Considering how Edgar Wright's first four movies had such heavy doses of high-quality action, stylish editing, and rapid-fire dialogue, it dawned on me midway through Baby Driver that Wright's basically been toying with the key ingredients of gangster movies for his entire career. It's like he's been fine tuning his instruments in various ways across his four previous classics until he was finally offered the chance to make an out and out gangster film. Well, now he gets to do just that with Baby Driver, a new crime movie he's directed that's been generating insane amounts of praise for months now ever since it premiered at the South by Southwest festival back in March.
Sometimes, such massive amounts of hype create expectations that can't be fulfilled. Thankfully, this is not one of those times. Baby Driver is an incredible motion picture, the kind that doesn't just meet your expectations but soars above them like a rocket blasting off into outer space. If Edgar Wright's past four movies were all about putting his own distinctive spin on already existing pop culture mainstays, here he's breaking new ground by creating something that feels like it'll become its very own pop culture mainstay others will be inspired by. It's a real stunner, one with a sleek body and an engine that purrs like a happy kitten (I don't know much about automobiles so those expecting any more car-related puns from here on out will be sorely disappointed).
Sometimes, we just find ourselves in a bit of a pickle. Baby (Ansel Elgort) has certainly found himself in circumstances that are such a pickle it might as well be a Veggietales character. Baby has been indebted to a gangster named Doc (Kevin Spacey) for years now ever since the orphaned kid committed some tomfoolery against the criminal kingpin at a young age. In order to pay off his debt, he's been the man's go-to getaway driver for all kinds of robberies for years now and he more than earns his spot as a regular occupier of this job position thanks to his incredible skills behind the wheel. Baby is as good at driving as he is at picking out quality tunes, which he is always listening to in order to drown out the ringing in his ear that comes from tinnitus he contacted during a fatal car crash as a kid.
One can't play the outlaw game forever though, and since Baby has a good heart, he's been looking to get out of the gangster business for awhile now, especially since his debt with Doc is about to be fully paid off. He gets further incentive to fulfill his long-held dream of leaving this criminal life behind when he catches the fancy of a waitress named Deborah (Lily James). The two develop a relationship just as tensions run high between Baby and his criminal associates, particularly with Bats (Jamie Foxx), a crook who has both a dislike for Baby and a tendency to commit super vicious acts of violence. Is there a way for Baby to get out of this life and sing a different tune or is he fated to be at the mercy of these criminals forever?
Look, we could do entire film classes centered around just the masterful editing of this movie, how it aligns so well with every beat of the music accompanying the scenes of the movie, how Baby Driver Practically speeds from shot to shot, whizzing by with an infectious energy that makes you feel like you're in the middle of the beautifully designed car chases. Editors Jonathan Amos and Paul Machliss plug directly into the wonderfully unique aesthetic of Baby Driver and ensure the various transitions from one shot make up a big part of why this movie is able to feel so thrillingly frisky. They're also super adept at making the recurring trait of having the various beats and rhythms of Baby's music play parallel to on-screen character actions work like a charm. Even just the editing in the various car or on foot chase scenes alone, which manage to make it feel like you're right in that car Baby is driving so speedily in an attempt to evade the cops, make a good case for why Baby Driver's editing proves to be one of its greatest facets.
Oh my God, now that I've mentioned the car chases I've gotta talk about how great this movie is at creating highly such enjoyable automobile-oriented action sequences. so well-made right down to the tiniest detail. An opening chase sequence that juggles inventive stunts, pacing and characterization sets the tone for what's to come in the rest of the feature as the superb editing, camerawork, and writing of these sequences are absolutely devoid of incoherency, it's all so clearly shot in order to wring all the possible thrills out of these sequences. Just from the way they're written, one gets the sense that screenwriter Edgar Wright is taking his love for movie car chases and trying to add his own special something to the mix, in this case, having the various tunes Baby is listening to play a big part in how the car chases are visually depicted. The assorted pieces of music and the vehicle-heavy action go hand-in-hand in Baby Driver and it turns out to be a combination that works like gangbusters, especially since it's presented in such a visually pleasing way.
Meanwhile, Edgar Wright's script isn't just good for creating memorable chase sequences, far from it. It didn't take long for me to get reminded of just how fresh and zesty this guy's writing is and it's really impressive how well his trademark style of dialogue fits into a gangster movie. There'as all kinds of memorable quotes ("Shop, let's talk it!") in here and the smorgasbord of talented actors assembled here are obviously having a blast just letting such lovely lines roll off their tongues. As if all the aforementioned attributes weren't enough, the acting's awesome from top to bottom, Angel Elgort is so charming and also so riveting at being the silent bad-ass type, the dude seems like he's totally fulfilling all the potential he showed three years back in his stupendous performance in The Fault In Our Stars.
Accompanying Elgort is plenty of talent in the supporting cast. Kevin Spacey makes for a mighty fine twisted and malicious father figure to Baby, Jon Hamm as Buddy is gripping as he handles his characters slowly growing malevolent nature and Jamie Foxx took me completely by surprise by making for a most foreboding villain. He's so good at giving Bats this unpredictable nature that makes any scene he happens to be one full of tension, especially one where Baby, Bats, Buddy and Darling (a sublime Eiza Gonzales) are sharing a diner booth together and Baby's criminal life and personal life are oh so close to colliding. That particular scene makes good use of Lilly James as Debora, a character I do wish had more of a personality to work with (she's fulfilling the romantic interest archetype to a tee), but James works plenty well in the role regardless and she and Elgort have great chemistry together.
The more intimate romantic scenes with Elgort and James characters are incredibly sweet and there's an innocent nature to their relationship, one that removes any trace of cynicism from their dynamic, that's really cool to see. Far too many movies feel like they're forcing a romance into their storyline or feel like they need to gussy up their core romantic relationship with all sorts of "hip" or "fresh" twists that end up making said relationship feel inauthentic. Here, Baby and Deborah just have a spark between them and the movies content to let their growing infatuation play out in an endearingly clear-cut manner. Baby Driver as a movie knows what works when it comes to on-screen romances and that's far from the only thing it's got an incredible wealth of knowledge about. Gloriously energetic action, one-of-a-kind editing, an ensemble cast chock full of great performances, Baby Driver knows how to get all of that and more. Get with the beat on this one folks, Baby Driver is another Edgar Wright helmed winner.
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