Directed by Edgar Wright (of “Shaun of the Dead”, “Hot Fuzz”, and “The World’s End” fame), “Baby Driver” is an action comedy film that follows Baby, a young getaway driver who is coerced into working for a kingpin.
While flicks of this genre are a dime a dozen, “Baby Driver” is shaping up to be one of our this year’s must watch! Why, you ask? Here are 10 things you probably didn’t know about “Baby Driver”, just to get you a tad excited 😉
1. It has been brewing for more than 2 decades
Yeap, it has been a long time coming. Edgar Wright has had the idea to make “Baby Driver” since 1994, when The Jon Spencer Blues Explosions’ “Orange” album was released. Edgar heard “Bellbottoms”, a song off the “Orange” album, and it set him off on a major brainstorm. In fact, “Bellbottoms” plays in the opening scene of “Baby Driver”.
“I listened to that song a lot. And I just started visualising this car chase. At the time, I wasn’t necessarily (saying), ‘This is a movie I’m gonna make.’ But it was almost like the closest thing to having action-movie synesthesia, (where) I would listen to that song and imagine this car chase. And then it’s like, what is the story that goes with these visuals? So the idea that started it all off was: Maybe a getaway driver is listening to this song, and he’s actually trying to time out his getaways and literally have the perfect score for the perfect score. So I would say Jon Spencer and the album “Orange” inspired me to make this movie,” Edgar told Variety.
You should expect a car-chase movie set to rock and roll 😉
2. There were also 10 movies that inspired “Baby Driver”
No joke! Edgar Wright himself confirmed this.
In speaking to /FILM about “Baby Driver”, Edgar said, “What I did with this season is I picked movies that had car chases of my youth. So there are not as many recent ones because I capped it where I started making movies myself, which was around 1994. I chose the car chases that really inspired me when I was younger. Because I had the original idea for ‘Baby Driver’ in 1995 so I was thinking about the films up until that point.”
The movies that he was talking about are: “Bullitt” (1968), “The Italian Job” (1969), “The French Connection” (1971), “Vanishing Point” (1971), “Dirty Mary, Crazy Larry” (1974), “Freebie and the Bean” (1974), “Smokey and the Bandit” (1977), “The Driver” (1978), “The Blues Brothers” (1980), and “To Live and Die in LA” (1985).
3. It boasts a pretty impressive cast!
In case you haven’t noticed, “Baby Driver” boasts a talented ensemble of actors, more so than any of Edgar’s previous films. The movie stars Oscar winners Kevin Spacey and Jamie Foxx, Emmy winner Jon Hamm, underrated gem Jon Bernthal, and rising star Ansel Elgort, among others.
Kevin Spacey plays Doc, a domineering crime boss who favours Baby (played by Ansel Elgort) as a getaway driver for his heists. But Baby has tinnitus, a result of the car crash that killed his parents when he was young. So he listen to music to help and that habit not only alleviates his handicap, it also makes him a monster behind the wheel. Doc’s revolving door of accomplices includes terrifying thief Buddy (played by Jon Hamm). Let’s not forget Griff (played by Jon Bernthal) and a mentally imbalanced crook named Bats (played by Jamie Foxx).
It’s gonna be epic.
4. The stunts are worth paying very, very close attention to
The right action choreography, the right cars, and the right stunt team had to be in place. Edgar Wright and 3 different storyboard artists began the process by drawing the car chase sequences, then turning them into animatics that provided a rough animation of how they would play out. When it came to deciding what cars to use, Edgar didn’t want expensive or tricked out ones – he wanted practical for a bank robber’s purposes. So he researched the most stolen cars in America and determined the heist cars with that concept in mind.
Main unit stunt coordinator Darrin Prescott also revealed that they kept it as real as possible. “This was such an exciting project to take on, it’s so different in regards to the driving for a couple of reasons. Edgar is incredibly collaborative and has allowed and welcomed our stunt team to develop and choreograph these stunts and driving sequences with a lot of freedom. We’ve also tried to keep all the driving real. There have been no visual effects in our driving,” he said.
We’re keeping our wide eyes open for those scenes!
5. “Baby Driver” is music to your ears – literally
Music does play a big part in making or breaking a movie. And it is without a doubt, the soundtrack to “Baby Driver” will keep you wanting more!
“..the songs are used creatively, and they’re also very foregrounded. So I would think that some of these songs would get picked up quite a lot (for future usage). It’s not the kind of standard thing where you hear five seconds of an intro and then it’s dipped down under dialogue. All the songs are very much in the movie,” Edgar Wright said.
As previously mentioned, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosions’ “Orange” album played a big part in pushing Edgar get the “Baby Driver” project on the road. And yes, he’s very much a music nerd himself. The soundtrack consists of a very colourful selection indeed, from jazz to soul, and even hip hop tunes from some of the world’s best artistes. We’re talking about Queen, Blur, Young M.C., T.Rex, and of course, The Jon Spencer Blues Explosions 😉
In other news, the cast of “Baby Driver” will be rocking up to Kuala Lumpur on 17th July to promote their movie! Get the deets here.
For more information on “Baby Driver”, hit up the movie’s Facebook page.
