TMW #63: F1® The Movie, 28 Years Later and Elio reviewed
Plus the week's biggest trailers and more
In this week’s Friday review round-up, there are some huge new releases including F1® The Movie, 28 Years Later and Pixar’s Elio - and to keep your movie diet balanced, we’ve also got a foreign-language documentary. Enjoy, and let us know what you end up watching this weekend!
F1® The Movie
12A, in cinemas 25 June
⭐⭐⭐⭐☆
Missing a trick by not offering nationwide preview screenings on Father’s Day, F1® The Movie seems precision-tooled to appeal to dads. Beyond the fast motor cars, there’s old-school star power, intergenerational bonding, life lessons delivered via poker games, unrealistic second chances and Fleetwood Mac on the soundtrack. But like a vehicle refined for minimal wind resistance and maximum control, this efficient crowdpleaser is likely to comfortably please anyone seeking a big-screen thrill.
Top Gun: Maverick comparisons are inevitable, and not just because of the reunion of director Joseph Kosinski, producer Jerry Bruckheimer and writer Ehren Kruger, or the presence of a charismatic, age-defying 60-something leading man in a jumpsuit. Where Maverick put you in the cockpit of F/A-18 fighter jets, F1® The Movie puts you in the driver’s seat of one of the fastest things on four wheels, inviting you to feel every G as the cars tear around Grand Prix tracks. At its best, it feels like what blockbuster cinema was made for, and like Maverick, it’s a throwback that uses the highest of modern tech.
There’s no escaping the formula in Formula One here. Made in conjunction with the FIA (Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile), this officially sanctioned film is also a latecomer to the recent-ish ‘movies about products’ subgenre, although here the globe-trotting motorsport is the slick backdrop rather than the narrative focus; this isn’t a film about the creation of F1. Instead, it tells the far-fetched story of the implausibly named Sonny Hayes (Brad Pitt), a racer who hasn’t participated in Formula One for three decades, but has kept his foot on the pedal of other motorsports while living nomadically out of his van.
From the woodwork emerges Sonny’s old pal, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), owner of the fictional APXGP racing team, to offer him an open seat. Lured by the chance to prove that he’s “the absolute best in the world”, Sonny takes the offer, much to the chagrin of APX’s rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris). The pieces are now in place for a TG:M-style clash between Sonny and his hot-headed protege (and the suits and the tech team that are powering this venture).
You don’t need to be an expert in underdog sports movies to see where this is going, and you’ll likely be as familiar with the story’s upcoming contours as Sonny and JP are of the turns on their tracks. But this is cinema as a rollercoaster experience. The racing sequences are often absolutely gobsmacking. That’s what you pay the ticket price for, and they deliver – Kosinski and cinematographer Claudio Miranda (another Maverick holdover) really do put you right in the heart of the action, to the point you can feel the Gs and smell the rubber. There’s a camera pan used more than once – where the view whips 180° from forward-facing to rear-view – that’s just flat-out superb.
Counterintuitive as this might sound as a criticism, F1® The Movie arguably serves up too much of a good thing, as the sequences lose some of their impact across so many races in the season. Thankfully, Kosinski keeps enough in the tank for the climactic showdown to electrify again.
Some smart casting also pays off: Pitt (also a producer) has the broad screen charisma to set the tone of the whole endeavour; Bardem fully understands his scenery-chewing assignment, and also nabs the funniest lines; Kerry Condon impresses as the head of the tech team, feeling more than a cypher; and Idris holds his own as Pitt’s foil. It’s a shame that Lewis Hamilton (who also produces) doesn’t get to make much impact on screen, with his late, barely-there appearance in a race feeling fumbled.
F1® The Movie is a film you could easily shred apart for its predictability, ever–present product placement, and the requirement of suspension of disbelief at almost all times. But it’s so slickly engineered by Kosinski and his Pitt crew, that you’ll want to just forgive it all that and go along for the ride. (Matt Maytum)
IN SHORT: Storytelling cliches don’t ultimately slow down a star vehicle that’s a must-see on the biggest of screens (preferably IMAX).
STAY FOR THE END CREDITS? There’s some high-speed off-road footage that plays over the first part of the credits, but you don’t need to stay till the bitter end.
IS THAT…? Yes, you get the briefest glimpse of Bridgerton star Simone Ashley, whose storyline didn’t make the final cut.
28 Years Later
15, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
A very different take on the legacy sequel, 28 Years Later revives the franchise in almost real time (in reality, 28 Days Later opened 23 years ago). But returning director Danny Boyle and screenwriter Alex Garland don’t go down the route of playing the same beats to crowdpleasing effect. They don’t even bring back any familiar characters, although that could change with later instalments, as this is the start of a proposed trilogy.
