Rob Reviews "F1: The Movie"

A wise friend of mine once said about things like premium formats or 3-D treatments that they “don’t make a script better”.  While I get that sentiment and agree for the most part, there are those rare occasions that even the cheesiest of stories or premises that are just more enjoyable when you “watch stuff ‘splode” or throw in some high-octane (pun intended) action.  Such is the case with F1: The Movie.  (And yes, that is how it is presented.)

Apple Studios and Warner Bros. team up on this one with co-writer and director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) on board to tell the story of Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt, who is Robert Redford more and more each year), a racecar driver that still has the fire for the sport in him even thirty years after a Formula One crash almost cost him his life.  These days, he is just kind of roaming the earth (like Kane in Kung Fu), finding places to get behind the wheel no matter where it is.  When he is approached by an old friend in Ruben (Javier Bardem) to come back to the top of the sport and save his team, he has to navigate the ghosts of his past while dealing with the young hotshot driver to the team, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris of Snowfall), and the possibility of the team in dead last place with no points at all in three seasons from completely collapsing.

I got to see this in IMAX format (which it was filmed for), and I have to be honest… WOW.  For a film that runs over two and a half hours, F1: The Movie goes by VERY nicely, blending action and story to a perfect balance.  It does have a couple of syrupy sappy moments, but they are led back into the high stakes racing pretty quickly.

Jerry Bruckheimer also has his name on the credits (which makes sense given who the director is), so you know that the action sequences are going to be pure in-your-face-adrenaline-rushes, and this film is no exception.  With cameras in the cockpit and over the wheels shot masterfully by cinematographer Claudio Miranda (also of Top Gun: Maverick) alongside sound editing that constantly pounded itself through my chest courtesy of the IMAX format, this thing hits the ground running and doesn’t stop until halfway through the end credits.  Add to that an absolute banger of a score from Hans Zimmer and a soundtrack carefully curated to compliment the action (I would have liked more of Bright Lights by Gary Clark, Jr., but that’s just me), I found myself moving to the edge of my chair and leaning towards the screen more often than not.

I’ve said this before and I will say it again: sometimes it’s OK to have a film that is pure escapism, and F1: The Movie fully delivers on that front.  There will be those that are very immersed in the sport that will pick it apart for some of its choices, but when trying to get a film that appeals to a larger audience, liberties can (and will) be taken to get there.  Just enjoy this film for what it is: a sports film that is just pure, unadulterated entertainment.