(WARRENSBURG, Mo.) – The action/adventure movie “Baby Driver” was released last summer. The film follows a getaway driver named Baby, played by Ansel Elgort, that listens to classic music as he drives from heist to heist with extreme skill.
“Baby Driver” is the latest film by famous writer/director Edgar Wright. The filmmaker is best known for creating “Scott Pilgrim’s vs. the World” and the Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End).
There are many highlights of this movie. The visuals are impressive and so is the use of color. The chase scenes are amazing and very fun to watch. The music might be the best part though. A lot of old, classic songs including “B-A-B-Y,” “Nowhere to Run to Baby” or of course “Baby Driver” – noticing a pattern?
Music played constantly in the film, whether it was while Baby was getting a cup of coffee or running for his life – apparently, recent movies only play old, classic music.
All these factors combined for a highly entertaining film. Even in scenes that should be boring or dull, it can still be a fun time. The dialogue is clever as well, being fast paced and intelligent. The characters are just as colorful as the backgrounds. The movies has a star-studded cast with Jamie Foxx, Jon Bernthal and Jon Hamm all playing bank robbers  – ironically, Jon Hamm played an F.B.I. agent who hunts down bank robbers in “The Town.”
The film has an R-rating, though honestly, it’s pretty tame. There’s some swearing and some bloodshed, buts besides that, nothing that’s too mature.
A trademark of Wright’s is creating movies that audiences can watch over. “Baby Driver” contains many references, lines and objects in the background that can go unnoticed after the first viewing, so you may have to watch it a second time to catch everything. Or, if you don’t feel like it, you can just watch a video on YouTube that will do the work for you.
Rotten Tomatoes gave “Baby Driver” a 100 percent rating. I really enjoyed this film, but it’s not quite that good. The movie has flaws. Some of the characters are awesome, and some are not. Baby’s girlfriend is kind of boring and not very interesting. At times the plot can also feel predictable. However, the movie does take advantage of that. Instead of giving you what you expect to happen, something different happens.
The biggest problem in “Baby Driver” is not the film’s fault. Kevin Spacy is in this movie and he plays one of the main characters. If that’s a turn off for you, I understand.
Now the ending isn’t very realistic. This can also be said for the car chases and the gun fights. But granted, this movie never tries to be realistic. Instead, it tries to be a fun experience for the audience.
Edgar Wright has stated before that is what he wants to see in his films.
“I want to look at something that is somewhat like a magical experience, something that feels not quite like real life, something like the movies,” Wright said.
Watching “Baby Driver” is exactly that.
Bear in mind, the ending itself may or may not have been real. Moviegoers have debated if it was part of the story or just Baby’s fantasy. The truth could possibly be revealed in the sequel – there is talk about making one
Overall, “Baby Driver” isn’t Wright’s best film, “Hot Fuzz” is still his masterpiece. But “Baby Driver” was one of my favorite movies I saw over the year. That’s not to say that the other movies released during 2017 were bad. Many really good movies came out that year including: “Spider-man: Homecoming,” “Wonder Woman,” “Dunkirk,” “Logan,” “Get Out,” “Wind River” or “The Lego Batman Movie” to name a few
I do recommend watching “Baby Driver.” I hope you have as much fun watching it as I had.
Fun fact: Edgar Wright thought about making “Baby Driver” over 20 years ago. He came up with the idea back in the ‘90s, and later on he made a music video in 2003, “Blue Song” by Mint Royale. The video was based around a getaway driver who loves listening to music. Now that is commitment to an idea.