The trailer for Baby Driver
The trailer for Baby Driver was recently released on the Internet. It is not exactly what you would expect from Edgar Wright, but it has packed with wild stunts, a diverse cast of characters, a love story, and a few laughs. This epic action thriller is two and a half minutes long and packed with style and wit.
Baby Driver
Edgar Wright, the cult classic director behind the fantastic Blood and Ice Cream Trilogy, the actual comic book adaptation Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and a few funny TV shows, has released his new film, Baby Driver. Baby Driver does not come out until August, but the foreign trailer is already causing a stir on the Internet as I type these words.
Main Character
The movie got its title after the main character’s name. His name is Baby. During the course of the trailer we probably find out every single detail about Baby. He is a driver, but not the regular one. He is a get-away driver for criminals. And it seems like he is even better then Ryan Gosling in Nicolas Winding Refn’s Driver, and much younger in addition. Baby gets real satisfaction from his driving and this is probably what makes him so good. Edgar Wright says that “He’s somebody who’s in it for the buzz more than the spoils. Baby genuinely excels at, and likes, driving fast” (Hewitt). He is really appreciated by his direct boss played by Kevin Spacey for that reason. Spacey even calls Baby his lucky charm. It seems that he really believes in this luck and the plot of the movie will probably revolve around Spacey being unable to let Baby go.
An opening scene tells a lot about baby
An opening scene tells a lot about baby. He constantly wears headphones and we find out that he had some traumatic experience in his childhood that led to the disease called tinnitus, which causes him to suffer from constant buzz in his ears. So he listens to music all day long in order to muffle this buzz. The opening scene is the briefing one. Kevin Spacey is the briefer and there are three other guys besides Baby. The only difference is that Baby sits far away from all others at the opposite side of the table. It seems like he wants to differentiate himself from others. He is just a driver, and not a criminal. So he spends the whole briefing in his headphones, but it is all right for him because he can read lips. But that behavior of his irritates one of the members of the crew (Jamie Foxx). So that creates a tense relationship right from the start, which would surely fire in the movie.
Music
Almost every movie has some music in it, and probably all of the trailers do. This trailer is literally driven by music. It will definitely be one of the central themes in the upcoming movie. Almost every second of the trailer is filled with quirky music. Edgar Wright explains that “one of the premises of the movie is that Baby is pretty much soundtracking the movie. Every song you hear in the movie is actually happening within the scene. And in some parts of the movie he can’t really operate properly without the right music playing” (Hewitt).
Editing
The editing in this trailer is really fast and dynamic as it should be for the action movie trailer. But since this is a car driving kind of action it is even faster and filled with engine roars. There is an interesting sequence of quick shots combined on the basis of quick sounds of gun shots, explosions, bat in the face and bubble gum burst. Almost every character in the trailer has time to say something, so it is rich on dialogues.
Patriarchy
Kevin Spacey is definitely a dominant male figure in the trailer. He does not take a lot of its space, but his every appearance is significant. He is the leader of the gang, therefore he is on the top of its hierarchy stairs. Since Baby is so young, every male character can have paternal feelings towards him. On the first look, Buddy (John Hamm) is that character. He throws some cheering phrases to Baby and the fact that Buddy has a wife amplifies this feeling even more. Although, Edgar Wright mentions that “Buddy has this fraternal older brother relationship with Baby. Buddy is a very supportive character, but is not to be fucked with” (Hewitt).
Multiculturalism
It seems like nowadays there must be a black character in every Hollywood movie. So Jamie Foxx looks good in Baby with the role of Bats. He creates a tense relationship with the main character from the very start of the trailer. Edgar Wright says that “Bats has, unfortunately, succeeded in life doing very bad things for a very long time. He’s like an out of control train. He’s addicted to the crime itself, and the rush. It’s, weirdly, a similar thing to Baby, but with a different, darker, more nihilistic bent to it” (Hewitt). It seems like he would also be producing some comedic elements in the movie.
Female Character
Lily James plays the role of Baby’s sweetheart. In the trailer she is seen usually as a waitress. It seems like Edgar Wright wanted her to look and act like Shelly Johnson from Twin Peaks, since he is a big fan. And he succeeds in it.
Car Chases
Since the movie will be about car chases inclusively, the trailer is just filled with it. There are a lot of different chases in the trailer. Some are more successful and some are less. Some of the stunts look really fascinating and some are reckless. “The idea with the progression of the movie is that the chase at the start is the dream chase where everything goes right,” says Wright. “And then things start to go wrong. It’s the idea of pulling away the fantasy of being a getaway driver, to the nightmare reality of it. And in this situation, Baby sees that this is not a job he wants to continue with” (Hewitt). The same goes for the trailer, where the tension goes up from flawless breathtaking stunts to messy car crashing situations. Additionally, there is a foot chase at the end of the trailer, where we can see that Baby is not only capable of doing something behind the wheel. The most intense part of the trailer is probably the one where you think that Baby will now smash his car in a truck, but he miraculously manages to escape it. Edgar Wright says that “Like most of the stunts in the movie, it was done for real. We tried to do nearly everything for real on the roads. This is real driving. These are real stunts. And it feels like a real getaway chase in terms of the short cuts, outfoxing the police, and hairpin turns” (Hewitt).
Titles
The trailer is so filled with action that there is almost no place for titles. There are only “by Edgar Wright” and “in 2017”. This is probably good, because everybody is definitely tired of reading pompous headings every ten seconds of the trailer. This allows for the most content to be squeezed in two and a half minutes.
Product Placement
The trailer is literally filled with product placement. Baby reads Atlanta Georgia News newspaper. He drives a red Subaru and constantly listens to his iPod. Some other people (presumably police) are driving red Chevrolets. The criminals intend to rob Perimeter Trust Bank and the logo can be seen in one of the shots in the reflection of Baby’s car window.
Comedic Elements
Since Edgar Wright is known for his killing comedies, there is no doubt that the movie will be hilarious. Even though the genre of the movie now is more action and less comedy. So the trailer concentrates more on the action part. And this is probably how Edgar Wright wants everybody to see this film. But the trailer still ends with a comedic element, where Baby steals a car Grand Theft Auto style from the old lady, but still returns the bag to her even thought it is obvious that he is in a hurry.
References
Chris Hewitt. (2017). Baby Driver Trailer Breakdown With Edgar Wright. Empire.
Doi: http://www.empireonline.com/movies/features/baby-driver-trailer-breakdown-edgar-wright/
