Meigaza Spooks #1 - "Baby Driver" Edition

What is Meigaza Spooks?

SPOOX is a video streaming service that offers unlimited viewing of a wide range of genres, monthly subscription products for core fans, and individual items. SPOOX.

Ito, a SPOOX employee and a huge movie geek, will talk about the content distributed on SPOOX with high energy and a unique flair, pretending to be an employee of "Meigaza Spooks."

*Please note that these are just my own musings, so please forgive any personal biases.

Now, let's step into Meigaza Spooks.

Hello, everyone!

My name is Ito, and I am the same age as Reina from MAX.

Here at "Meigaza Spooks," I would like to introduce my favorite movies available on SPOOX to help you decide "what should I watch today?"

Well, for our first installment today, we have "Baby Driver"!

▼ Click here to watch.

The director is Edgar Wright, who creates unique works with original scripts.

When I first saw his early work, "Hot Fuzz," I was thoroughly entertained, thinking "What is this?" in the best possible way. Director Edgar Wright writes many original scripts, and all of them are highly creative. I couldn't predict the flow of "Hot Fuzz" at all, from the opening story to the very end.

Recently, "Last Night in Soho," starring Thomasin McKenzie and Anya Taylor-Joy, has also been released.

Now, about the movie I'm introducing today, "Baby Driver." I'll give you a rough summary of the plot later, but just to start with the protagonist's setup, he is a "getaway driver" who helps robbers escape with his genius driving techniques.

Right from the start of the film, this getaway driver appears in a bright red SUBARU Impreza, happily driving along to the cool track "Bellbottoms" by The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion (JSBX)!
A Japanese Impreza right at the beginning!

Speaking of the SUBARU Impreza, about 30 years ago, CHAGE & ASKA's (now CHAGE and ASKA) "no no darlin'" was used as a tie-in song, and it was played constantly in commercials.

Ito, a second-year junior high student at the time, was shocked by the song's style, which combined a laid-back melody of "no no darlin'~♪" with a powerful melody of "Kimi ga, kimi ga boku no naka ni~," and I bought it with my meager allowance. It felt like a great deal, like a half-and-half pizza with Margherita and chicken mayo.

I bought the "no no darlin'" CD single at the "SHIBUYA" music store, hurried home, and popped it into my SONY Dodeca-Horn to play it! It happened to be a Sunday afternoon, and my family was there, so we all listened to it together! We listened to it as a family!

...And yet... and yet...
The first words ASKA-san sang were, "Saturday night, I'll hold you until morning~♪"

...CHAGE AND ASKA!!!! Mom and Dad are right here!!!!

The opening lyrics left teenage Ito feeling bewildered, and the atmosphere at the Ito family dinner table became quite awkward.

That is the bittersweet, fragrant memory of "no no darlin'" and the "SUBARU Impreza" for me.

...And so, with the appearance of that red Impreza! comes a bank robbery carried out in an instant without any injuries.

And from there, the getaway scene featuring the protagonist, BABY, played by Ansel Elgort, driving the red Impreza!
It continues into a car chase that uses the entire song "Bellbottoms" by the JSBX.

Actually, Ito isn't much of a fan of car chase scenes, but thanks to the acrobatic cinematography and the great tempo synchronized with the music,
the approximately six-minute getaway scene passes by in an incredibly satisfying way.

Then, after the opening car chase scene ends, the opening sequence features yet another incredibly satisfying synchronization of visuals and music!

"This movie's tempo is seriously intense. Seriously, audience, it's intense, so please be ready for that."That kind of feeling really comes across just from watching the beginning.

There are plenty of other moments throughout where the music and visuals are matched. It's just like a musical film!

However, none of it feels particularly formal; it's all very rough and casual. It's a musical where you just toast bread in the kitchen, spread butter, and put it on a plate. Watching that is just so much fun.

The director is naturally skilled at synchronization with sound. In this work as well, he uses numerous songs to match the visuals perfectly, with nothing lacking or excessive.

The song selection is also great, so I highly recommend the soundtrack.

So, while the film is told with a brisk tempo throughout, here is a rough introduction to the general plot:

The protagonist, BABY, uses his genius driving skills to work as a getaway driver for bank robberies due to a "certain reason."

These bank robberies have a motto of being smart(Ito's motto is being chubby), so guns are basically just for intimidation.

BABY has finished settling his "certain reason" and is thinking about retiring from being a getaway driver. And then, he falls in love at that very moment.

...However, he can't seem to get out as easily as he hoped, and you're left wondering what will happen next... That's the kind of story it is.

Supporting Ansel Elgort, who plays BABY, is
the boss of the heist crew,Kevin Spacey. He has been an actor I've liked since his role as John Doe in the 1995 film "Se7en."
I definitely want to cover "Se7en" in the future! The lead isBrad Pitt, whom I love so much that I can't just go and meet him. Brad Pitt is always cool, but the coolness he displayed in "Fight Club" and "Se7en" was something else!
...Oops, let's save the talk about "Se7en" for another time, and get back to Kevin Spacey.
He hasn't appeared in much recently due to scandals in recent years, so you can enjoy his valuable, idiosyncratic acting in this film!

Next, the woman BABY falls in love with isLily James. She captivated us with her ethereal beauty in "Cinderella"(Ito is following her on Instagram). In this film, she adds a bit of a modern touch and appears as a cute girl.

And, as the loose cannon of the heist crew, we haveJamie Foxx. He is a madman who starts shooting immediately. He shoots right away. His personality is the exact opposite of BABY's.The arrival of this character suddenly makes the content tense, but please enjoy that in the film itself!

I mentioned that the synchronization of visuals and music in this title is wonderful, but as you can see by now, that's not all there is to it!
There is awonderful quality unique to an original screenplaythat you can't experience with adapted works!

This film is also said to have a"good B-movie feel."

A B-movie-like unpredictable storyandthe emotional changes of the characters.

The director's overwhelming originality is presented all at once through music and tempo.

There are scenes that will bring you to tears, and it feels like a mix of various elements, but there is one solid, consistent thread running through it.

It's like Goya Chanpuru; it's stir-fried with various things, but it's definitely bitter, so no one would ever be confused and say"Yeah, this is definitely Goya Chanpuru.". It's a film where you can immerse yourself in the director's consistent worldview, so please enjoy it!

"Baby Driver," which I introduced today, is now streaming on SPOOX!

Please watch it!"SAY YES"!

■ Click here for foreign films streaming on SPOOX