Edgar Wright is one of the hottest names in Hollywood right now. He might not universally recognized, but his craftsmanship has not gone unnoticed in the industry as the filmmaking savant enjoys the reception that has come with his 2017 picture Baby Driver.
The movie has just opened in the US after premiering on June 28 and with a cast that boasts the likes of Jamie Foxx, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Jon Bernthal and a collection of emerging talents, this heist extravaganza has earned a staggering 97% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. As far as the reviewers are concerned, this is one not to be missed.
The Musical Love Story You Never Saw Coming
Empire's Terri White 5/5 star review classifies the picture as "one of the most utterly original films in years." That is just the beginning of the praise as White says the hit won him over from the start.
"The extraordinary thing about Baby Driver is evidenced in the first minutes of the remarkable opening sequence," he recalls. "As Bellbottoms kicks in and Baby (Elgort) launches into an exquisitely choreographed, full-throttle car chase set-piece, it becomes apparent that this is not a film just set to music. But a film meticulously, ambitiously laid over the bones of carefully chosen tracks. It’s as close to a car-chase opera as you’ll ever see on screen."
Rohan Naahar of the Hindustan Times offers a 4/5 star critique where he likens Wright's installment to an unusual mashup.
"It’s the best action movie since Mad Max: Fury Road, and also, in a fun twist, the best musical since La La Land. But you didn’t expect that, did you?"
Mixing a classical soundtrack with in-your-face frenetic action, this is an experience that leaps off the screen.
"Baby Driver is symphonic. It’s ecstatic. It’s hypnotic. When it soars, it soars. It glides off the road, shoots into the sky, and in a handful of melodic action sequences, it lives in the clouds, leaving others (and the Fast & Furious movies) biting the dust."
Despite walking away from Marvel's Ant-Man, Naahar believes this title puts Wright up there with the best of his peers.
"Edgar Wright however, is the real deal. He’s as visionary as they get – right up there with other cult favourites like Quentin Tarantino, Wes Anderson, David Fincher, Bong Joon-ho and Zack Snyder. There isn’t a frame in this movie’s action scenes that doesn’t seem as if it has been handcrafted by him."
Edgar Made of All The Wright Stuff
David Edelstein agrees with this sentiment on Vulture to argue that the screenplay and spectacle never loses sight of the cinematic objective.
"Baby Driver holds on to its optimism and sense of possibilities even when the blood hits the fan," he writes. "43-year-old U.K.-born Edgar Wright is just about the perfect 21st-century genre director. He has a fanboy’s scintillating palette — flesh-eating zombies, righteous vigilante cops, stoic bank robbers in sunglasses — without a fanboy’s lack of peripheral vision."
Mark Kermode gives a glowing appraisal of Wright's work on The Guardian to say that it is well worthy of 5/5 stars to slap on the poster.
"A romantic musical disguised as a car-chase thriller, Baby Driver combines the over-cranked action fantasies of Hot Fuzz with the poptastic sensibilities of Scott Pilgrim vs the World."
Yet he reserved special mention for Wright's support team who helped the director fulfill his vision.
"A top-flight stunt co-ordination team (Darrin Prescott, Robert Nagle, Jeremy Fry) and a hip choreographer (Ryan Heffington) work together in perfect harmony, while cinematographer Bill Pope uses the Atlanta locations with the same affection that John Landis brought to Chicago in The Blues Brothers."
Baby Driver is open in theaters nationwide.
Source: The Guardian, Empire, Hindustan Times, Vulture
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