Baby Driver; (No) Surprise, I Loved It.

Image taken from www.collider.com

Okay, so this isn’t so much as a review because, to be honest, there’s no point; there’s no review I can do without saying what pretty much everyone else in the world is saying about this movie. No, this is more just me talking about it rather than, sort of, analysing it; I just thought I’d do a small ramble piece on it so I can tell someone else about it other than my other half, who for the record saw it with me so knows it all already and also he’s probably one more obsessive sentence away from sewing my mouth shut. So I have turned to you my Velvet-ians, yes, I have elected you the eyes and ears to express myself to, you are now officially my movie therapist! Congrats! Unfortunately there is no specific qualification available with it, but I’m pretty sure you can blag it on your CV.

See, I’ve already began rambling and haven’t even said the title of movie, though as I write this I realise I’ve probably put it in the title, however, if you have been reading Velvet for a while then you know I always do this, so I get points for consistency and some form of stability.

RIGHT! So, yesterday I finally got the opportunity to see the infamous Baby Driver; the new film from the brilliant eyes, hands and mind of Edgar Wright, known for The Cornetto Trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs The World, but you knew that right? I have been excited to see this movie since they started releasing the teaser posters as the cast line up alone is enough to give you high faith and expectations for this feature; for one, we have Kevin Spacey and that man knows his stuff. Then we move on to Jamie Foxx who wowed us with Django Unchained,  Lily James who  made us feel in love and kick ass at the same time with movies such as Cinderella and Pride, Prejudice and Zombies, Jon Hamm who needs no introduction and of course, our main Baby, Ansel Elgort, who has left us with an eternal crack in our hearts after his portrayal of Augustus Waters in The Fault In Our Stars. However, forget about all that because now, all this cast is going to be known for Baby Driver, right there at the top of their lists; aside from maybe Kevin Spacey who did films like American Beauty and Seven which are part of cult film history.

Let’s cut to the chase, did I like this film? Yes. Did I love this film? Yes. Did I come out drained after all the adrenaline left my body? Yes. Do I want to see it again immediately? Errr, duh. Everything from acting to visuals, editing and soundtrack was on point. There was both originality and cliches but all done successfully, you ignored any flaws or moments of slowness because you were so in the film you just enjoyed being a part of it, clenching the armrests to see who did what next and with what consequences. Saying that though, there went that many flaws, if any, but as usual I am seeing the film in my mind with this holy light like it can do no wrong, my eyes are not fresh enough to be criticising, hence this not being a review.

It took me a long to time to get over the shock that the soundtrack worked; with the main character listening to music pretty much constantly, we were given the sound as an audience to hear what he heard, so the music would be loud and pumping and if someone took out of his headphones the music was quieter but still there in the background as Baby would hear it. And this my friends, ACTUALLY worked. It wasn’t choppy and crammed in, it was used to make that moment full and it did just that. I loved Suicide Squad, but if we are getting another, can someone tell the music guy that THIS is how you do a packed, ever changing soundtrack.

Image Taken from screenrant.com

Like I said at the beginning there isn’t a lot that I can say that hasn’t already be said and if I did this piece would probably be soooooooo long. The way I see it, is this is a movie we needed. Something of this style, humour and violence. Something with an understanding of both narrative and scene and not letting the love story over take or soften the edges of the movie. I have loved a lot of movies that I have seen this year and it’s not up yet, still waiting for Blade Runner 2049, however, it has been a long time since I’ve come out with that deep of a side affect from reaction. This is a movie of gasp moments, over the top car scenes and everything great in between. My biggest fear was that my expectations would be too high, which is hard to not feel when every poster and advert of it around you is pointing out it’s 100% on Rotten Tomatoes. I tried my best to keep them down but it was difficult and they took complete control in the first 30 seconds when the film had me already smiling from ear to ear and getting that tingly feeling in my hands and stomach (and it definitely wasn’t a heart attack or anything)  that this was currently awesome and had every chance to continue to be.

I would definitely recommend this movie for anyone (except maybe children, ya know), it’s exactly want you want it to be and much more and it encompasses the enjoyment of watching a film that many blockbusters have forgotten to try and achieve. Again, if you have read much of Velvet you know I am the kind of person that likes to recommend people to see a movie, even if they hate it, I usually believe you should see it. I hate regret and I’d hate to think of all the people who go through their lives without seeing a certain movie, so please, for MY mental well being, since you are my therapist now; check out Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver.

VF.