Cinematic spectacle, but lacking emotional drive
Director: Joseph Kosinski|
Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Javier Bardem
Rating: (M)
★★★+
REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL
Re-entering his high-octane motor vehicle bag, Joseph Kosinski's follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick boasts cinematic spectacles worth the price of admission alone.
Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a relic racer turned motor-junkie-for-hire, who, despite the odds stacked against him, gets behind the wheel one last time. Win a race, or Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) will be forced to sell the racing company he owns a majority stake in, APXGP, to his unsporting, money-hungry board. The only problem: APXGP are dead last and not looking likely to change anytime soon. Fronted by an arrogant, hot-shot kid racer looking for his next paycheck when the company inevitably sells, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), and technical director and team lynchpin Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), it's a classic underdog story — can a has-been who never-was turn the team around, or will such an ambitious move be the final nail in Ruben's coffin?
Not only is the overarching story classic, it is simple, with a lacklustre resolution soliciting the lowest common denominator global audience F1 will attract.
Although F1 is emotionally uncomplicated, it is a technical marvel. The 375 kmh racing is captured on disbelieving camera setups, impossibly panning during races to prove to viewers (perhaps even more impossibly) that it is Pitt and Idris driving the rigs. High-stakes racing beckons stomach-turning crash sequences, which are scored by an electric soundtrack from Hans Zimmer. Off the track, the tech-specific nuances and intricacies of racing are gripping — the race strategy rivalry between team-mates sets up a textbook archetype of overcoming differences.
Between the explosive sequences, Bardem emphatically chews the scenery, Idris is full of swagger, and Condon is too good for the movie she is in. But with most of the film's focus on the veteran, Pitt, it is disappointing how mentally checked out, and quite frankly, lazy, this performance seems. This is, perhaps, the fault of the script, which does not measure up to 2023's Ferrari, a late-period Michael Mann film starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari. Mann, known for his layered protagonists, gives Driver true emotional stakes and a philosophical drive that hums throughout the two-hour runtime.
F1 is an effective commercial for the sport; well-explained and advertised to non-F1 viewers who have never heard about soft or hard tires, slipstream, or Drag Reduction Systems.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
18 hours ago
- RNZ News
Blood, guts and big bucks: Horror is slaying in cinemas
By Dawn Chmielewski , Reuters Sinners, an original story about Mississippi vampires, is the year's third highest-grossing movie in the US and Canada. Photo: Supplied / Warner Bros. Entertainment Vampires, zombies, and the Grim Reaper are killing it at the box office. At a time when superheroes, sequels and reboots have grown stale among audiences, horror has emerged as an unlikely saviour, entertainment industry veterans say. This year, scary movies account for 17 percent of the North American ticket purchases, up from 11 percent in 2024 and 4 percent a decade ago, according to Comscore data compiled exclusively for Reuters. Thanks to the box office performance of Sinners and Final Destination: Bloodlines , and new instalments of popular horror films hitting later this year, including The Conjuring: Last Rites and Five Nights at Freddy's 2 , cinema owners have reason to celebrate. "We have identified horror as really one of the primary film genres that we are targeting to grow," said Brandt Gully, owner of the Springs Cinema & Taphouse in Sandy Springs, Georgia. "It can really fill a void when you need it." Producers, studio executives and theatre owners say horror has historically provided a safe outlet to cope with contemporary anxieties. And there is no lack of material to choose from: the aftershocks of a global pandemic, artificial intelligence paranoia, the loss of control over one's body, and resurgent racism. "It's cathartic, it's emotional, and it comes with an ending," said film data analyst Stephen Follows, author