Edgar Wright, who was previously responsible for the Cornetto trilogy and Scott Pilgrim vs. The World, walked around for years with the idea of making a film where everything revolved around music as much as possible. He has previously done something like that in Shaun of the Dead, in which all actions were performed to the rhythm of a Queen song, but did not yet do so on a larger scale.
The idea of a getaway driver who did everything to music is something he had for ages, which he already realized as a video for “Blue Song” by Mint Royale. When you compare the opening of Baby Driver (which is also in this review) to that video, the similarities are clear.
But what exactly is the movie about? Baby (Ansel Elgort) has worked for years as a driver during bank robberies for Doc (Kevin Spacey). He does that to pay a debt to him and his last assignment seems to be in sight. Baby stands out, because he is always listening to music. The reason for this is that he has a constant ringing in his ears and music helps him not to hear that. At the same time it is the soundtrack of his life, with him performing almost everything to the beat.
As he prepares to leave his criminal life, he meets Debora (Lily James) and the two fall in love. For his last job, the team is chosen, but because of the unpredictable Bats (a great role by Jamie Foxx) it is questionable whether the robbery can be carried out successfully.
The opening of the film is tight and Wright has some other nice moments in store that play with music. Although it is all edited on the rhythms it is not always tight enough (the aforementioned scene in Shaun of the Dead or the Atomic Blonde trailer do it better). The story itself is not that special and you really watch the film for its action moments. The end result is a nice movie, but not one that is memorable enough.
