A car’s tyre rolls into view. Car doors slam. Three figures emerge from the vehicle and suddenly music starts playing as behind the wheel, Baby (Ansel Elgort) is in perfect sync with the music. Gunfire can be heard in the background. Yet the ironically baby-faced Baby shows no sign of recognising the havoc. Perhaps an early technique used by director Edgar Wright to suggest that the film’s ensuing chaos will not change this character’s essence.
Unlike past action movies, Wright’s Baby Driver is without frills and despite dealing with the familiar trope of good versus evil, manages to explore this storyline in a decidedly unfamiliar way.
Immediately the fast paced action is matched by the quickly developing storyline as the viewer learns that Baby is working as a getaway driver to repay his debt to crime plot director Doc, played by Kevin Spacey.
Photo: Forbes
A sequence of flashbacks and jokes made by Doc’s team of criminals, played by Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx and Eiza Gonzalez, shows that music has always been an integral part of Baby’s life. These glimpses of the main character compounded with the omnipresent use of music throughout the film, suggests Wright’s intentions lie in exploring the idea of music as Baby’s sanctuary, a way to maintain innocence despite being heavily embroiled in an illegal world.
The idea of innocence is further explored through the relationship between Baby and Debora (Lily James). Debora’s nature and their attraction to each other serves to make Baby’s real life, away from fast cars and crime, more imaginable.
Wright succeeds in developing a believable world for his main character. However, the action element of the film falls into using the clichéd ‘one last job’ narrative, as well as stereotypical depictions of the bad guys, highlighted through the portrayal of Foxx as the crazy delinquent and Gonzalez as the femme fatal criminal.
As the film progresses and plans go awry, Baby’s use of music as escapism allows him to perform illegal acts in the heat of the moment without losing himself in the process. Making Wright’s rendition of a stereotypical arc, anything but.
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