Baby Driver

Baby Driver it is sympathetic and entertaining summer fun, but it is not directed, or (mainly) written, quite perfectly. Compared to Wright's older British work, it is also more trimmed and lacks perspective. However, the entire film is based on the creative intention to edit it all into songs that always play in the protagonist headphones. One can only praise the director for being able to so excellently edit to the rhythm of the music not only the action scenes, shootouts and car chases, but also how a character walks down the street or plans a bank robbery. Content-wise, there is nothing particularly demanding, but as a silly action comedy, it's a fair bit more imaginative and entertaining than the last episodes of The Fast and the Furious. (11/07/2017)

Offering enjoyable summer fun, Baby Driver a sort of chipper, youthful version of Drive with action and serious scenes rendered less heavy by cool musical numbers. Especially at the beginning, we get to see a sensitive perception of violence through the eyes of the main character, Baby, and admire the purity of his romantic relationship with the girl. But the film lacks more pointed dialogue and more sophisticated and refined direction for the other characters. In short, it lacks Quentin Tarantino’s touch. OMG, now THAT would be a movie! (06/07/2017)

Despite Baby Driver’s occasional stumble and inconsistent perspective, I consider making an action film in which almost everything happens to the rhythm of the music that the protagonist is listening to or based on the current mood or occasion to be a great way to revive the musical genre (and, at the same time, to subversively foist it off on viewers who otherwise ignore musicals and for whom the year’s best film so far this year is Fast & Furious 8). We can reproach Wright for not being stylistically distinctive (he previously edited The World’s End), for not being capable of working with female characters, and, unlike his great filmmaking role-model Quentin Tarantino, for remaining, even in his forties, an immature nerd with a weakness for autotelic fetishisation of movie references (the road passing by like in Lost Highway, damaged sunglasses like those worn by Warren Beatty in Bonnie and Clyde) and repeatedly telling the same story about protagonists who have to grow up but can continue to have fun in essentially the same way, inhabiting their escapist worlds while being tremendously cool. Or we can simply enjoy an original summer blockbuster with a great soundtrack and some incredibly high-octane action scenes. Since I have no plans to grow up yet, at least in relation to pop culture, I choose the second option. 85% (13/08/2017)

Edgar Wright is a pro. Never mind what he’s filmed before; now, with his quick-fire editing and love of music, he’s actually managed to film one of the best gangster movies in a while. When I was watching it, I truly didn’t even care how illogical it was at times. I was enjoying an action comedy so perfect that I doubt I’ll get a similar experience within the next five years until Edgar comes up with something new. And you realize that once you hear high-quality music in the background of a machine gun firing off. You also realize it as the music gets intense when Ansel Elgort’s having his life-changing moment. He might be just a twenty-three-year-old pipsqueak, but after half an hour, I finally got used to him; because beneath the rough layer of toughness and arrogance, there’s a boy who’s lived through a lot. And that’s getting me started about the story, which isn’t exactly any good, but I didn’t even expect it to be. This movie was filmed to be visually effective and to be a conscious homage to all the (not only) Guy Ritchie gangster movies. If Simon Pegg and Nick Frost were starring in this, I think it could even be another addition to the Cornetto saga. But this way, it’s “just” a simple, but highly functional movie. That’s exactly what I expected from Edgar Wright and it’s what I got in the end. Thank you for an amazing experience. At times, I was thinking that I’m not gonna get a similar experience nowadays. The editing combined with the music – absolutely awesome. (20/08/2017)

For the first time, I was genuinely looking forward to an Edgar Wright film, but this ride doesn't just hurt the eyes, it hurts the head. I don't understand the world in which the story takes place, and it seems detached from all possible realities and even genres. Supporting characters change their essence in a second, moods clash unpleasantly, and at the end, there are so many misgivings that only the sympathy towards some members of the talented cast saves the average. However, I am most disappointed by the so heavily promoted "musical" aspect of the film. The fact that there is an endless number of songs in the film, which simply play in the background of the scenes with Baby often humming them, simply doesn't make it a musical. The occasional gunshot or impact that fits the rhythm is a nice idea, but it becomes tiresome by the second scene. All playfulness remains surprisingly spasmodic. (24/08/2017)