Baby Driver

Movie Name: Baby Driver
Year of Release: 2017

Director: Edgar Wright

Stars: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Jon Hamm, Lily James, Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez, Sky Ferreira, Jon Bernthal, Sky Ferreira, Flea, Paul Williams, Hal Whiteside

Genre: Action, Crime

Score out of ten (whole numbers only): 4
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Synopsis:

Following his public split from the "Ant Man" project with Marvel Studios, writer and director Edgar Wright decided to tackle a project he had been working on since the 90s. "Baby Driver" follows the story of Baby, a young man who's been an orphan since he was a young boy following a violent car crash that killed both of his parents. Baby is an expert driver, working on different heists for a gentleman by the name of Doc, who holds some power over him. Baby has a strong affinity for music, since it also mutes a hearing issue he has, something that makes him use his headsets all the time. After a successful heist he meets Debra, a waitress at a diner, and they both fall in love with each other. That is just the needed motivation for Baby to move one with his life, but Doc has other plans.
Edgar Wright has managed thus far to create an eclectic and vibrant work portfolio. After his "Cornetto Trilogy" (comprised of the features "Shaun of the Dead", "Hot Fuzz" and "The World's End") and the comic book adaptation "Scott Pilgrim vs. The World", he has tackled with "Baby Driver" an original screenplay of his own. The film, unlike the previous ones however, is neither as successful nor as memorable. Wright has always been able to marry a deftness for understanding pop culture, with humor and a stylistic approach that makes his films so unique and always interesting. "Baby Driver" anchors itself in the relationship of music with action scenes precisely choreographed. Sadly the film is never really a musical (how interesting it would have been to really go fully blown musical, much like Lars Von Trier did with "Dancer in the Dark"), and not really a believable action film (the heists themselves are simplistic and the film in general lacks a certain dose of story building to make them compelling and suspenseful, much like what Christopher Nolan did in the first instances of "The Dark Knight"). What ends up happening with this film is an amalgamation of stunt scenes with good music selection, with a cast that is either cast appropriately but unsurprisingly (Kevin Spacey) and others just not charismatic enough (Ansel Elgort). It's not a step backwards, but it doesn't add much to the work and promise this director has.