Edgar Wright has directed several music reliant films such as Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz, The World’s End, and Scott Pilgrim vs. the World, and Baby Driver takes this reliance a step further by choreographing parts of the film to its soundtrack. Every action sequence with music is synchronized to the diegetic music that is playing in the background, giving the film its own spin on the heist genre. In Baby Driver, Edgar Wright parodies the heist genre in its action sequences by taking the focus away from actual robbery and putting it on the getaway driver, while also making it a musical. Making mock-heroic films is part of Edgar Wright’s style by creating unlikely protagonists or over exaggerating the action genre. This style is perfectly executed in Baby Driver as the choreographed getaway sequences are so engaging that the heist and musical format blend together and become one.
In Baby Driver the personalities and actions of the characters are extremely exaggerated, which reinforce Edgar Wright’s mock-heroic style. The mise-en-scène has this trope feel as well where everyone are wearing generically “cool” outfits during heists, they refer to each other by code names, and they wear rubber Halloween masks. This is then juxtaposed by Baby who is always wearing normal peoples clothes with sunglasses on to hide his face. By making Baby the most plain looking character he stands out among the rest and makes it seem like he is the special one. To further emphasize Baby, the side characters have overly emphasized “bad guy” personalities while Baby is very quiet and keeps to himself. For example, the group is led by a man nicknamed Doc, who creates all of their genius plans. There is a couple nicknamed Buddy and Darling who are “partners in crime” and Buddy looks like what a stereotypical heist film protagonist would look like with slicked back hair and a very fit build. Lastly there is Bats who acts completely on impulse, and causes most of the issues for the group. These characters in comparison to Baby are conventionally cooler than him, but Edgar Wright decides to put a spotlight on Baby to create an unlikely hero because even though Baby does not look “cool”, or act “cool”, he can drive fast. Baby Driver’s characters and mise-en-scène make Baby to be a likable protagonist who is also the least likely out of them to be there, but this idea furthers Edgar Wright’s mock-heroic vision.
Even though the other characters look more interesting, that’s what makes Baby stand out
The focus of Baby Driver are the choreographed car chase scenes where Baby performs impossible feats all synced up to whatever song he is listening to. This film is atypical to a normal heist film as very little of the robberies are actually on-screen. When the heist is in action the viewer is put into the car with Baby while he waits for the job to be finished, and chooses a song for his getaway. Traditionally the focus would be on the bank robbery, but because Doc is an expert at planning heists, they always go according to plan as long as everyone participating does their job. The only part that Doc does not account for is how Baby wiggles his way away from the police. This precedent in the film allows for all the focus to be put on Baby because the viewer knows the robberies are always successful, and they do not need to see them. Having the getaway as the focus instead of the robbery parodies the heist genre as it is a complete reversal of the norm of heist films, where the action is during the robbery and the getaway is pushed off to the side. In addition to the stunts performed in the action scenes, the diegetic music heard is also important. Without the music, the editing and cinematography of the action scenes are very impressive and good on their own, but with the soundtrack added the action scenes are made complete, and they compliment each other perfectly. Edgar Wright’s method of choosing the song for a scene and then filming it helps the mock-heroic vibe of the film because of the context that Baby is also timing his driving to the song as well. By poking fun at the heist genre using the musical genre, Edgar Wright is able to parody heist films while disguising he is doing it.
Baby Driver is able to parody heist films so effectively because of its stylish mise-en-scène, soundtrack, and cinematography. The film is made to look like a generic action movie in the opening scene, but then very quickly you follow the story of the getaway driver with tinnitus, and it pulls you into its own world separate from the heist genre and closer to a musical. Edgar Wright’s style of mock-heroics shines through in Baby Driver because of its over exaggeration that also makes it a fun film to view. The reliance on music is something that is integral to Baby Driver as without it it would not be able to parody the heist genre nearly as well.
Sources
https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0942367/
https://www.imdb.com/title/tt3890160/
https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/dec/17/edgar-wright-baby-driver-oldest-idea-biggest-hit
Introduction to Film Studies - Fall 2019 