Year: 2017
Director: Edgar Wright

Let’s skip to the end – I loved the fuck out of this.

This was the film that Edgar Wright was always destined to make given the breaks and the budget. A smart funny sassy flick, stuffed with pop culture references and a soundtrack intrinsic to the action.

The titular lead, young Ansel Elgort as Baby is cocksure and focused whether as a super skilled getaway driver or swaggering down the street in the beautifully choreographed opening sequence to Bob & Earl’s ‘Harlem Shuffle’. If there was no more to his character than this he would soon become an annoying little git. However as we slowly learn more about him, why his connection to music is so strong and the hold that criminal boss Doc (Kevin Spacey in excellent form) has over him.

Waitress and doll, Debora, literally sings her way into his heart and becomes his reason to quit. But, yes you guessed it, it’s not that easy to leave the criminal world now he has something to care about.

From the off the film has its own frenetic style and for narrative reasons a constant eclectic soundtrack which serves and is echoed in the image on screen. From John Spencer Blues Explosion to the Beach Boys and Focus to Beck it’s follows and drives the film in equal measure.
It’s use of a nerds choice Queen track is inspired.

John Hamm as Buddy with his moll, Darling are pure Bonnie & Clyde and Jamie Fox truly menacing as batty Bats. Acted and shot with such join de vitreous that it may annoy some as much as thrill but you would be wrong – this is what an action film should be.

Put simply Edgar has made a film that Danny from Hot Fuzz would have in pride of place in his DVD collection.

Might appeal to people who enjoyed:

That first rush film gave you when you were a kid. More fun than a barrel load of funky monkeys