
Movie Review: From bumper to bumper, ‘F1' is Formula One spectacle
The wide-screen spectacle of Formula One gets a gleaming, rip-roaring workout in Joseph Kosinski's 'F1,' a fine-tuned machine of a movie that, in its most riveting racing scenes, approaches a kind of high-speed splendor.
Kosinski, who last endeavored to put moviegoers in the seat of a fighter jet in 'Top Gun: Maverick,' has moved to the open cockpits of Formula One with much the same affection, if not outright need, for speed. A lot of the same team is back. Jerry Bruckheimer produces. Ehren Kruger, a co-writer on 'Maverick,' takes sole credit here. Hans Zimmer, a co-composer previously, supplies the thumping score.
And, again, our central figure is an older, high-flying cowboy plucked down in an ultramodern, gas-guzzling conveyance to teach a younger generation about old-school ingenuity and, maybe, the enduring appeal of denim.
But whereas Tom Cruise is a particularly forward-moving action star, Brad Pitt, who stars as the driving-addicted Sonny Hayes in 'F1,' has always been a more arrestingly poised presence. Think of the way he so calmly and half-interestedly faces off with Bruce Lee in Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.' In the opening scene of 'F1,' he's sleeping in a van with headphones on when someone rouses him. He splashes some water on his face and walks a few steps over to the Daytona oval, where he quickly enters his team's car, in the midst of a 24-hour race. Pitt goes from zero to 180 mph in a minute.
Sonny, a long-ago phenom who crashed out of Formula One decades earlier and has since been racing any vehicle, even a taxi, he can get behind the wheel of, is approached by an old friend, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) about joining his flagging F1 team, APX. Sonny turns him down at first but, of course, he joins and 'F1' is off to the races.
The title sequence, exquisitely timed to the syncopated rhythms of Zimmer's score, is a blistering introduction. The hotshot rookie driver Noah Pearce (Damson Idris) is just running a practice lap, but Kosinski, his camera adeptly moving in and out of the cockpit, uses the moment to plunge us into the high-tech world of Formula One, where every inch of the car is connected to digital sensors monitored by a watchful team. Here, that includes technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) and Kaspar Molinski (Kim Bodnia), the team's chief.
Verisimilitude is of obvious importance to the filmmakers, who bathe this very Formula One-authorized film in all the sleek operations and globe-trotting spectacle of the sport. That Apple, which produced the film, would even go for such a high-priced summer movie about Formula One is a testament to the upswing in popularity of a sport once quite niche in America, and of the halo effects of both the Netflix series 'Formula 1: Drive to Survive' and the much-celebrated driver Lewis Hamilton, an executive producer on 'F1.'
Whether 'F1' pleases diehards I'll leave to more ardent followers of the circuit. But what I can say definitively is that Claudio Miranda knows how to shoot it. The cinematographer, who has shot all of Kosinski's films as well as wonders like Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi,' brings Formula One to vivid, visceral life. When 'F1' heads to the big races, Miranda is always simultaneously capturing the zooming cars from the asphalt while backgrounding it with the sweeping spectacle of a course like the U.K.'s fabled Silverstone Circuit.
OK, you might be thinking, so the racing is good; is there a story? There's what I'd call enough of one, though you might have to go to the photo finish to verify that. When Sonny shows up, and rapidly turns one practice vehicle into toast, it's clear that he's going to be an agent of chaos at APX, a low-ranking team that's in heavy debt and struggling to find a car that performs.
This gives Pitt a fine opportunity to flash his charisma, playing Sonny as an obsessive who refuses any trophy and has no real interest in money, either. The flashier, media-ready Noah watches Sonny's arrival with skepticism, and two begin more as rivals than teammates. Idris is up to the mano-a-mano challenge, but he's limited by a role ultimately revolving around — and reducing to — a young Black man learning a lesson in work ethic.
A relationship does develop, but 'F1' struggles to get its characters out of the starting blocks, keeping them closer to the cliches they start out as. The actor who, more than anyone, keeps the momentum going is Condon, playing an aerodynamics specialist whose connection with Pitt's Sonny is immediate. Just as she did in between another pair of headstrong men in 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' Condon is a rush of naturalism.
