THE EMPIRE
Thanks to Universal Pictures and Warner Bros NZ, we headed out to catch a screening of the brand new F1 movie, just before it was released this week.
I was so keen to see this movie as an avid motorsport and car lover, I will say I had my doubts. I feel like I must preface the following thoughts with a couple of disclaimers: 1) I do not follow F1 specifically. I’m more across the dirt-track speedway, V8, American muscle scene, and 2) I am happily and unashamedly a sucker for a “so-bad-it’s-good” movie. So do with that what you will.
For this movie I was prepared – like most people I talked to – for an epic, over-dramatised, unbelievable, Hollywood-bastardisation of what many consider to be the pinnacle of global motorsport. But I am very pleased to report that this movie thoroughly surprised me! Let’s dive in ..
The Story
Dubbed “the greatest that never was,” Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt) was F1’s most promising up-and-coming talent of the 1990s. Thirty years later, in “present day”, he’s a nomadic racer-for-hire when an old friend talks him into heading back to F1 for one more shot at being the best in the world, and to help save his racing team. I’m sure you can guess the rest, and if not – go watch it.
The Pro’s
Racing – firstly, this movie does an epic job with the race scenes – and thankfully, there’s a lot of them (as you’d expect). I read that the crew had extensive sessions physically at F1 tracks and races, and this is clear in the way the movie watches – almost like a video game, but in a great way. For the eagle-eyed amongst you, you might notice that they’ve also blended their fictional shots with real-life footage from previous Grand Prix races, which just lifts the race sequences in terms of authenticity. I feel like they did extremely well to put the audience in the driver’s seat, and give you as much of the adrenaline, passion, excitement, tension and nerves that the drivers must feel – even if it’s not even one-tenths of the real thing. Short of a VR or simulator gaming setup, or being in the physical car itself, I think this is the closest any of us average Joe’s will get to the inside of these machines – and it’s for this reason alone that I strongly suggest you catch this movie while it’s on the big screen.
Music – we were talking about the music while we were waiting for the movie to start, and one of our group mentioned they’d been listening to the soundtrack and weren’t too fussed, there were ‘a couple bangers’, but it wasn’t much to write home about. I bloody loved the music all the way through this movie. There was a great mix of some classics and new releases, and for those that know me, know that I’m not really a fan of most music released these days (yeah yeah, I hear those wise cracks), but I found my toe-tapping and my head-bopping (is that still a thing?) all the way through.
Authenticity – Now, this is a tricky one. I’ve listed this as a con as well, so just bear with me for a bit. What I love about this movie is the race footage – as I’ve already mentioned – but to add to the films believability, they got Lewis Hamilton on board as a Producer, and really immersed themselves in the F1 as a whole, which I think has been key to this movie not being a total cheeseball-flop. It was also Toto Wolff, Team Principal of Mercedes, that inspired director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) to use real race cars for Brad Pitt and Damson Idris to actually drive for shooting, which adds an authenticity that I don’t think even the best green screen could. I could see the connection between the movie and the sport, and the respect the film is trying to show it and everyone involved in it, and I appreciate the hell out of that! Also the cameos from drivers (including kiwi driver Liam Lawson), other Team Principles, a commentator and the F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali are fun, and add to the sensation that this could actually really be happening. Maybe. Kind of.
The Con’s
There’s not really as many as I was expecting!
The Cheese – This is obviously a big-budget, Hollywood movie, so there is an element of what I’ve been calling the “Hollywood cheese”, which is mainly what makes these big movies come across as unbelievable or over the top – especially for fans that might know about or be involved in F1 or motorsport as a whole.
Story – Unfortunately, the film follows the standard Hollywood formula, so it is predictable. They did sneak in a couple of surprises – but without wanting to reveal too much, in hindsight and considering the sport, it would be even more unrealistic if they didn’t include them, so in some ways the surprises are also predictable. But I will counter this point, with the fact that for me, the plot was secondary anyway. I was there for the machines, the speed, the noise and the thrill that is F1, and this delivered all of that. The only thing missing was the smell of race fuel, hot asphalt and burning rubber.
Authenticity – As I mentioned, I’m a speedway and supercar fan, so I haven’t spent too much time watching true F1 racing. I know ‘it’s just a movie’ … However – I’m pretty sure you couldn’t just walk into an F1 team, have a few test drives, and then jump straight into driving in a Grand Prix. Even if you had previously raced 30 years ago – probably even more of a reason that you couldn’t! Also to an untrained eye or a general movie-goer, this won’t matter, but the cars are modified F2 cars, not authentic F1 cars. This didn’t bother me much – as the team worked with the Mercedes AMG F1 team and their engineers to get the cheaper race cars looking like authentic F1’s, but ones that could also perform the way they needed them too, with many cameras mounted on them as well. I’m sure F1 fans will have much more to pick this movie apart over, but I chose to view this through a “it’s just a movie” lens.
Overall
For the die hard F1 fans – if you’re planning to watch this (or being dragged along), just go in expecting the worst, take in the techniques used, the way the race sequences are shot and shown, and the efforts they did go to with their research, planning and engineering, and hopefully you won’t leave the cinema completely mortified.
Otherwise – “it’s just a movie”, but I do recommend giving it a watch! I think it’s essentially a Hollywood love-letter to F1 racing, and as long as you take your grain of salt with you, you’ll enjoy a decent movie experience.
We’ve been comparing this to other movies like: Rush, Ford vs Ferrari, and Top Gun: Maverick (this one due to the epic way Krasinski can shoot and capture sheer speed). So if you’re a fan of those films, definitely see this one.
Due to the movie following the tried and true Hollywood formula, there is something for everyone here – there’s laughs, there’s tears, there’s adrenaline, drama, conflict, and the feel-good factor – what more could you want?
We did have a running joke throughout the screening, about what Brad Pitt’s contribution was to the film as a producer. The theory we settled on was that he used every opportunity throughout the movie to remind the audience just how much of an attractive man he is. And ya know, he’s not wrong. So good job Brad 👍🏼
RATING: solid 8/10
TIP: must-watch at the cinema. Big screen and surround sound make this watch an absolute experience.
– Hannah
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