Baby Driver (2017) film review

Year: 2017
Running Time: 112 minutes
Director/ Writer: Edgar Wright
Cast: Ansel Elgort, Kevin Spacey, Lily James, Jon Hamm, Jamie Foxx, Eiza Gonzalez, Jon Bernthal, Flea, Lanny Joon, CJ Jones

Baby Driver is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed by Sony Pictures.

Edgar Wright's magnum opus, Baby Driver is the action packed cinematic dance that has shattered it's genre confines with it's creativity, originality and it's creator's obvious passion.

From the very beginning, Baby Driver is demanding of your full attention and there is nothing dissatisfying about this. The film opens with Ansel Elgort's Baby pulling his car up outside of an Atlanta bank, ready for his passengers to begin their heist. The heist soon turns into an high speed car chase as they speed away from the bank with "Bellbottoms" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion playing loudly. Not only is this the best opening scene you will see this year, but it sets the tone for the film perfectly and gives you a taste of what to expect.

Wright's film is the result of a long time passion project that has finally seen the light of day and is anything but self-indulgent in the way that filmmakers passion projects can often be. This action film with his unmistakable brand on comedy is by no means a traditional film. While most films have a soundtrack to accompany it, Baby Driver is a story told by means of it's soundtrack. Each scene is carefully choreographed to the song that it is accompanying and it is a joy to watch how Wright has directed these scenes, especially the "Hocus Pocus" chase scene, "Tequila" shoot-out and explosive "Brighton Rock" scene.

The visuals and cinematography are also particularly Wright-esque with close-ups on objects as they are utilised, which fits perfectly with the rhythmic feel of the film.  Baby Driver also uses these objects and the soundtrack as symbols to mix the modern with the nostalgic at various points throughout the film. As Baby listens to "Harlem Shuffle" by Bob & Earl as he gets coffee for his accomplices, the film has a particularly 1970's feel about it. Throughout the film, we see items such as a Polaroid camera and an iPod in the same scene which is a contradiction of time periods. We also see Baby listen to vinyls and tapes, but also listen to his iPod continuously. All of these images make Baby Driver into a film that will remain timeless, as it combines the old and the new rather than working with one specific time period.

While music is a major driving force (excuse the pun) behind the film, Baby Driver focuses a great deal more on character than any other of Wright's films before it. There is not one character in the film that the viewer feels they do not know at least a little about (the only exception here being Jon Bernthal's Griff). The lead character of Baby is exceptionally fleshed out, with not a doubt being left as to who he is, what his motives are and what lies behind the quiet exterior. We come to know him and experience his ordeal with him.

One of the most interesting things about the film is how unexpected character reversals take place. Baby Driver isn't completely unpredictable, but what is unpredictable is the direction certain characters take. The people you believe are going to be the villains turn out to be the good guys and the good guys turn into the bad guys. Jon Hamm's Buddy and Kevin Spacey's Doc are perfect examples of this.

Yet, perhaps the most interesting character is that of Darling, as portrayed by Eiza Gonzalez in her breakout performance. Although her exterior may be perceived by some people to be the opposite of feministic, she could well be the strongest person in the film. As well as being his wife, Darling is Buddy's femme fatale and the Bonnie to his Clyde. Not only that, but she is his strength and she keeps him grounded. There is no doubt that Buddy is a dangerous human being, but he is far less dangerous with Darling around. And if she asks him to do something, he will do it. Darling also refuses to be intimidated by anybody else, which at the end of the day has nothing to do with her husband. She's an incredibly strong character and more emotionally in control than any other character in the film. 

Baby Driver is highly entertaining and often confronting with it's insane car chase and action sequences, but it is definitely not a straight forward genre film by any means. It is an incredibly unique production that breaks down barriers and is a stunning cinematic work of art.

8.5/10

The Divergent Series- Allegiant (2016) film review

Year: 2016
Running Time: 120 minutes
Director: Robert Schwentke
Writers: Veronica Roth (novel), Noah Oppenheim, Adam Cooper and Bill Collage (screenplay)
Cast: Shailene Woodley, Theo James, Jeff Bridges, Miles Teller, Ansel Elgort, Naomi Watts, Octavia Spencer, Zoe Kravitz, Maggie Q

Allegiant is now showing in cinemas everywhere and is distributed in Australia by Entertainment One.

