Baby Driver

Greetings, Baby Driver is a 2017 film written and directed by Edgar Wright of the Three Flavours Cornetto trilogy fame. It boasts an impressive cast with upcoming actor Ansel Elgort taking the primary role as Baby, Kevin Spacey who has an extensive filmography is also included as is Mad Men’s John Hamm and Jamie Foxx from Django Unchained. Lily James and Eiza González portray the two main female characters in the movie. The soundtrack to Baby Driver is a very important feature of the film as the actions of the characters are synchronized with the music. It is comprised of various songs from a diverse range of different genres and musicians which include Queen, Focus and Dave Brubeck.

The plot begins in Atlanta with Baby, a young and gifted getaway driver, successfully evading the police pursuing him after his team members commit a robbery. His fellow thieves, who all use nicknames to avoid identification, consist of the important characters of Buddy and Darling as well as the secondary character of Griff. Baby is under the employ of the mysterious criminal mastermind known only as Doc and it is soon revealed that Baby has no passion or desire for a life of crime. He provides his driving services in order to pay off the debt he owed to Doc after Baby attempted to steal from the kingpin at a young age. While Baby is not pulling a heist, he visits a local diner and becomes infatuated with a waitress by the name of Debora.

Baby is to undertake another robbery which he believes will be his last as it will pay off all his debt. He is assigned to drive a group of other criminals to their location and provide a speedy escape. Doc ensures that he circulates his crew of thieves and does not tend to use the same team for different heists. The current crew consists of the aggressive Bats, Eddie “No-Nose” and JD. This mission goes awry with a guard being killed in the chaotic scene and Baby, who witnessed the murder, has a strong adverse reaction to it. He is determined to leave his past crimes behind him and start a new life. After a successful getaway he is on a date with Deborah and believing that he is now free. This does not turn out to be the case as Baby is found by Doc in the restaurant. In a private conversation between the two, it is revealed that the kingpin has no intention of letting him go and that Deborah would be hurt if Baby stopped working for him. As a result, Baby starts to see that he can no longer stay in Atlanta if he wants his freedom and so he begins to plot a way out for himself with Deborah at his side.

I really enjoyed Baby Driver and believe that the actors and actresses involved gave great performances. It was a very stylistic and colourful film which I thought was a highlight of the cinematic experience. Another excellent aspect of Baby Driver was the vast range of music included in the final product as it suited their respective scenes perfectly. I also liked the use of music being incorporated into the origin story of Baby and thought the reasons provided for how he became such a compulsive listener was a rather interesting plot point or characterisation for him. Overall, this is a movie that I was thoroughly entertained by and would encourage you to watch it if you haven’t done so already.

Plot=8/10

Characters=9/10

Special Effects=8/10

Overall=9/10

Quote of the Day

I know what you're thinking: "Oh no, Thor's in a cage. What happened?" Well, it's a long story...

Thor

Thor: Ragnarok