Sometimes the formula doesn’t have to change. F1 takes a movie we’ve seen before, and modernizes it for a new age: the dude’s film. All you need is a cool ass movie star, the best action director working today, and bada bing bada boom: F1 is born, zooming and booming around those tracks in that way that would make not just Molly Shannon excited.
The APXGP is in big trouble. They’re in last place with 0 points, their lead driver quit, and their other driver Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris) is only a rookie. With 9 races left, owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) is facing threats from the APXGP board of directors to win a race…or be forced to sell the team. Desperate, he hires his old racing buddy Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a freelance driver who hasn’t been in Formula One since the 1990s, because desperate times call for desperate measures.
The minute Joseph Kosinski was hired to direct F1, I figured he was here to be the bridge. Kosinski’s sweet spot is taking a 1980s property and modernizing it for present day. He does it again here: from minute 1, F1 is basically Days of Thunder with the soundscape of Top Gun: Maverick. You feel every engine rev, every hard turn, every tire squeal through your whole body. Kosinski the writer alongside partner Ehren Kruger elevate F1 by mixing it up. We don’t see all 9 races, but there are at least 3. Each one feels unique, using different racing strategies but still finding simple ways to show the audience how this works as part of F1’s story the pair are trying to tell. Top Gun: Maverick’s Cruise cameras are now Pitt’s crew, as we see all sorts of angles of how difficult, fast, and downright exciting each race is, from every perspective we could possibly want.
And there’s post Oscar Brad Pitt, happy to lead F1’s charge. He’s as magnetic as ever as a movie star here, making everyone fall in love with what should be a dirtbag rogue agent. Of course lead tech engineer Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) was gonna melt into Sonny’s arms with Pitt eye f*cking her the moment he sees her, wouldn’t you? Condon at least understands the assignment, matching Pitt’s magnetism with a smartass attitude that makes her worthy of Sonny’s pursuits. Everyone else is there to support our guy Brad, with their backstories basically cut so we can get back on the track. Damson Idris, Javier Bardem, Callie Cooke, Kim Bodina and others get one or two notes to play, then get absorbed back into APXGP’s team, Pitt’s crew, obviously.
F1 has what the boys want for their summer blockbuster. It’s hella fun, simple, straightforward, and dazzles the ears, eyes, and hearts of anyone who wanted to go fast in a car at some point. Regrettably though, no Cole Trickle or Ricky Bobby cameos, y’all. I guess Ricky said eff you, since we don’t chew Big Red gum.