If there's something preventing 'F1' from hitting full speed, it's its insistence on having its characters constantly voice Sonny's motivations. The same holds true on the race course, where broadcast commentary narrates virtually every moment of the drama. That may be a necessity for a sport where the crucial strategies of hot tires and pit-stop timing aren't quite household concepts. But the best car race movies — from 'Grand Prix' to 'Senna' to 'Ferrari' — know when to rely on nothing but the roar of an engine.
'F1' steers predictably to the finish line, cribbing here and there from sports dramas before it. (Tobias Menzies plays a board member with uncertain corporate goals.) When 'F1' does, finally, quiet down, for one blissful moment, the movie, almost literally, soars. It's not quite enough to forget all the high-octane macho dramatics before it, but it's enough to glimpse another road 'F1' might have taken.
'F1,' an Apple Studios productions released by Warner Bros., is rated PG-13 by the Motion Picture Association for strong language and action. Running time: 155 minutes. Three stars out of four.
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Toronto Sun
6 hours ago
- Toronto Sun
Jerry Bruckheimer hails Brad Pitt as the perfect driver for 'F1'
'He's an amazing actor and he loves motor sports,' legendary producer says Get the latest from Mark Daniell straight to your inbox Brad Pitt and producer Jerry Bruckheimer on the set of "F1." Photo by Warner Bros. NEW YORK CITY — As the man who helped bring Top Gun , Beverly Hills Cop , the Bad Boys movies, Days of Thunder and the Pirates of the Caribbean flicks to the big screen, Hollywood super-producer Jerry Bruckheimer knows what makes a great summer movie. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account There needs to be action, a little romance, a kick-ass soundtrack and big emotional stakes. Of course, the perfect leading man is another necessary ingredient. So when he and his Top Gun: Maverick director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger were reuniting for a story set inside the world of Formula 1 racing, Bruckheimer says they had their eye on one guy to star: Brad Pitt. 'First of all, he's handsome. He's an Academy Award winner. He's an amazing actor and he loves motor sports,' Bruckheimer, 81, tells Postmedia in an interview in a midtown Manhattan hotel. Pitt was also a logical choice, he adds, because 'he drives motorcycles and he's tried to get other racing movies made before.' In theatres Friday, F1 casts Pitt as Sonny Hayes, a washed up racer who is given a second chance when he's hired by his old friend (Javier Bardem) to mentor a hotshot rookie driver ( Snowfall's Damson Idris) on a last-place team. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Damson Idris and Brad Pitt in 'F1.' Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. Dubbed 'the greatest that never was,' Hayes is the antithesis of Pitt, who has been delighting audiences for more than three decades. But Bruckheimer says the actor has just the right type of charm to entertain moviegoers. And you don't need to know a single thing about Formula 1. 'It's not really about the racing. It's about these characters in this world,' the producing giant says. 'When you come into that third act, your heart is pounding. I promise you, no matter who you are … It's a big experience on a IMAX screen. You're going to be captivated for over two hours.' Bruckheimer says that the world of Formula 1 is so drama-filled that it became the perfect jumping-off point for a comeback story that is, at its core, about redemption. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'It's the only sport in the world where there are 10 teams, two drivers to a team and your teammate is your competitor,' he says. 'So, you have this battle within your team to be the best driver. That's a really exciting and dramatic arc for a story. 'But you don't need to know anything about F1 or anything about racing to really enjoy this movie because it's an emotional ride … It's a Rocky story,' Bruckheimer continues. 'It's about a character who had an opportunity and blew it when he was young. Loved racing, raced all around the world, but never got invited back to F1. Now he gets invited back when he's much older. So he has to work twice as hard and train twice as hard to be able to get into these cars and win.' Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in 'F1.' Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. Made in collaboration with well-known names from the Formula 1 community, F1 boasts seven-time F1 champ Lewis Hamilton among its producers. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. To add to the verisimilitude, Kosinski adopted the same filmmaking style he employed on Maverick with Pitt and Idris getting behind the wheel and driving the cars for real at speeds of up to 180-miles-per-hour on film. 