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In the Summer of 2022, director Joseph Kosinski was the hot topic. His well-adored Top Gun: Maverick not only became the new pinnacle for the summer blockbuster but also reminded audiences of what a legacy sequel should be. As soon as his F1 feature was announced, fans have been hoping for the thrills and fun that Maverick provided. F1 The Movie boasts expectedly phenomenal racing sequences, great cinematography, a toe-tapping score and an impressive ensemble cast with Condon as the standout. Unfortunately, the pit-stops between each race are lacklustre, with a lack of development, mediocre dialogue, and a generic feel.
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F1 The Movie follows racing legend Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), who was dubbed ‘the greatest that never was’ after an accident in the 1990s nearly ended his career. Thirty years later, Sonny is a nomadic racer-for-hire when he’s approached by his former teammate Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of a struggling Formula 1 team that is on the verge of collapse. Ruben convinces Sonny to come back to Formula 1 for one last shot at saving the team and being the best in the world. He’ll drive alongside Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), the team’s hotshot rookie, intent on setting his own pace. As the engines roar, Sonny’s past catches up with him, and he finds that in Formula 1, your teammate is your fiercest competition, and the road to redemption is not something you can travel alone.
Whether you’re a Formula 1 fan, a casual viewer, just dipping your toes into the sport, or know nothing about it, you’re likely buying your admission ticket for one thing: the racing sequences. As high-octane, energetic, and jaw-dropping as they should be, those sequences are undoubtedly the standout of the movie and are worth seeing on the biggest, loudest screen possible. Playful camerawork, intense sound design, and urgency in the script ensure these scenes make the mark we expect them to. The score from Hans Zimmer is fantastic, matching the tone of these scenes perfectly and adding yet another layer of energy. The addition of fireworks in the sky, snappy dialogue from the team in order to keep our drivers on track, and cinematography that highlights everyone’s part to play, each race scene is immersive and unforgettable. Showing us how much of a team effort Formula 1 really is only adds to the excitement and urgency; from the driver to the pit stop team and even the technical director behind the car’s design, F1 ensures that it’s not only the driver in the limelight.
F1 The Movie Nails the Thrill of the Track—But Misses on Emotional Mileage
If you’re not hitting up the cinema this weekend to see how stunning those racing scenes really are, it’s likely because you want to see this cast in action. We have a real ensemble on our hands, and they carry the film nicely. Of course, Brad Pitt (Fight Club) is our leading man in Sonny Hayes, and though it may not be his most memorable role of all time, he impresses nonetheless. The role doesn’t demand much from him in terms of emotion or depth, meaning he approaches it on a laid-back level, but it works well enough and suits his style. Starring opposite our young hotshot Joshua Pearce is Damson Idris (The Commuter), who really gets to flex his range and put himself on the map. Where Pitt’s Sonny is experienced, levelled and merely searching for a good race, Pearce is cocky and arrogant whilst really trying to be the best he can be. This makes for a nice juxtaposition between our leads, and Idris carries the dual nature of his cocksure yet emotional character well. The heart and soul of the movie winds up being Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) as the lovable Kate, F1’s first female technical director, who has a lot to prove. Adding a burst of romance for our lead and grounding the movie with her lived-in believability, she has an awful lot to offer and becomes quite the scene-stealer. Great performances are also delivered by Javier Bardem (Dune), Tobias Menzies (Atonement), and the always lovely Sarah Niles (Ted Lasso) as the mother of Joshua.
Most people attribute basically every theme and emotion to the summer blockbuster. To be widely agreed as a successful one, a movie must have engaging action, a tangible love story, a balance of humour and emotion, high stakes, and a banging soundtrack to tie it all together. Where F1 certainly dips its toe into all the above, it really lacks depth where it matters. Pitt and Condon are talented enough to ensure their blooming romance is believable, but they can’t save it from lacking the development within the script to make it count. Their romantic sequences play out in a cringeworthy fashion, which takes away from their chemistry. The story carrying us between the race scenes is solid enough, but with bland dialogue that doesn’t offer much excitement, and no character development, which ultimately prevents us from getting to know our team, everything outside of the action becomes lacklustre. Intriguing themes of grief, loss, the fallout from injury, and the difficulty of balancing the job with making a name for yourself in the limelight are all hinted at, but don’t get nearly enough exploration as they should. Given its lengthy run-time of 156 minutes, this prevents it from feeling warranted. Its biggest downfall is within the character of Sonny Hayes – outside of one or two scenes showing his crash in the 90’s, one line of dialogue letting us know his father died, and the fact that he is viewed as an old-timer, we know very little about him. When added to the lack of emotion the script demands from Pitt, he isn’t the most compelling lead.
F1 The Movie should be viewed for its racing sequences and camerawork alone. Fans of the sport are going to be in awe, as it manages to capture the intensity of the race whilst adding in many familiar faces, including Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Lando Norris, to name just a few, due to it being shot during actual F1 weekends. It might lack the depth it requires to give it legs and help it stand up to the likes of Top Gun: Maverick, which it can’t avoid being compared to, as more character work and better dialogue are needed. However, the target audience is going to be impressed, and it undoubtedly provides a couple of hours of movie-going fun.
Grade: B-
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F1 The Movie
Racing legend Sonny Hayes is coaxed out of retirement to lead a struggling Formula 1 team—and mentor a young hotshot driver—while chasing one more chance at glory.
