Baby (Ansel Elgort) is a young man with astonishing driving skills, who is forced to work for Doc (Kevin Spacey), a criminal who finds and organizes jobs for his robbers. Baby is in charge of the escape after the robberies and there is no maneuver he cannot perform while listening to his playlist. Although he thought he had done his duty to Doc, after which he could finally dedicate himself to his life, the boss demanded that he do another job. That job will bring together an unstable and grumpy team, and Baby realizes that he and his loved ones are in danger…
With a harmonious mix of genres, Wright created something that keeps the viewers’ attention from the first second, all the way to the check-out rush hour, and thus success at the box office was inevitable. In addition, in addition to delighting the audience, many esteemed critics have written praises for this film, which most summer hits cannot boast too much about. The fact is that almost every scene leaves the impression of what has already been seen, but at the same time something fresh, innovative and different. This is primarily achieved by pumping adrenaline into every second of the film’s duration, great music and mastering and directing skills.
Obviously the author’s primary goal of this film was fun and Baby Driver is really full of it. The film could therefore easily slip into something that would only appeal to avid action fans, but Wright avoids it by simply adding carefully selected music, so the story can also be described as an action musical. Chasing cars or exchanging fire was not performed routinely, with the goal that the mere presence of the action would be enough, but by combining it with somewhat different music, it was raised to a higher level. I will give an example of a tense scene in a cafe, in which our hero listens to Beria White on the iPod.
From the very beginning and the introductory rush hour during which Baby dances, we understand that the music will greatly influence the plot and the overall experience. Movements that emphasize certain words from the song, shooting sounds that are in line with the rhythm, small rituals in the car during the robbery – it seems as if the chase is a great choreography for the soundtrack. Slower or quieter beats slow down the action, the acceleration of the rhythm of the music raises the rhythm of the action, all the way to the final adrenaline culmination. The montage also supports the experience, which is such that with the change of the rhythm of the music, it changes the angle of the scene.
The author wrote a genre-solid story with a lot of colorful characters, which are a bit cliché, but are interesting to watch, primarily because they are interpreted by famous faces. Jamie Foxx is as great as Bats, a character who is both dangerous and hilarious, as well as Kevin Spacey in the role of the main boss. Jon Hamm and Eiza González brilliantly portrayed the criminal couple Bonnie and Clyde Vonaby, while the young Ansel Elgort, with his dance and boyish face, easily picked up sympathy. In my opinion, the end could have been done better, but I will not gossip about it now.
