F1: The Movie – Review

Always having loved cars, this movie probably earns additional points from me for being well-focused on sweet performance vehicles and having exceptionally shot racing scenes. Despite a somewhat regular plot, I found F1: The Movie to be a total blast, and think it should appeal to a very wide audience.

Having just come off a huge win at Daytona in the NASCAR world, Sonny Hayes (Pitt) leaves the crew on top, looking for his next challenge and career restart. He clearly is not motivated by money, as he doesn’t have much to his name. While he is an exceptional car driver, there are plenty of wheeled vehicles he has not quite conquered yet, so he eyes a Baja 1000 race over dunes and offroad terrain.

However… his past catches up with him, as old friend Ruben Cervantes (Bardem) is looking to Hayes for help with his F1 team. Ruben has dumped $350 million into a losing squad and car under his APXGP name. He has some upgrades coming, and an okay 1^st position driver, but the team needs a second man with actual talent. Hayes has some F1 experience from back in the day, however it ended with a violent cash, so he is not looking to get back into that world, and it has been about 30 years.

Of course, we know Hayes will agree to join the team, and he meets top driver and younger hotshot Joshua Pearce (Idris), team leader Kaspar Smolinski (Bodnia) and the only female lead car technical director in the sport, Kate McKenna (Condon). Will Hayes’ skills be too rusty to help the team, or will his unorthodox approach and past knowledge be a boon for the squad who is just looking to pick up some points?

The acting is all really strong and the movie is a decently feel-good experience despite the intense racing and not always winning results. The long pace allows for the story to breathe; however, it does create a 'too-extended' feature. I find no problem here as the runtime never bored me, and the material was always entertaining.

F1 may have a few cliches, and the story may not bring too many surprises, but it’s hard to deny how much fun it is, or how extremely well shot it is. The races are exhilarating, so turn up the sound, turn down the lights and get ready to fly.