It was only a matter of time before I even talk about this one. I think it was the teaser that gave any prospective viewer just a taste of what kind of movie it was going to be. More so that we get brief sequences of the stylistic view of showing just how fast an intense a contemporary Formula 1 car is. And that Brad Pitt can seemingly fit into any role without us referring to the movie as that Brad Pitt racing movie. I was hyped about this one, more so that I was curious as to how Joseph Kosinski was able to follow up from Top Gun: Maverick.
1. Sonny Hayes’ Redemption
I just want to say that after marathoning three racing films in the month. You can appreciate just how far the sub-genre can be told cinematically. We started off with a quasi-documentary/sports film, a historical one and a realistic fiction where we see how racing is now as a sport. Now, this film isn’t a total representation of Formula 1 nowadays, trust me. The stuff that is shown as far as getting an advantage to win and progressively get ahead in the position rankings in a race is hilarious. Of course, it’s a film that has taken a lot creative liberties to show just what goes on in a regular season for any curious outsider.
With that, we follow Sonny Hayes as he’s a professional driver. The introduction that we see in the beginning as he participates in the 24 Hours of Daytona, an endurance race. From the start, he’s very good with how he operates inside the cockpit. The way it was shot and edited is one thing I’ll talk about in the cinematography section. It’s one of those films where you’re just like how did they film it the way that they did. We’ll talk about that a little later. Hayes is approached by his old teammate Ruben to help his fledging F1 team APX GP.
What follows is the growing pains as Hayes attempts to help out his friend by putting up with the young rookie driver Joshua. There’s other stuff that happens within the movie but I like to keep it simple and just focus on Pitt’s character in the film. With how he’s introduced, he manages to maneuver his way through the opposing drivers and make smart decisions that benefits his racing team. He’s always the person looking for an advantage, to the point where he meets up with APX GP’s technical director to gain some help to advance in the races.
Hayes is a likeable guy, but the moments between him and Joshua is like seeing two people not tolerating each other at all. Their introduction gets testy when Joshua questions if Sonny can compete at the F1 level. They’re at equal footing, but as the film progresses, they inevitably understand each other and work cooperatively in order to win the succeeding races. It’s a classic Hollywood story beat, but one where there’s moments where each character gets a humbling up so as to not have one guy be Mr. Perfect.
I think it would’ve been easy to have Sonny Hayes be just a one note guy where racing is his whole character. From the onset it seems like that, but I’m glad that the movie really gives him more to be an approachable to the whole team. Yet, he’s stuck in his ways where he goes against the orders of the technical directors that are trying to adhere to the rules of the race. There’s even a moment between him and Kate where they discuss why he races for a living. It’s kind of sappy, but we get an understanding that he used to be an F1 racer but suffered a severe injury. Within the film we get flashbacks of his race, bonus points for the static effect like it’s a recording off a VHS tape.
The other characters are good too as we follow APX GP’s season in the thick of it. I think the standout among the crew is Kate. The technical director who is inspired by Sonny to help develop modifications to the car that gives them an advantage. I’m glad that she’s not relegated to the background, but one where we see her get confident to help the drivers. The moments between her and Hayes almost gives us that romance aspect that’s expected. To me, it seems flirtatious more than anything from Sonny’s point of view.
Lastly, I should elaborate more on the rookie Joshua. From the start he’s a very cocky person who thinks he’s the guy when he’s obviously not. As I mentioned earlier, him and Sonny start off not liking each other. He goes through the motions where he’s embracing the sponsorships and has a meticulous training regiment. Joshua is someone where at one point we want him to see eating humble pie, albeit it was shocking that he would be that guy where you have the obligatory crash where it all goes wrong. I think my favorite moment of him is when he’s at Vegas at a club before the race. He gets totally emasculated when some girls ask if he knows the other F1 drivers. Slowly getting him to realize that he’s not a big shot in comparison to the other racers.
2. Joseph Kosinski
Me and the director go way back, and it’s interesting to see his film trajectory take him. At the start of the decade me and my mother watched his film debut of Disney’s Tron: Legacy. Thinking back, it’s just wild to think a massive studio would give a relatively new filmmaker the keys to their underrated franchise. It was an okay film, but the special effects practically save the movie from being completely mediocre. What followed was his second film Oblivion with Tom Cruise. From what I gathered was that it was just a middle of the road movie.
He gained massive stock in attention when he directed Top Gun: Maverick. Now, I’ll say that I didn’t believe in that film since I thought that it wasn’t going to do good. Of course, he specializes in sequels that take place 30 years after the original. No one could’ve imagined that his film would gross a billion dollars at the box office. Part of the reason perhaps was just how the action was telegraphed to the audience. With the cockpit views and the dynamic action that is miles better from the original.
It was only natural that when he was offered to do this film, that it would have the fingerprints that is obviously his film. One thing I noticed is that he has a certain panache when showing the cars. It’s like seeing a Michael Bay movie but the focus is on the car. With how the whole film looks is very grounded despite it’s budget. The grittiness of it is felt when the race happens and when Sonny is winning his first race. I feel that in some way APX GP’s headquarters is reminiscent of Tron: Legacy since it has that clean look to it. Or the fact that it’s supposed to mirror an Apple product.
Speaking of Apple, this is the first film that they produced that did well box office wise. Their foray into film has been a mess as soon as they pivoted to finding distributors in the theaters. At first they produced their own content in their dedicated streaming service. Even having an Oscar win under their belt for one of their films CODA. Everything has been mixed, I’ve only watched Ridley Scott’s Napoleon, but the others that came out like Argylle and Fly Me To The Moon haven’t done well reception-wise and commercially. Although there are diamonds in the rough such as this one and with Martin Scorsese’s Killers of the Flower Moon.
3. Cinematography
The big thing that makes the film work is just how it was shot. The teaser that was released only gave us a small glimpse of what kind of immersive movie this was going to be. The scene at Daytona had me sold of what kind of movie this was going to be. Just with how the edits spliced in to make the race more exciting. With the soundtrack complimenting the intensity of the race makes it a knock out introductory of what the audience is getting themselves into.
Everything else within the Formula 1 season is all great. A good chunk of it is very reminiscent of Top Gun: Maverick, where you have the cockpit point of view facing the drivers and what’s in front of them. The best moment is captured briefly when the race starts, Sonny is having to swiftly moves his view while gripping the wheel to maneuver the other cars. All of it is very spontaneous and chaotic and it’s only appropriate where after everything settles feels exciting since anything can go wrong.
4. Overall
F1: The Movie is one of the biggest surprises this year, and one of the best sports movies of the decade.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.