of the Horror Movie Report, which offers detailed insights into the genre. "Horror movies give space to process things that are harder to face in everyday life." The often low-budget productions allow for greater risk-taking than would be possible with high-cost, high-stakes productions like Mission: Impossible - The Final Reckoning . The creative freedom has attracted such acclaimed directors as Ryan Coogler, Jordan Peele, Danny Boyle and Guillermo del Toro. "Horror movies are an accountant's dream," said Paul Dergarabedian, Comscore senior media analyst. "If you're going to make a science fiction outer space extravaganza, you can't do that on the cheap. With horror films, a modest-budget movie like Weapons can be scary as hell." Audiences are responding. Coogler's Sinners , an original story about Mississippi vampires starring Michael B. Jordan, was the year's third highest-grossing movie in the US and Canada, according to Comscore. Movie theatres are still recovering from the Covid-19 pandemic, which broke the movie-going habit and increased viewing in the home. Mike De Luca, co-chair and Warner Bros Motion Picture Group, which released Sinners , said horror was a genre that manages to get people out of the house. "It's a rising tide that lifts all boats," he said. "You know, we're trying to get people back in the habit of going to the theatres." Fear knows no geographical bounds. Half of all horror movies released by major US distributors last year made 50 percent or more of their worldwide box office gross outside the US, according to London-based researcher Ampere Analysis. The breakout international hit The Substance , for example, grossed over US$77 million worldwide, with around 80 percent of that from outside the US. Streamers are also similarly capitalising on the appeal of the genre. AMC's post-apocalyptic horror drama series The Walking Dead became one of the most popular series when it was added to Netflix in 2023, amassing 1.3 billion hours viewed, according to Netflix's Engagement Report. Director Guillermo del Toro's film adaptation of Mary Shelley's gothic novel Frankenstein is set to debut in November. Horror films are ideally suited to watching in movie theatres, where the environment heightens the experience. "What you can't do at home is sit in a dark room with a hundred other people, not on your phone, and jump," said Blumhouse chief executive Jason Blum, producer of Halloween , Paranormal Activity and other lucrative horror franchises. "You can't really be scared when you watch a horror movie at home." Big-budget movies that the industry refers to as "tent poles," such as Captain America: Brave New World or A Minecraft Movie , remain the lifeblood of movie theatres. Over time, these blockbusters have elbowed out more modestly budgeted romantic comedies and dramas on movie screens. Against this backdrop, horror has been quietly gaining momentum. The genre broke the $1 billion box office barrier in the US and Canada for the first time in 2017, Comscore reported, buoyed by the film adaptation of Stephen King's novel, It , and Jordan Peele's exploration of racial inequality in Get Out . Announcements of new horror films from US producers have risen each year for the last three years, including in 2023, when the Hollywood strikes significantly impacted production, according to Ampere Analysis. The number of US horror films that went into production last year was up 21 percent over 2023, Ampere found. "While more arthouse fare and even some tentpole superhero franchises have had mixed fortunes at the global box office in the wake of the pandemic, horror remains one of the key genres that audiences still make a point of seeing in the theatres," wrote researcher Alice Thorpe in a report for Ampere's clients which she shared with Reuters. The researcher's own consumer surveys revealed horror is the favourite genre among two-thirds of movie-goers, ages 18 to 24. "Anytime a teenager graduates to wanting to take a date to the movies, horror gets popular really fast," said Warner Bros' De Luca. "It's a great film-going experience to take a date to because you get to huddle with each other and gasp and hoop and holler." Horror has been a cinematic staple from its earliest days, when Thomas Edison filmed Frankenstein on his motion picture camera, the Kinetograph, in 1910. The British Board of Film Classification introduced the "H" rating in 1932, officially designating the genre. But