F1: The Movie

F1 is a high-octane, flag-waving, pulse-raising spectacle that rides the line between cinematic cheese and crowd-pleasing charm largely due to the visuals and the relentless pursuit of entertainment.

This is a film you’ve seen plenty of times before, it is essentially Top Gun: Maverick in an FI car, no surprises given it shares a director and kinetic spirit, and yet somehow, despite all the forehead slapping ‘really?’-ness of it all, it comes out ahead.

Built on a foundation of underdog determination and team spirit, this racing drama burns rubber with every emotional beat, leaning fully into the genre’s familiar tropes while never feeling stale. It really shouldn’t work, and yet it absolutely does.

At the film’s center is Brad Pitt – doing timeless Pitt-isms that mean he his effortlessly watchable if incredibly annoying at times, He’s playing a seasoned driver brought out of semi-retirement to mentor a young prodigy played with effortless charisma by Damson Idris.

The script zips through its expected beats,  rivalries, redemption, last-lap showdowns — but thanks to strong performances, snappy dialogue, and just enough sincerity, F1 finds a gear that’s both heartfelt and thrilling. Javier Bardem and Kerry Condon add a bit of gravitas to underwritten roles, but what did you expect about a film that is bold, brash and fast?

Director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) brings the same immersive, big-screen muscle to the track, with real-life Formula 1 integration that adds a rare authenticity to the racing scenes. These sequences are gorgeously shot, ear-splitting, and kinetic, absolutely made for the cinema. Watching it on a smaller screen would strip away half the fun.

While it occasionally skids into corny territory (how many times can you play the same trick over and over) and plays its emotional beats a bit too loudly, F1 has its foot on the gas and its heart in the right place. It’s a blockbuster designed to thrill, not reinvent the wheel.

© IMDB, Apple Movies

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