cadillac20

One worry I had going into F1 was whether or not Joseph Kosinski could capitalize on what he delivered in Top Gun Maverick. Would he prove that much of the film was Tom Cruise going the extra mile or was that thrill of a film his to own. F1 proves that he just may be a master of summer blockbusters. His new movie is a thrill-a-minute ride that constantly puts you on the edge of your seat. While it's story and characters are fairly standard, the racing is worth the price of admission. You've never seen racing on film like this and the movie, once again, shows us what a summer blockbuster is all about.

As stated, we get a fairly standard tale here of underdog and mentor, with Brad Pitt playing Sonny Hayes, an over-the-hill racer who once had a shot at F1 called in by his former partner (Javier Bardem) to help win several races to dig his partner's company out of the red and avoid it being sold off. He is partnered with a brash rookie, Damson Idris' Joshua Pearce, and the two go on about as predictably as you could imagine. They are joined by the teams technical director and obvious love interest, Kate McKenna, played charmingly by Kerry Condon. The cast is good and entertaining throughout. Despite the fact that you know at almost all points of the film where it's going, it doesn't feel dull. Everyone really steps up and you're never bored.

This is in part due to the fact that the film focuses mostly on the racing and it really delivers as well as you could hope. It almost feels like Kosinski took his cues for action from Maverick and replicated the type of technical work it would take to make you feel like you're right there in the race. If that seems familiar to people, it's because Maverick's cinematographer Claudio Miranda returns here and delivers another smooth and precise job that I have no shame in saying deserves an Oscar nom. Every race puts you on the edge of your seat and is about as exciting as it gets without being in the seat yourself. Even beyond this, the races are smartly written and executed as they provide more than just one race after another. Creative strategy from the characters to win adds to the intensity as the rogue-like Hayes seeks out ways to win that don't conform to typical racing. It creates a slight bit of mystery as you start to see things unfold and realize what it is that is actually happening. This is coupled with excellent editing that is just as Oscar worthy and a pulsing soundtrack from Hans Zimmer that helps propel each scene without being overbearing. This is entertainment, pure and simple.

F1 achieves what it sets out to achieve. It's simple in it's non-action details, but entertaining, the racing is phenomenal, and smartly executed where it might otherwise just be typical racing shown through technical precision. Anyone looking for a purely entertaining movie won't be disappointed here.