Every summer, movie theaters across the country are filled with action films that are made only to wow and entertain. While few have hope for any sort of a lasting impression, the same cannot be said for this year’s summer smash, Baby Driver.

Baby Driver, directed by  Edgar Wright, tells the story of Baby (Ansel Elgort), a young and skilled driver with tinnitus, who drives a get away car for crime boss Doc (Kevin Spacey) in order to financially support his deaf guardian Pops (CJ Jones). While Baby wants out, Doc wants him to do one more job alongside Bats (Jamie Foxx) and Buddy (Jon Hamm).

The movie, released Friday, June 30, has been praised by critics for its stylized driving scenes, its charismatic performances, and, most of all, its soundtrack – because of Baby’s tinnitus, he drives around with headphones in to block out the constant ringing.

BABY DRIVER REVIEW ROUND UP

Still, this is Wright’s show. Best known for his Cornetto Trilogy (Shaun of the Dead, Hot Fuzz and The World’s End), the ever-dazzling Wright tops himself with this start-to-finish sensation. It’s not computers that generate the fireworks – the stunts are mostly done in camera (kudos to cinematographer Bill Pope), which gives the action a you-are-there urgency that the digiverse can’t match … The British director’s attention to detail pays off handsomely … Wright is a true man of action, a cinematic grandmaster. Buckle up.” – Peter Travers, Rolling Stone

“Baby Driver is an almost perfect pastiche, a thoroughly enjoyable object. But sue me, I kind of miss the losers of the Cornetto Trilogy. In the masterpieces Shaun of the Dead and The World’s End, Wright blends humiliation comedy with the choreographed mayhem, finding humanity in between; when the characters start fighting zombies to the accompaniment of Queen songs, you roar with approval not just for the filmmaking but for the triumph of little people finding their rhythm. In Baby Driver, by contrast, everybody is super-cool, and I’m not sure they ever quite come to life. But it’s all so effective as a demented action spectacle that this is a minor quibble. I’ll probably see this thing ten more times.” – Bilge Ebiri, Village Voice

“Sometimes I just want a movie that kicks ass. And Edgar Wright’s Baby Driver delivers. From the breathless opening car chase through Atlanta as Baby drives getaway for bank robbers Buddy, Darling and Griff in a red Subaru the movie does what a popcorn film should in this summer of shame: makes the audience forget about current events and follow the action’s live current. Let ‘er rip!” – Thelma Adams, New York Observer 

“The action sequences here, imbued with humor and break-on-a-dime timing, are the most beautifully sustained and jaw-dropping of Wright’s career. You’ll be rewinding them in your head for days—especially if, like the distinctly millennial Baby, you’re iPod-weaned, with a perfect pop nugget for every occasion. Just watch those stop signs.”  – Joshua Rothkopf, Timeout

Watch the Baby Driver trailer below.