it didn't always get Hollywood's respect. "In the first half of the 20th century, it was seen as a freak show," said Follows. Perceptions began to change with the critical and commercial success of films like Psycho , The Exorcist, and The Shining. Director Steven Spielberg ushered in the summer blockbuster in 1975 with Jaws , a re-invention of the classic monster movie. In recent years, horror movies have become part of the Oscar conversation. Peele collected an Academy Award for best original screenplay in 2018 for Get Out . Demi Moore received her first Oscar nomination earlier this year for her portrayal of an aging Hollywood star who will go to any lengths to stay beautiful in The Substance . Not every horror movie connects with audiences. M3GAN 2.0 , a sequel to the 2022 low-budget film about a killer robotic doll that grossed $180m worldwide, brought in a modest $10.2m in the US and Canada in its opening weekend, according to Comscore. Theatre chains will have no shortage of horror movies to exhibit this summer. Seven films are slated to be released before Labour Day weekend, including Columbia Pictures's nostalgic reboot of the 1997 film, I Know What You Did Last Summer , which reaches screens on 18 July, and Weapons , which opens on 8 August. "The best types of these movies are ones that elicit an audible and visceral reaction, 'Don't go in there!'" said Screen Gems President Ashley Brucks, who has worked on such films as Sony's upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer as well as A Quiet Place and Scream. "You are either squirming or laughing or screaming and just really having fun with it." - Reuters
Otago Daily Times
3 days ago
- Otago Daily Times
Cinematic spectacle, but lacking emotional drive
Damson Idris (left) and Brad Pitt in F1. PHOTO: WARNER BROS. PICTUIRES /TNS Director: Joseph Kosinski| Cast: Brad Pitt, Damson Idris, Kerry Condon, Tobias Menzies, Javier Bardem Rating: (M) ★★★+ REVIEWED BY AMASIO JUTEL Re-entering his high-octane motor vehicle bag, Joseph Kosinski's follow-up to Top Gun: Maverick boasts cinematic spectacles worth the price of admission alone. Brad Pitt plays Sonny Hayes, a relic racer turned motor-junkie-for-hire, who, despite the odds stacked against him, gets behind the wheel one last time. Win a race, or Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) will be forced to sell the racing company he owns a majority stake in, APXGP, to his unsporting, money-hungry board. The only problem: APXGP are dead last and not looking likely to change anytime soon. Fronted by an arrogant, hot-shot kid racer looking for his next paycheck when the company inevitably sells, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), and technical director and team lynchpin Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon), it's a classic underdog story — can a has-been who never-was turn the team around, or will such an ambitious move be the final nail in Ruben's coffin? Not only is the overarching story classic, it is simple, with a lacklustre resolution soliciting the lowest common denominator global audience F1 will attract. Although F1 is emotionally uncomplicated, it is a technical marvel. The 375 kmh racing is captured on disbelieving camera setups, impossibly panning during races to prove to viewers (perhaps even more impossibly) that it is Pitt and Idris driving the rigs. High-stakes racing beckons stomach-turning crash sequences, which are scored by an electric soundtrack from Hans Zimmer. Off the track, the tech-specific nuances and intricacies of racing are gripping — the race strategy rivalry between team-mates sets up a textbook archetype of overcoming differences. Between the explosive sequences, Bardem emphatically chews the scenery, Idris is full of swagger, and Condon is too good for the movie she is in. But with most of the film's focus on the veteran, Pitt, it is disappointing how mentally checked out, and quite frankly, lazy, this performance seems. This is, perhaps, the fault of the script, which does not measure up to 2023's Ferrari, a late-period Michael Mann film starring Adam Driver as Enzo Ferrari. Mann, known for his layered protagonists, gives Driver true emotional stakes and a philosophical drive that hums throughout the two-hour runtime. F1 is an effective commercial for the sport; well-explained and advertised to non-F1 viewers who have never heard about soft or hard tires, slipstream, or Drag Reduction Systems.
