Review: ‘Baby Driver’ is a fun, wild ride (+trailer)

Director Edgar Wright likes to make waves in the movie genre pool.

In his better films, he splashed comedy all over the zombie genre in “Shaun of the Dead” and made a whirlpool of satire with the buddy cop/action genre in “Hot Fuzz.” He somehow makes fun of the genres he swims in while also celebrating them.

He does it again with “Baby Driver,” though this time makes a belly flop of the heist genre. This is the most original, surprising and smart action movie of the year. In just one word, it’s downright cool.

And it knows it. Or rather, everyone in the film seems to know it. But it all works.

Perfectly baby-faced Ansel Elgort (from “The Fault in Our Stars” and the “Divergent” movies) stars as the titular Baby, who is, well, also the titular driver.

He’s a driver for heists at the command of Doc (an always effortlessly snide Kevin Spacey), who orchestrates robberies but never uses the same crew twice. Except Baby, who is indebted to Doc somehow. But he has just one more job to fulfill and then he’s free – or so he thinks. He pulls it off with ease and makes a lot of money.

Then he meets Debora (a dazzling Lily James of “Cinderella”), a waitress at a local diner. They hit it off swimmingly.

And that gives fuel for Doc to recruit Baby for yet another job, against Baby’s wishes. Your girlfriend’s pretty, Doc tells him. “Let’s keep it that way.”

Baby gets teamed with the psychotic Bats (Jamie Foxx, doing evil well) and the married team of Buddy (Jon Hamm) and Darling (Eiza Gonzalez) for a high-stakes robbery.

But, alas, things don’t go as planned. Do they ever? And when Baby gets in over his head, he must figure out how to survive and save Debora.

Though the film isn’t technically a musical, it is a very musical film. The music is almost a character unto itself, with a vibrant soundtrack that includes everything from the Beach Boys to Queen to the Jon Spencer Blues Explosion. Wright also wrote the script, and uses the music to drive the narrative in smart and surprising ways.

He also keeps the pace quick. And choreographs action car chase sequences that leave “The Fast and the Furious” in the dust.

The performances are all top-notch, particularly by Elgort, who looks too innocent at first but reveals a darker side when he has to. Hamm is also particularly captivating, convincingly playing against type as a bad guy. And Foxx makes you downright hate him.

James doesn’t actually have a lot to do, but her radiance adds a lot to the story.

The film’s sleek tone does get darker as it goes along, though, so be warned. And it gets violent, but it all comes with the territory – and that’s what “Baby Driver” knows best. It coolly revels in the action genre playground. It’s clever, funny, exciting and yet, somehow sweet.

It’s an exhilarating burst of much-needed energy in this year’s crop of summer movies. This is the summer movie we’ve been waiting for.

So buckle up, because “Baby Driver” is a wild, fun ride.

This story was originally published June 28, 2017 at 6:22 PM with the headline "Review: ‘Baby Driver’ is a fun, wild ride (+trailer)."