Baby Driver

It wasn’t so long ago that Edgar Wright voiced some misgivings about the business of sequels, saying “I guess I would rather be telling new stories than revisiting old ones.” But in that very same interview, he emphasized that he has no hard-and-fast rules for how he chooses projects, and that if reviving an established property felt natural and creatively productive, he wouldn’t rule out the possibility. He batted around the idea of following up on cop-parody Hot Fuzz back then, and now today, he’s reignited fan murmurs of an entry into sequeldom with Baby Driver.

It’s the moment you’ve all been waiting for, Edgar Wright fans: did the filmmaker’s action-packed Baby Driver score big with audiences? Or does this weekend belong to sequels, sequels, and more sequels? This weekend was always going to belong to Despicable Me 3— it’s a big hit with the kiddos, don’t you know— but there’s definitely some room for optimism in how the rest of the weekend Top 10 shook out. Here’s the numbers as of Sunday afternoon:

The staff of ScreenCrush picks the ten best movies of the first half of the year - did your favorite make the cut?

You know an Edgar Wright film when you see one, even if Simon Pegg isn’t nearby — the distinctive (and often heartfelt) sense of humor, the impressive editing, the momentum, and the predictably awesome soundtrack, all working in time to deliver a film that’s remarkably poignant for such a well-oiled machine. Baby Driver might not be quite what you’re expecting from the director of Scott Pilgrim and Shaun of the Dead, and yet it’s entirely what you’re hoping to see. Despite some of its unexpected qualities and low-key visual style, it is perhaps the most Edgar Wright film to date.

Wright’s long-awaited follow-up to The World’s End stars Ansel Elgort as a talented getaway driver who relies on the beat of his personal soundtrack to enhance his skills. Inspired by heist films like Point Break and The Driver (obviously), Baby Driver is not a musical in the conventional sense, but one in which the action (like its titular character, whose name really is Baby) is driven by diegetic sound — in this case, it’s music. I spoke with Wright about all of this and much more during his recent trip to Austin, where he was the surprise guest at a special screening to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Alamo Drafthouse, a theater that holds a very special place in his heart. Our 10-minute interview quickly morphed into 20 because, as Wright himself would tell you, the man can talk.

Edgar Wright is a pro at creating fun, interesting characters in his movies, and the dynamics between those characters make his films as fantastic as they are. The Cornetto Trilogy had the unstoppable charm of Simon Pegg and Nick Frost, but even without the benefit of two actors who have been friends forever, Baby Driver is home to a host of engaging, fascinating players. A new featurette introduces us to two of them.

Edgar Wright’s action movie pseudo-musical Baby Driver has perhaps one of the best movie soundtracks in recent memory, with a script effectively built around the music itself. Which is why a remix from one such as accomplished DJ Mike Relm is only appropriate.

Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver is going to be like nothing you’ve ever seen or heard before. Not only does it have a stellar soundtrack, the movie itself was built around its own music. Car doors slamming, keys turning, guns firing all had to be precisely timed to fit with whatever song would be playing over the action once the film was all cut together, and a new featurette explains just how complicated that was to do.

While the first trailers for Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver have hinted at the relationship between music and action in the film, a few fans are probably still wondering why so many critics have referred to the film as a “car chase musical.” Do characters actually burst out into song in the middle of the film? Should we expect dance numbers in the middle of a bank robbery? The trailers for Baby Driver have been very good, of course, but they also hint at a more traditional care chase movie, albeit one with an Edgar Wright twist. What’s the real deal?

Baby Driver, about a getaway driver named Baby whose tinnitus prompts him to carry an iPod everywhere to distract himself from the noise, is Edgar Wright’s love letter to music. And his particular brand of music seems to be the best kind of toe-tappin’, finger-snappin’, rock ‘n’ roll that’s liable to give both Guardians of the Galaxy mixtapes a run for their money. At last, the full tracklist has been released, so set up your Spotify playlist accordingly.