and the police react, I don't believe any of the cops actually saw Baby involved in any way. Yet Baby runs off, and continues running even when in the clear, which would obviously cause the police to follow out of suspicion (as they would in reality, if you run you've got something to hide). Baby continues to escape by then carjacking and driving like a lunatic...which again will always make you stick out like a sore thumb. Why do characters in movies never get this?? You wanna blend into a crowd of people or traffic, act or drive normally, don't run or drive like a nut.
  
  Anywho the movie is formulaic right down to the last moment where Buddy keeps popping up despite Baby shooting him point blank (in the shoulder?? How did he fuck that up??). The only thing that got me was the fact Baby didn't go down in a blaze of glory, or escape fully. But then we get this dreadful soppy ending which is even worse so...I find myself baffled by the reaction to this movie, once again I just don't get it. It didn't offer anything much in terms of originality, except for the main protagonist having hearing issues; and everything action wise was terribly average. I think the thing that disappointed me the most was the trailer giving me the impression that Baby drove a Subaru Impreza for the whole movie, which he didn't.

• Baby Driver (R, 2017)

  - by fb733768972

  Finally, a picture-perfect film has been released in 2017. Now, don't get me wrong, no film is perfe... read morect, but it can be perfect in your own eyes if you feel that it is. There are some nitpicks to address, like any film, but Baby Driver may just be the best feature film you will be able to experience all year. It's rare that a film hooks me right from the start and never lets go until the final frame, but this is one of those rare cases. You can tell Edgar Wright was at the helm with this one, but it's also an extremely different feel as well. From comedy, to action, to deception, to romance, Baby Driver is everything you could possibly want from a moviegoing experience. Here is why Baby Driver demands your attention as soon as possible.
  
  Throwing you into the action by starting with an adrenaline-pumping robbery/chase, Baby Driver isn't afraid to let you know exactly what you're in for. When that sequences ends, the core characters are introduced and the fun begins. Working for a crime boss as a getaway driver, Baby is completely under the control by Doc, a man without integrity and no leeway in ever letting Baby off the hook. As a child he was in a car accident, which has left a sort of humming sensation throughout his ear drums, so he uses music to drown out the sounds in order to focus on his tasks at hand. There are so many levels to this simplistic story, making it an incredibly well-structured film that's incredibly easy to follow. There isn't a single moment wasted. A conversation either pushes the film forward or an action sequence has you on the edge of your seat. On top of this praise, this film successfully casts these characters to perfect.
  
  From Kevin Spacey to Jamie Foxx, the older cast throughout this film has always been great for the most part, so that should come as no surprise. The biggest surprise for me was the chemistry between Lily James and Ansel Elgort. The biggest addition to this film was their relationship and if that wasn't done well, the entire climax of this film would've fallen flat on its face. Luckily, this is some of the best chemistry I've seen in a film all year. Their interaction with each other and how she slowly adjusts to his character was easily the biggest payoff for me. I bought into every second these two shared the screen together, humanizing Baby even more than he was before he met Debora.
  
  Some viewers may not quite buy into the story itself, but a single mature viewer doesn't at least walk out appreciating the entertainment values here, then they must've been watching a different film altogether. From the music of music to give each scene a deeper meaning, to the pulse-pounding action sequences, to the bright and colourful look to the film as a whole, and to how hip it felt in terms of romance, cool is the best word to describe Baby Driver. I found myself tapping my feet to the music, focussing on every pixel in each frame, and becoming invested in these characters from start to finish. I walked out of this film not having a single (actual) complaint.
  
  Sure, an argument can be made that there are nitpicks throughout this film, but every great film has something for you to complain about. People hate movies that win Oscars and love others that critics slam. Film will always be subjective, but Baby Driver seems like the type of film that will be pleasing many audience members in the coming weeks. There is a aspect of the finale that some might roll their eyes at, a few shifts in story that may be jarring to some, but for the film's entirety, it's focussed on the character of Baby, leaving every other character as a very well-drawn supporter. For such a simple through-line of a story, Baby Driver enthralled me. I was entranced, due to the fact that even if a scene was about to slow down, a song would start playing in order to add depth. There is never a dull moment here and for all these reasons and more, Baby Driver is my favourite film of 2017 so far, which is going to be a very high bar to reach. This superb piece of filmmaking is the very definition of cool.