'You're in the seat with Brad and you're having a blast with him,' Bruckheimer says. Filming for F1 took place in front of hundreds of thousands of spectators at actual Formula 1 races like Silverstone — home of the British Grand Prix — and at the Hungaroring near Budapest; as well as the Circuit of Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium; Japan's Suzuka track; the Vegas strip and Abu Dhabi's Yas Marina circuit. Cameras would roll between practice and qualifying runs on Grand Prix weekends with the fictional APXGP squad becoming a fixture on the circuit. 'We put you inside a world you would never be a part of,' Bruckheimer says. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Formula 1 boss Stefano Domenicali and Ferrari driver Hamilton saw the potential for the film to boost global interest in the motorsport, Bruckheimer says. 'Myself, Brad and Joe went to London and met with Stefano. We said, 'Here's the movie we want to make. This is something that will be emotional, but it will tell the world, especially in America, how phenomenal your sport is.' He said, 'Great. How can we help you?' He understood the value of it.' Domenicali could see how Top Gun boosted interest in the U.S. Navy after it was released in 1986. 'When we did the first Top Gun , we wanted to shoot at (Naval Air Station) Miramar in San Diego, where the Top Gun base is,' Bruckheimer explains. 'The admiral on the base said, 'No way.' Tom (Cruise), (director) Tony (Scott) and I went to see the Secretary of the Navy John Lehman and (he said yes). He knew what it would do for the Navy. Their recruiting went up 500% because of Top Gun . This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. 'Stefano knew we were going to make a great movie that would be great for the sport,' the Oscar nominee says. A scene from 'F1,' opening June 27. Photo by Warner Bros. With F1 set to be the second stunt-heavy film hitting theatres this summer after the latest Mission: Impossible , Bruckheimer says Pitt had a big grin whenever he got behind the wheel on the track. It was two worlds coming together in the most authentic way possible. 'My happiest day was when we were in Abu Dhabi and Brad climbed out of the car for the last time he drove it,' Bruckheimer says grinning. 'That was his unhappiest day because he loved driving so much.' F1 opens in theatres Friday, June 27. mdaniell@ Columnists Toronto & GTA Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA


Toronto Sun
2 days ago
- Toronto Sun
Review: From bumper to bumper, 'F1' is Formula One spectacle
Published Jun 19, 2025 • 4 minute read Damson Idris and Brad Pitt in 'F1'. Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. The wide-screen spectacle of Formula One gets a gleaming, rip-roaring workout in Joseph Kosinski's 'F1,' a fine-tuned machine of a movie that, in its most riveting racing scenes, approaches a kind of high-speed splendor. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account Kosinski, who last endeavored to put moviegoers in the seat of a fighter jet in 'Top Gun: Maverick,' has moved to the open cockpits of Formula One with much the same affection, if not outright need, for speed. A lot of the same team is back. Jerry Bruckheimer produces. Ehren Kruger, a co-writer on 'Maverick,' takes sole credit here. Hans Zimmer, a co-composer previously, supplies the thumping score. Brad Pitt stars in 'F1,' a new race-car drama heading to theatres this summer. Photo by Warner Bros../ Apple And, again, our central figure is an older, high-flying cowboy plucked down in an ultramodern, gas-guzzling conveyance to teach a younger generation about old-school ingenuity and, maybe, the enduring appeal of denim. But whereas Tom Cruise is a particularly forward-moving action star, Brad Pitt, who stars as the driving-addicted Sonny Hayes in 'F1,' has always been a more arrestingly poised presence. Think of the way he so calmly and half-interestedly faces off with Bruce Lee in Quentin Tarantino's 'Once Upon a Time … in Hollywood.' In the opening scene of 'F1,' he's sleeping in a van with headphones on when someone rouses him. He splashes some water on his face and walks a few steps over to the Daytona oval, where he quickly enters his team's car, in the midst of a 24-hour race. Pitt goes from zero to 180 mph in a minute. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Sonny, a long-ago phenom who crashed out of Formula One decades earlier and has since been racing any vehicle, even a taxi, he can get behind the wheel of, is approached by an old friend, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) about joining his flagging F1 team, APX. Sonny turns him down at first but, of course, he joins and 'F1' is off to the races. The title sequence, exquisitely timed to the syncopated rhythms of Zimmer's score, is a blistering introduction. The hotshot rookie driver Noah Pearce (Damson Idris) is just running a practice lap, but Kosinski, his camera adeptly moving in and out of the cockpit, uses the moment to plunge us into the high-tech world of Formula One, where every inch of the car is connected to digital sensors monitored by a watchful team. Here, that includes technical director Kate McKenna (Kerry Condon) and Kaspar Molinski (Kim Bodnia), the team's chief. