Review Round-Up: Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver

I’ve been a fan of Edgar Wright ever since I first saw Spaced, a short-lived British sitcom that is both a brilliant post-modern ode to pop culture and one of the smartest, funniest shows I’ve ever seen. Since then, the man’s directed a slew of excellent films, including The World’s End, Hot Fuzz, and Shaun of the Dead (his so-called “Three Flavours Cornetto” trilogy). Needless to say, his upcoming Baby Driver is one of my most anticipated films of 2017.

The film, which stars Ansel Elgort as a skilled getaway driver named Baby who’s pulled in for one last job (of course), debuted at this year’s SXSW Film Festival to universal acclaim.

Peter Martin, “BABY DRIVER, Grand Entertainment on a Funny, Thrilling Ride”:

For fans of car-chase movies, Baby Driver is aces, slamming into Walter Hill greatness territory with an energetic variety of top-notch action and invention. For everyone else, Baby Driver is simply grand entertainment.

Meredith Borders, “SXSW Review: You Can Dance To BABY DRIVER”:

It’s got the coolest energy, a fuel source that goes beyond the adrenaline of the car chase and gunplay scenes — though those scenes are astonishing. There’s no chance of thinking of anything else during Baby Driver’s action. It’s too deliberate, too present. Every moment is coherent and riveting, with no CGI in sight. It’s true that no other scene really matches those opening ten minutes, but that’s only because there aren’t many scenes in any movie that match the opening ten minutes of Baby Driver. Even when it’s not being the coolest damn movie you’ve ever seen, it’s still pretty damn cool.

John DeFore, “ ‘Baby Driver’: Film Review | SXSW 2017″:

A movie-as-mixtape with few slots available for catch-your-breath downtempo tracks, Edgar Wright’s rollicking Baby Driver is a Gone in 60 Seconds for the La La Land crowd, a True Romance that relishes the long wait before its young lovers can finally go on the lam. A crime-flick love story as Pop-conscious as Wright’s earlier work but unironic about its romantic core, it will delight the director’s fans but requires no film-geek certification; given smart marketing, it should connect easily with multiplex auds.

Bryan Bishop, “Baby Driver is the ultimate expression of Edgar Wright’s madcap creative genius”:

Baby Driver is exhilarating, fantastically entertaining, and mildly frustrating, all at the same time. Wright’s directorial execution has never been better, and he’s able to construct chase sequences that put the Fast and Furious series to shame. (One note I jotted down during the opening sequence: “sickest drift EVER.”) And when it comes to quirky reveals, clever transitions, and bringing a sense of kinetic energy to every frame, there is simply no filmmaker that can match Wright.

Finally, no less an expert than William Friedkin, who filmed one of the most iconic car chases ever in The French Connection, had this to say about the film:

Baby Driver arrives in U.S. theaters on June 28. Watch the international trailer, which features some truly excellent usage of Golden Earring’s “Radar Love,” below.