Baby Driver

Saw Baby Driver the other day, while I don't often like musicals, I do love movies that emphasize the music in them, it's one reason I loved Guardians of the Galaxy so much, the soundtrack was part of the movie and just as important a character as any of those with a physical form.

Baby Driver is very much in that vein, it's basically a heist movie featuring cars, the titular main character has tinnitus from a car accident as a child and therefore plays music pretty constantly to drown it out, he works for Kevin Spacey, paying off a debt, and in general outlines the story is pretty familiar, he thinks he's out, but he is called back for one last job, things go awry. There is a love interest, you know the drill.

It is the details, and the soundtrack, that make it, what we hear is what he hears, the soundtrack is entirely part of the movie and the scenes are synced to the music, from action scenes to walking around, if you pay attention everything happens to the rhythm. It makes things flow really well actually and is fun to watch.

The characters are refreshing, no new ground is really tread in this heist movie, but the villains, if the word means anything in a movie where 90% of the characters, including the hero, are criminals, the villains are surprisingly well rounded, with character building moments worked easily into the scenes while other stuff is happening rather than just sort of vomited out at you, often music is again used to facilitate this, when the main character listens to music constantly, it is natural that the others will ask about it, and ask about songs, sharing info back and forth naturally.

The action scenes are all well done, supported again by the music, our hero is not a fighter, he drives cars well, and unlike some movies that means he actually doesn't really know how to kick people in the head or fire guns akimbo pistols, he is suspiciously good at parkour, but other than that he belongs behind the wheel of a car, this means that when he is confronted by dangers outside of it, they feel believable, and since it is a heist movie it actually does feel like the various skills of the characters are all needed.

Great car chases, some of the best in recent memory, and yes I include the Fast and Furious franchise here.

All in all, this flick isn't going to change film making forever, or even your life, but it is fun, well paced, and doesn't insult your intelligence. It also isn't a gritty drama nor filled with world altering threats. It is just a good experience.