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Verisimilitude is of obvious importance to the filmmakers, who bathe this very Formula One-authorized film in all the sleek operations and globe-trotting spectacle of the sport. That Apple, which produced the film, would even go for such a high-priced summer movie about Formula One is a testament to the upswing in popularity of a sport once quite niche in America, and of the halo effects of both the Netflix series 'Formula 1: Drive to Survive' and the much-celebrated driver Lewis Hamilton, an executive producer on 'F1.' Whether 'F1' pleases diehards I'll leave to more ardent followers of the circuit. But what I can say definitively is that Claudio Miranda knows how to shoot it. The cinematographer, who has shot all of Kosinski's films as well as wonders like Ang Lee's 'Life of Pi,' brings Formula One to vivid, visceral life. When 'F1' heads to the big races, Miranda is always simultaneously capturing the zooming cars from the asphalt while backgrounding it with the sweeping spectacle of a course like the U.K.'s fabled Silverstone Circuit. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. OK, you might be thinking, so the racing is good; is there a story? There's what I'd call enough of one, though you might have to go to the photo finish to verify that. When Sonny shows up, and rapidly turns one practice vehicle into toast, it's clear that he's going to be an agent of chaos at APX, a low-ranking team that's in heavy debt and struggling to find a car that performs. This gives Pitt a fine opportunity to flash his charisma, playing Sonny as an obsessive who refuses any trophy and has no real interest in money, either. The flashier, media-ready Noah watches Sonny's arrival with skepticism, and two begin more as rivals than teammates. Idris is up to the mano-a-mano challenge, but he's limited by a role ultimately revolving around — and reducing to — a young Black man learning a lesson in work ethic. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Brad Pitt as Sonny Hayes in 'F1'. Photo by Apple Films/ Warner Bros. A relationship does develop, but 'F1' struggles to get its characters out of the starting blocks, keeping them closer to the cliches they start out as. The actor who, more than anyone, keeps the momentum going is Condon, playing an aerodynamics specialist whose connection with Pitt's Sonny is immediate. Just as she did in between another pair of headstrong men in 'The Banshees of Inisherin,' Condon is a rush of naturalism. If there's something preventing 'F1' from hitting full speed, it's its insistence on having its characters constantly voice Sonny's motivations. The same holds true on the race course, where broadcast commentary narrates virtually every moment of the drama. That may be a necessity for a sport where the crucial strategies of hot tires and pit-stop timing aren't quite household concepts. But the best car race movies — from 'Grand Prix' to 'Senna' to 'Ferrari' — know when to rely on nothing but the roar of an engine. 'F1' steers predictably to the finish line, cribbing here and there from sports dramas before it. (Tobias Menzies plays a board member with uncertain corporate goals.) When 'F1' does, finally, quiet down, for one blissful moment, the movie, almost literally, soars. It's not quite enough to forget all the high-octane macho dramatics before it, but it's enough to glimpse another road 'F1' might have taken. RATING: Three stars out of four Read More News MMA NHL Editorial Cartoons Soccer


Geek Dad
2 days ago
- Geek Dad
Umbrella Academy: Plan B # 1— The Sparrow Academy
It is a rare occasion when we witness a superb adaptation finish a line before the story is fully drawn, and I am thrilled to know that things in comic form will be as weird and different as a set of timelines set off by Number 1. Six years later, we pick up where we left off. After the mass release of The City's greatest foes and the chaos that was to be known as Hotel Oblivion, Umbrella learns that other brothers and sisters exist : The Sparrow Academy. Mom is alive and well, and the Sparrows are dubbed by her as the best ones. They tell their siblings (as only siblings can do) the Umbrellas were the failures. No one knows how to hurt each other more than family, and this will be an all-out battle for the upper hand, a bloody one. This adaptation invites you to reread the cult classic and remember how things ended up, because we will tend to mix it up with the TV series (and things are very different). I have to say that in 2019, I was wondering about how they were going to film Hotel Oblivion, and the wedding party at the end of the world surpassed my expectations. It is one of my favorite screen scenes of all time, as it reminds me of my very weird and wonderful family (we are six siblings). Having said that, this will be blood and mayhem all around, and I can′t wait! ′Umbrella Academy: Plan B # 1′ is on sale since June 11th, 2025. Genre: Superhero, Science-Fiction, Action/Adventure Format: FC, 32 pages; Miniseries Price: $4.99 UPC: 7 61568 01420 4 00151