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Chad Reviews "Baby Driver"

Chad Womack

We are a society that has become obsessed with speed to the point that it has become prevalent in almost every aspect of everyday life. Whether it be the faster processor in our laptops, the higher speed connection for our internet, the get it done yesterday attitude with anything work or service related, and, of course, EVERYTHING to do with cars, the car culture has taken such a massive slice of the pie that it’s left little room for anything else. With the massive popularity of NASCAR, the popular BBC series “Top Gear”, and film franchises like Disney/Pixar’s “Cars” and the Are-We-Honestly-On-Chapter-EIGHT-of-this-series “Fast and the Furious”, it shows no sign of waning in popularity regardless of what seems to be a sacrifice of quality. However, every now and then we get a film the likes of “Mad Max: Fury Road” that completely wows us with what a filmmaker and some amazingly talented gearheads can do in front of a camera. Director Edgar Wright had a germ of an idea back in 2003 when directing a music video for Mint Royale in which a getaway driver, obsessed with his music, times the heist with his crew as they knock over a bank with a song he’s jamming to in the car which birthed Wright’s latest film, “Baby Driver”.

This is the story of Baby (Ansel Elgort), an incredibly talented getaway driver for a rotating crew of criminals led by mastermind named Doc (Kevin Spacey), with whom Baby is indebted to. After a childhood trauma leaves Baby with a case of tinnitus, he escapes the ever present ringing in his ears by drowning it out with his eclectic music collection. Along the way, he meets and falls for Debora (Lily James), a waitress at a local diner that catches his eye and captures his heart, encouraging to leave his life of crime behind. Unfortunately for Baby, things aren’t that simple, and simply walking away, isn’t an option.

To say that this film was an overwhelmingly pleasant surprise might be the biggest understatement of the year. As much of a fan of the “Cornetto Trilogy” as I am, I always look forward to anything that Edgar Wright is involved in as it usually lends it instant credibility to me. The lengths that he goes to here to constantly amaze and entertain the audience are practically beyond compare. Opening with a car chase that most filmmakers would save for the climax of a film is just one in a series of bold moves that Wright employs, as well as using the soundtrack of the film to constantly help propel the narrative in absolutely brilliant fashion, meshing the audio and visual so creatively it defies description. There’s so much to love about this film, I could go on for days, and all I could think at the end was remembering the first time I saw “Die Hard” because basically, I had extremely low expectations going in, having no idea what was in store for me followed by being completely awestruck as the credits rolled. This is an instant classic and belongs at the top of the heap in not just Wright’s filmography, but in the genre itself.

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