An aging racer from the former generation, Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), lives nomadically as a racer-for-hire. Though talented, an accident ended his career early, and since then, he has spiraled into a gambling addiction. Approached by his former teammate Rubén Cervantes (Javier Bardem), Sonny is offered an opportunity to join Rubén’s F1 Team as the second driver, and by extension potentially fulfilling Sonny’s lifelong dream of winning an F1 championship title. Sonny soon finds the road to redemption is never easy and that he needs to rely on his teammates, especially the team’s hotshot rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris).

F1 is an energetic, high-octane action flick with character growth to spare. First and foremost, the film is packed with cinematic racing sequences that pull the audience in with various POVs and sweeping cinematography. Making great use of the taller aspect ratio on IMAX screens, director Joseph Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda deliver expansive shots of the race tracks, showing the geography of the racers in wide shots, and up-close, immersive first-person POVs of the racers driving the cars. The result is a dizzying whirlwind of an experience. Apart from putting you in the perspective of the racer, there is also a huge element of spectating the race as it goes on, as on-the-run sports commentary and off-the-track strategy-planning complement the racing footage, giving me almost a fly-on-the-wall experience with the race from the perspective of an audience and also as part of the technical team.

While balancing the numerous angles of an F1 race, Kosinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger also juggle a large number of character dramas in the story. They weave together the journey of several characters playing various roles in a typical F1 team, including the drivers, the technical lead, the publicist, the manager, the investor, and so on. However, the enormous task did not always land. The plot, treading some narrative clichés, immediately reminds me of the underrated (in my opinion) Cars 3 by Pixar Animation, particularly in how an old-timer racer navigates a new era of racing alongside a new generation of racers. A particular subplot involving potential sabotage and “corporate espionage”, as Javier Bardem puts it in the film, did not work and failed to pique my interest in the slightest. I am also slightly skeptical about the dramatisation of some of the tactics Hayes used while racing. Nevertheless, the film raced by quickly and the 156-minute runtime felt like a breeze.

At the center of the adrenaline rush is Brad Pitt with a captivating performance that cements the film right from the first scene. Accompanying him is an array of talent, particularly Damson Idris, who is terrific as the arrogant yet insecure hotshot. Aside from the racing sequences, the film is at its best whenever the two are on screen together playing off of each other’s performances.

Hans Zimmer delivers an energetic and blood-pumping score for the film. Blending electronic beats with more traditional orchestral music, the score envisions the human warmth of the racer in the steely machine of the car. You can hear when the human or the machine takes over by the way the electronic and the orchestral elements shift within the score. While at times reminiscent of Ludwig Goransson’s score for Tenet or the more recent techno-laced score for Challengers by Atticus Ross and Trent Reznor, Zimmer’s score stands out as a shapeshifting piece that pirouettes between the hardcore electronic booms and the swelling orchestral sound effectively. The result is a masterpiece of a soundtrack that once again proves that Zimmer is a shapeshifter himself who can score for absolutely any genre.

All in all, F1 is a cinematic whirlwind with explosive entertainment and heartfelt character drama. While the story feels familiar, the execution is precise and its technical achievements are excellent.

Author: Chia Jing Heng (andreusjh99)