The biggest problem that the third film in the Divergent series, Allegiant faces is it's existence. This film that is filled with flaws exists only out of necessity considering the series has begun and must now be finished, which is particular worrying for the final instalment to be released in 2017, Ascendant.

Those who have read the books by Veronica Roth will know that the first book, Divergent starts the series in spectacular style, with the following two not able to follow in the original's footsteps. The same thing is happening with the films. They are progressively becoming less entertaining, enjoyable and successful overall. Allegiant is incredibly weak and does not have the ability to excite or provoke anticipation for the finale. What it does do is make one believe that Insurgent should have been the final film because even though it was definitely more entertaining, it did not have a strong cliff-hanger ending which made people look forward to the next two films.

With Jeanine now dead and the world of factions now at an end, it would seem that Chicago would now be at peace. However, the brutality continues and Jeanine's legacy seems to be carrying on in her absence. Divergents, Tris (Shailene Woodley) and her boyfriend, Four (Theo James) decide to escape this new Chicago by climbing the wall to see if the rest of the world can offer them solace. However, what is on the other side of the wall is not the peaceful world they were expecting nor that it is pretending to be.

The Divergent series (both the books and movies) draw much of their inspiration from other teen fiction film adaptations. Thanks to the Harry Potter series where the final book was split into two movies, both The Hunger Games and Divergent series have attempted to do the same based on it's success. One can understand why this would be a profitable venture for production and distribution companies when the series already has a massive fan base or the previous films have been extremely successful. Of course, the final book in a series does often have the most happening in it so having it split across two films also solves the problem of squishing as much information as possible into an appropriate running time.

The difference between Harry Potter and both The Hunger Games and Divergent was that it wasn't decided until late in series of films (which admittedly is a series with more films anyway) that Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows would be divided into two parts, while the other two series made this decision after the first film. Focusing primarily on Divergent, the series has really not taken off the way the film makers would have hoped and like the books, it is losing momentum with each film. The decision to make the book "Allegiant" into two films is now more than likely a fatal one as far as the film makers are concerned. Allegiant does not make the final film enticing to anyone and it is almost painful acknowledging that there is still another film to go after this.

Even if you have not read "Allegiant" and have only heard that it is the weakest book in the Veronica Roth series, one can still understand why. Allegiant feels as though it is far removed from the two previous movies and like a completely different story rather than a continuation of Divergent and Insurgent. There are absolutely links between with the past films and quite a few viewers who have not seen the previous films will not understand them, but the story itself doesn't feel as though it neatly connects to Insurgent. This is perhaps because the end of Insurgent felt so final without a clean cut cliff-hanger that the beginning of Allegiant is met with a feeling of "Oh, here we go again..." With this feeling, it is hard to take anything seriously in this monotonous film.

However, it is not just the story that feels weak, the visual aspects of Allegiant are quite awful. Slow motion is used to no benefit in a number of scenes and provokes more eye-rolls than feeling of awe. One of the worst parts about Allegiant is an issue which is a deal-breaker for any action film in this day and age. As this is a dystopian film, the majority of it is obviously filmed on green screen, but you should not be able to tell this by watching the film and it is a crime that the use of a green screen is obvious. Many of the special effects also come across as unrealistic. These things could be forgiven had Allegiant been a low budget film, but with a budget of $100 million this is far from the case. Only a tad of the production design of Chicago is somewhat impressive.

Much of the acting talent in this film is being wasted, particularly that of Shailene Woodley and Miles Teller. The two of them are of considerable talent which has been seen in their past films and the past two Divergent films, but their roles of Tris and Peter are not written to be as meaty as what they should have been. Tris lacks the courageous and strong personality we have come to know and Peter is basically repeating the same character patterns that he did in the past two films and becoming rather annoying in the process.

Naomi Watts as Four's mother, Evelyn probably isn't given enough to do in the film to make enough of an impact, but her scene with Four's father, Marcus (portrayed by Ray Stevenson) is particularly memorable for the hard emotion she shows in it. Casting Jeff Bridges as David was a rather awful decision as the character is supposed to assert authority over all he meets and be rather domineering and menacing, yet he comes across purely goofy. Every time he says the name "Tris" it is a moment that calls for unintentional laughter.

It is not often that a final film in a series is met with a feeling of dread and not excitement and anticipation, yet that is exactly how Allegiant makes us feel about Ascendant. This extremely flawed film is almost the kiss of death for the series' next film, but one can only hope that there is no way it can get worse than this.

3/10