1News
7 days ago
- 1News
F1 The Movie delivers Apple its biggest box office opening
Apple has its first box-office hit. F1 The Movie debuted with US$55.6 million (NZ$ 91.7 million) in North American theatres and US$144 million (NZ$237.5 million) globally over the weekend, according to studio estimates, handing the tech company easily its biggest opening yet. Although Apple Original Films has had some notable successes in its six years in Hollywood — including the 2021 Oscar-winner CODA — its theatrical results have been decidedly mixed. Misfires like Argylle and Fly Me to the Moon and big-budget awards plays like Ridley Scott's Napoleon and Martin Scorsese's Killers of the Flower Moon have been better at driving viewers to Apple TV+ than movie theatres. But F1 was Apple's first foray into summer blockbuster territory. It won a bidding war for the project from much of the production team behind the 2022 box-office smash Top Gun: Maverick. Apple then partnered with Warner Bros to distributed the film starring Brad Pitt, Damson Idris and Kerry Condon. With a production budget more than US$200 million (NZ$329.8 million), F1 still has several laps to go to turn a profit. But for now, F1 is full speed ahead. ADVERTISEMENT "The film's outstanding debut reflects both the excitement of Formula 1 and the deeply emotional and entertaining story crafted by the entire cast and creative team," said Zack Van Amburg, who heads worldwide video for Apple with Jamie Erlicht. "Their dedication and innovation have fuelled an unforgettable cinematic experience". Car racing movies have often struggled in theatres; crash-and-burn cases include Ron Howard's Rush (2013) and Michael Mann's Ferrari (2023). But F1 built off the Formula 1 fandom stirred up by the popular series Formula 1: Drive to Survive. And it leaned on Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and producer Jerry Bruckheimer to deliver another adult-oriented action thrill ride. As in Top Gun: Maverick, the filmmakers sought an adrenaline rush by placing IMAX cameras inside the cockpit in F1. IMAX and large-format screens accounted for 55% of in its ticket sales. IMAX, whose screens were much sought-after in the summer, carved out a three-week run for the movie. Warner Bros expected F1 to perform well overseas, where the sport was more popular than it was in the US. Jeffrey Goldstein, distribution chief for Warner Bros, said Pitt was the movie's "secret sauce". The US$144 million (NZ$237.5 million) global launch is the actor's biggest opening weekend. "We came up with multiple campaigns based on where you are in the world," said Goldstein. "We planned for an audience-winner: Screen the movie and get it out there. People talking about this movie drove this movie." Reviews have been very good for F1 and audience reaction (an A via CinemaScore) was even better. That suggested F1 could hold up well in the coming weeks despite some formidable competition coming in Universal Pictures' Jurassic World Rebirth. Paul Dergarabedian, senior media analyst for data firm Comscore, praised Warner Bros for making F1 a theatrical event. The studio was also behind the year's other big original release, Sinners. ADVERTISEMENT "For Apple, this demonstrates to them the prestige factor of having a big theatrical release," said Dergarabedian. "It elevates their brand." Universal's M3gan 2.0 had been expected to pose a greater challenge to F1. Instead, the robot doll sequel didn't come close to matching the 2022 original's box-office launch. M3gan 2.0 collected US$10.2 million (NZ$16.8 million) in 3112 theatres. Memes and viral videos helped propel the first M3gan to a US$30.4 million (NZ$50.1 million) opening and a total haul of US$180 million (NZ$296.8 million), all on a US$12 million (NZ$19.7 million) budget. Still, the Blumhouse Productions horror thriller could wind up profitable. The film, written and directed by Gerald Johnstone, cost a modest US$25 million (NZ$41.2 million) to make. A spinoff titled Soulm8te was scheduled for release next year. M3gan 2.0 ended up in fourth place. The box-office leader of the last two weekends, How to Train Your Dragon, slid to second with US$19.4 million (NZ$31.9 million). The DreamWorks Animation live-action hit from Universal Pictures has surpassed US$200 million (NZ$329.8 million) domestically in three weeks. After a debut that marked a new low for Pixar, the studio's Elio gathered up US$10.7 million (NZ$17.6 million) in sales in its second weekend. That gives the Walt Disney Co release a disappointing two-week start of US$42.2 million (NZ$69.6 million).
