Making a good first impression is important. For example, you won’t get laid if you start the evening off by belching in front of your date. Baby Driver, the latest movie from director Edgar Wright, begins strongly enough. Just like a hot date that turns up to the restaurant in a cleavage flaunting dress, this movie wowed me with an eye-popping car chase opener. Unfortunately nothing that followed the first scene ever topped that moment of vehicular pursuit. Grabbing the audience’s attention from the offset is a good idea, but be sure to save the best for last – or else you run the risk of ending things with an anticlimactic finale.
OVERVIEW
Baby Driver stars a young getaway driver, played by Ansel Elgort, who goes by the alias Baby. The movie kicks off with a bank robbery where Baby showcases his talent for steering automobiles, as he effortlessly evades the law. One thing that stands out about the protagonist is that, during the pursuit, he is constantly listening to his iPod. Protagonists who are tied to a musical device are all the rage in Hollywood. I blame Starlord, from Guardians of the Galaxy, and his pesky Walkman. The justification for Baby’s love of tunes is that he suffers from tinnitus; so listening to songs helps him drown out the ringing in his ears.
I have to say that using a character’s hearing impairment, as an excuse to wedge the soundtrack into the movie is rather creative. Baby himself is more perceptive than he first appears and has a dorky charm going for him. The scene were he struts down the street, with an order of coffee in tow, reminds me of Peter Parker in Spider-Man 3… only less cringey. Anyways, the plot of the movie is that Baby has found love in the form of a diner waitress named Debora. Romance has convinced him to go straight, but before he can sever ties with the underworld he first has to pull off one final heist for his Mafioso employer Doc.
VERDICT
My rating for Baby Driver is a three out of five. I liked the movie, but out of all the Edgar Wright flicks that I have seen I would have to rank it the weakest. Although amusing at times, Baby Driver lacks the laugh out moments of something like Scott Pilgrim or Shaun of the Dead. Viewers who appreciate fast cars, whizzing through city streets, are likely to enjoy the film more than I did. The action scenes feature some very creative driving manoeuvres. When you peel away the catchy OST and slick racing however, what remains is a run of the mill story that doesn’t warrant a two-hour run time.
The acting in Baby Driver is competent, but none of the actors stood out. Doc was probably my favourite character. He’s one of those charismatic gangsters who come across as amiable, organized and professional. Friendly at first glance, but ruthless should you not ago along with his schemes. He is played by the talented Kevin Spacey, a man who can do no wrong… well apart from sexually assaulting teens. Never mind that though, because he is gay. What a novel excuse. I wonder if that would have worked during my school days? Sorry sir, I didn’t do my homework. It’s all right though because I am homosexual.
The soundtrack to Guardians of the Galaxy is awesome 🙂 I can’t help but sing along hehe 😀
I’ve never seen Baby Driver, but it sounds a bit like the fast & furious movies, but with a lighter mood 😀
A lighter Fast and the Furious is a good way of describing this movie. If you liked the music of Guardians you may enjoy Baby Driver’s use audio. The main character’s collection of songs is so vast that he has to carry multiple MP3 players at all times.
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Sorry about the time gap between reviews. I normally pen new content on weekends, but I didn’t have time on Saturday/Sunday, as I had to go to the office and work overtime. Thanks for the blog notice. I’ll check out the site soon.
Work is always first, there’s nothing to be sorry about it, your job is your foremost duty. If you don’t mind , what’s your job?
I work in the promotions department of an online casino. Not as exciting as you might think. Video games are more fun than slot machines.
Anything ‘Casino’ is James Bond 007 cool stuff(atleast for me). Ok sorry for jamming your comment section. Promise this is the last comment lo. Have a nice day and happy gaming!!
I have missed this one in the theatres, but it’s always refreshing to see a review that writes something different from the other ones. Everyone was simply raving about this film, and that is when I become really weary. The term overhyped comes to mind at points like that. Still, I do want to see the film. I still think it’s a lot if fun, and a three out of five score isn’t bad.
As for Kevin Spacey…..man what the heck is going on in Hollywood. This really becoming sad and quite honestly depressing, and rather disgusting. One has to wonder who is next.
Before I forget…great review! 😀
I liked the movie, but not to the same extent as other people. Maybe my mood influenced my opinion, as I wasn’t too happy when I watched this (it was during a weekend when I was forced to work overtime grrr.) The movie starts off brightly, but didn’t end as strong. I think it would have benefited from being 90 minutes long rather than 2 hours. On the plus side it’s refreshing to see a film that isn’t a sequel or based on an existing property do well with moviegoers.
It’s a 3/5 stars for me too. I wish Kevin Spacey’s characters was evil at the end, but they made him nice in his last scene.
Doc seemed be proud to have discovered Baby, but given how he later threatens his family the turn at the end felt a little out of place. Oh well, if you want to see Spacey play an evil character just turn on the news :-O
“you won’t get laid if you start the evening off by belching in front of your date.”
Here is a man speaking from personal experience, I gather… 😉 😛
I wouldn’t burp in front of a date. That is what savages do. I can however confirm that women don’t approve of farting or nose picking. Your loss ladies!
Maybe that’s why Kevin Spacey is so good at playing a bad guy – because is he an actual bad guy? Too bad.
Bad is also a song by Michael Jackson. It seems that Spacey and Jacko have some things in common.
Your hot dates start off with crazy car chases? I’ve got nothing on that.
What can I say? A lot of angry fathers don’t approve of me dating their daughter.
I may have to steal it though ha
The last line in this post has me laughing. Kevin Spacey really did mess up though, he even got House of Cards cancelled damnit! This film is giving me a fast a furious vibe, and I hope to God I’m wrong to think this.
Shame that House of Cards got cancelled. I hear that some people really liked that show. Perhaps the team at Netflix could have kept the series alive and recast Spacey’s character? I suppose this movie is like F&F, although a little more colorful and the driving scenes aren’t as unrealistic.