Baby Driver Blu-ray Review

Baby Driver

Theatrical Release: June 28, 2017 / Running Time: 113 Minutes / Rating: R

Writer/Director: Edgar Wright

Cast: Ansel Elgort (Baby), Kevin Spacey (Doc), Lily James (Debora), Jon Bernthal (Griff), Jon Hamm (Buddy), Jamie Foxx (Bats), Eiza Gonzalez (Darling), Flea (Eddie), Sky Ferreira (Baby's Mom), Lanny Joon (JD), R. Marcus Taylor (Armie), CJ Jones (Joseph)

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Edgar Wright has repeatedly proven himself a versatile and gifted filmmaker. But in his first thirteen years of writing and directing features, he has also established a wheelhouse in accessible, homagey genre British comedies co-written with Simon Pegg and starring Pegg and Nick Frost. The group's Cornetto trilogy of Shaun of the Dead,

Hot Fuzz, and The World's End represents some of the sharpest and most stylish comedies to grace the big screen this century. Wright's first foray outside of that tradition was 2010's Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, an incredibly creative adaptation that fell short of hype-fueled commercial expectations. Wright returns to American soil with Baby Driver, an original crime action caper that is sure to rank among the most acclaimed releases of 2017's first half.

We open with an impressive dialogue-free scene that establishes Baby (Ansel Elgort, The Fault in Our Stars), a young Atlanta man of few words, as a getaway driver in bank robberies. With earbuds connected to an iPod, Baby calmly waits for more menacing colleagues to do the dirty work and then he navigates the escape with the precision of a veteran stunt driver, evading cop cars, dodging spike strips, switching directions, and confusing helicopters in pursuit. Baby doesn't say a lot, but he doesn't have to either. His driving speaks for itself, though his seemingly tuned-out demeanor sometimes annoys the hardened criminals relying on him.

"Baby Driver" stars Ansel Elgort as Baby, a young getaway driver.

Baby isn't in bank robberies for the thrill. He owes money to Doc (Kevin Spacey), an influential boss who values the kid's skills and considers him his good luck charm. Baby's debt is nearly cleared and when it is, he takes a job delivering pizzas. It's work his aging deaf foster father (CJ Jones) appreciates, but not something Doc will let him continue, not while there are more heists and weapons deals to pull off. Baby would rather take joyrides with Debora (Cinderella's Lily James), a diner waitress who catches his eye.

Instead of getting to spend time with her, Baby is forced to keep carting such unpredictable wild cards as Buddy (Jon Hamm), his wife Darling (Eiza González), and Bats (Jamie Foxx), who are all highly capable of killing one another or getting everyone killed.

Baby Driver does not build up to one big heist in a formulaic or inevitable way. There's no way to foresee how this will end and even when you think you know, the movie has more surprises in store for you. Final acts are not necessarily Wright's forte. While Hot Fuzz pretty much nails the landing, The World's End falters. Baby Driver's climax runs a bit long and stretches disbelief. Realism is not the principal force of an Edgar Wright film.

Baby's (Ansel Elgort) work as a getaway driver puts him in close proximity to criminals like Bats (Jamie Foxx), Darling (Eiza González), and Buddy (Jon Hamm).

What you hope for here and what Wright again delivers is an appealing mix of style and substance. From the opening credits' nimble, uncut stroll placing song lyrics on store windows and the like to the parking garage finale from hell, Wright crafts something unique,

creative, interesting, and just plain fun. It's enjoyable to see Hamm playing against type, Foxx and Spacey to type but amplified, and Elgort graduating from the YA fare that until now has defined his young career.

As usual, Wright makes music a key component. In this case, Baby has his earbuds in all the time to drown out the tinnitus brought on by a traumatic childhood experience. Wright operates from the anti-Guardians of the Galaxy playbook, picking pop songs of the past that are esoteric yet suitable. I believe I recognized just two of the dozens of prominently featured songs, and audiences will probably join me in recognizing another two only for having had their beats sampled by House of Pain and Dr. Dre. The effect may be similar to Guardians, leading viewers to discover or, less likely, rediscover songs of yore and now associate them with these new contemporary, cinematic thrills.

While Baby Driver extended Wright's record of critical success, it surprisingly also gave him his first taste of true commercial success, grossing over $100 million domestically (which is more than Wright's first four films combined) and another $119 million in foreign markets, its unusually leggy run seemingly due in large part to old-fashioned word of mouth. As the buzz fades and its genre stylings probably keep it out of most awards races, Baby Driver recently hit home video in Blu-ray, DVD, and 4K Ultra HD versions from Sony Pictures Home Entertainment. We review the first of those editions here.

