Baby Driver (2017)

With the year 2017 slowly becoming one of the worst in terms of film making quality, director Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead) comes and surprises me once again. 'Baby Driver' stars Ansel Elgort as the titular 'Baby' a getaway driver for various bank robbers who all work for Kevin Spacey's Doc. As a young child, Baby got into an auto accident leaving him with a constant ringing in his ear that can only be drowned out by his multi track iPod. Music plays the most important aspect of not just the film's story, but the entire film's structure as well. Every single sound effect, every single action done on film is in sync with Baby's iPod tracklist and it's by far the most impressive sound design in at least a decade. If this flick doesn't get an Academy Award for Sound Design, then something's wrong with the Academy because without it this wouldn't be the killer film it is.

With that being said, the film does have a constant flaw and that is other than a choice few every character is completely abhorrent and irredeemably horrible leaving you feel somewhat unable to invest in the film at times. While this is relatively minor as it is a deliberate maneuver by Wright to help you sympathize with Baby, I would have enjoyed having a little extra exposition sprinkled in with some villains, particularly Spacey whose character had some deal with Baby from the start however we never get to really hear or see what their relationship really is beyond a few scenes of dialogue. It leaves the character development relatively dry but with the rest of the film being so damned impressive it's really hard to pay attention to these flaws because I was having too much fun that never stops.

'Baby Driver' is one of the best movies I've seen this year and in a year of 90% crap, it's nice to see something special like this come along to brighten my day. It takes something old and makes it new again without resorting to cheap tricks. It's the right way to make a heist movie and it really reminds fans of Edgar Wright and this genre why they love his work in the first place. He is a true talent in the industry and I bow to him now. Also, be sure to pick up the film's amazing soundtrack which is the major gear in the whole machine.

(A-)