Baby Driver: Blu-ray + Digital HD cover art -- click to buy from Amazon.com

Blu-ray Disc Details

2.40:1 Widescreen
5.1 DTS-HD MA (English, French), Dolby Digital 5.1 (Spanish, Thai, Descriptive Video Service), Dolby Surround 2.0 (English)
Subtitles: English, English SDH, Cantonese, Chinese Simplified, Chinese Traditional, French, Korean, Spanish, Thai
Not Closed Captioned; Extras Subtitled
Release Date: October 10, 2017
Suggested Retail Price: $34.99
Single-sided, dual-layered disc (BD-50)
Blue Keepcase with Side Snap in Cardboard Slipcover
Also available on DVD ($30.99 SRP), 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray ($45.99 SRP), and on Amazon Instant Video

VIDEO and AUDIO

The union of an Edgar Wright movie and a Sony Blu-ray yields some awfully high expectations, which Baby Driver fortunately meets with its sharp, vibrant 2.40:1 picture and lively 5.1 DTS-HD master audio sound. Sure, if you're buying into 4K Ultra HD, you'll get more bits there, but by Blu-ray standards, this is perfection.

Kevin Spacey makes writer-director Edgar Wright laugh on the set of "Baby Driver." Baby (Ansel Elgort) hears some damning plans in this extended scene.

BONUS FEATURES, MENUS, PACKAGING and DESIGN

A sticker on the cover touts "over 2 hours of high octane special features" and it's closer to about seven hours if you're counting audio commentaries. The Blu-ray's extras begin with two of those.
The first lets writer-director Edgar Wright fly solo. He explains how the movie has been stewing in his mind back since 1995 and how it evolved over those years. He's passionate and amusing, whether he's spoiling Django Unchained, pointing out sight gags, or describing how Mike Myers approved of the mask scene. There are lots of fun facts along the way that make this a rewarding way to rewatch the film.

The second commentary teams Wright with director of photography Bill Pope, for a more technical discussion of the film. There's enough for the two to fill the air, but it feels less than essential listening with the focus expectedly remaining on the visuals.

An Extended & Deleted Scenes section (20:28) consists of eleven sequences. There isn't anything too significant to these, although the dialogue-free version of the ending set to "Easy" does seem better than the one used in the film.

A Behind the Scenes section is made up of six featurettes that total 45 minutes and 15 seconds altogether. They range from the general making-of piece "That's My Baby: Edgar Wright" to "Mozart in a Go-Kart" (about Ansel Elgort's stunt driving lessons), "I Need a Killer Track" (a piece on the music), and one about car chases. It's not as easily digested as one documentary, but the content is good.

Ansel Elgort dances with himself in his second rehearsal. An annotated rehearsal shows how carefully the "Harlem Shuffle" coffee run sequence was planned.

"Selected Scene Animatics" (35:42) are supplied for eight scenes. They add light animation and the film's music soundtrack to the graphic novel-like storyboard drawings with CGI elements and occasional live-action test and stunt rehearsal footage spliced in. They're probably something you'd be inclined to sample rather than endure in full.

The fun Rehearsals & Pre-Production (17:03) serves up Ansel Elgort's second audition (which sees the actor lip-synching by a mirror to the Commodores' "Easy", a song that his knowledge of got the movie prominently inserted into the film), an annotated rehearsal of the "Harlem Shuffle" coffee run, and hair/make-up/costume tests set to excerpts of soundtrack songs.

Noel Fielding plays a getaway driver in Edgar Wright's 2003 music video for Mint Royale's "Blue Song." The complete storyboard gallery lets you view the film in black and white drawings.

The Wright-directed 2003 music video for Mint Royale's "Blue Song" (4:15) is included as something that clearly inspired Baby Driver. It features Noel Fielding ("The Mighty Boosh") as a getaway driver picking out the perfect song for his Discman as his colleagues rob a bank. It's a fun inclusion and the kind of thing you'd expect to find more on a Criterion disc than a Sony one.

A Complete Storyboard Gallery lets you see the whole film in black and white previsualization drawings, which are more polished than storyboards usually are. The hundreds (thousands?) of drawings are presented in four different galleries.

High praise touts the movie in these kindly preserved TV spots. Danger Mouse, Big Boi, and Run the Jewels dress like bank robbers in the "Chase Me" music video.

A Promos & More section holds 21 minutes and 10 seconds of video, starting with three full trailers and proceeding to include a music video for "Chase Me" by
Danger Mouse featuring Run the Jewels and Big Boi and 13 rave review-quoting TV spots. Since Sony discs regularly exclude trailers, this is welcome and these ads will only seem cooler with age.

Finally, "Previews" repeats the disc-opening trailers for Spider-Man: Homecoming, Rough Night (red band), Life (red band), T2 Trainspotting, The Dark Tower, and Ansel Elgort's November Criminals. It doesn't repeat the tease for Baby Driver bonus features that follows them at the head of the disc.

The tastefully scored menu loops clips and moves around the poster art.

The disc, which neatly features a car spinning out on a record, is joined by a Digital HD insert in the slipcovered, side-snapped keepcase.

Baby (Ansel Elgort) shares with Buddy (Jon Hamm) one of the earbuds he uses to drown out tinnitus with tunes.

CLOSING THOUGHTS

Baby Driver remains one of 2017's most enjoyable films. An appealing blend of style and substance, this action flick shows Edgar Wright is capable of more than just British spoofs and is one of the most talented filmmakers working today. Sony's Blu-ray delights with its feature presentation and piles on enough good extras to make this a no-brainer recommendation.

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Blu-ray + Digital HD / DVD / 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray + Digital HD / Instant Video