You don’t even really need to have seen Boyle and Garland’s 2002 film, and even less so the 2007 sequel directed by Juan Carlos Fresnadillo; you can dive straight in here if you wish. A prologue and brief text dump at the beginning tell you everything you need to know. After the outbreak of the Rage virus, the British mainland is quarantined, with Europe managing to stave off the spread. A brief sequence in the Scottish highlands – brutally juxtaposing Teletubbies with blood-spewing contagion – brings you up to speed, before a ‘28 years later’ caption does double-duty as a title drop and a context-setter.
Post-outbreak, a band of survivors has made a home on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, which is separated from the mainland by a causeway and protected like a fortress. There’s a life-goes-on vibe in this community eking out an existence, albeit a meagre one (bacon with breakfast is a rare treat, and shampoo is seemingly in short supply). If there’s a protagonist in this unusually structured film, it’s Spike (Alfie Williams), a young boy born on the island to Jamie (Aaron Taylor-Johnson) and Isla (Jodie Comer). While Isla practically lives in her bed, struggling with her mental and physical health, Jamie prepares to take Spike on his first scavenging trip to the mainland (before he’s ready, according to more cautious islanders). Armed with knives and bows and arrows, they cross over at low tide - and naturally, it’s not just a simple father-son day out.
To say too much more of the plot risks stripping 28YL of some of its more intriguing revelations, but suffice to say it’s a film of two halves that evolves into something more pensive and mythical, while remaining distinctly British. You never forget that this is the Danny Boyle who directed the 2012 Summer Olympics opening ceremony. But there’s not exactly a shortage of action. The zombies (the z-word is dropped in the film) have developed since we last saw them. Leading some packs are bigger, stronger ‘Alphas’. Also spotted in the wild are “slow-lows” – obese, worm-eating ground-crawlers who seem to live in family units. There are moments of sustained tension – for the most part, the infected can still move bloody fast – and despite the mainland being desolate and run-down, there are still remnants of civilisation that form the basis for claustrophobic set-pieces.
For those seeking the ragged, breathless thrills of Days, expectations need to be managed: this isn’t a particularly scary film. That’s not the be-all and end-all for a horror, but it can be problematic when previous instalments have set the bar at a certain level. Even with the new variants in the mix, the infected never feel that frightening. Mostly nude due to the ravages of time – all mud-caked buttocks and swinging schlongs – they’re occasionally on the cusp of comical. And while Brexit and pandemic comparisons inevitably arise, Boyle and Garland don’t labour the point, to the extent it’s not particularly clear what they’re trying to say.
Taylor-Johnson and Comer are both decent, even if they never quite disappear into their characters. More naturalistic is impressive newcomer Williams, and Ralph Fiennes is also fantastic in a preconception-defying role that’s better discovered in the course of the film.
Shot on iPhones, there’s a grainy aesthetic that’s in keeping with Days (DoP Anthony Dod Mantle shot both), though the punkiness is pushed further here, with a tendency to intercut scenes in an art-movie style; liberal sprinklings of footage from Laurence Olivier’s Henry V verge on the pretentious. There’s some beautiful imagery here – from a motionless Alpha standing in wait as the sun sets, to prominent use of the sadly felled Sycamore Gap tree, to the faded eyes on a weather-worn Tango advert. But there are also some clunky VFX, at odds with the otherwise grounded sensibility of this ‘What If?’ scenario: a stampede of deer feels particularly digital in an otherwise earthily realised world.
And after a tone-shifting second half that proves unexpectedly moving, the decision to end on an absurd coda feels equal parts applause-worthy, audacious and distractingly bonkers. It’s likely to be extremely divisive and will create discourse that spreads as fast and fervently as Rage. (Matt Maytum)
IN SHORT: A thought-provoking post-apocalyptic thriller that takes admirably big swings, not all of which connect.
STAY FOR THE END CREDITS? Nope – this film’s outrageous equivalent of a post-credit scene arrives just before the credits roll.
HUNGRY FOR MORE? 28 Years Later: The Bone Temple, directed by Nia DaCosta, is only months away, opening in January 2026. The planned third instalment in this new trilogy is currently seeking funding. “Really we’ll have to wait and see how we do, I think that will influence whether we get the money for the third film,” Boyle told Screen International.
Elio
PG, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Pixar’s post-Coco run of so-so animated offerings continues apace with Elio – a sweet, but slight intergalactic adventure that bears the hallmarks of a bumpy production.
Orphaned following the death of his parents, eleven-year-old Elio (Yonas Kibreab) is taken in by his aunt Olga (Zoe Saldaña), a major in the Air Force who puts astronaut training on pause to look after her nephew. Sensing a purpose among the stars, Elio dreams of being abducted by aliens – an improbability that becomes a reality when the communiverse, aka the UN of ETs, invites Elio to join its ranks, believing him to be Earth’s leader.
Elio chooses not to correct this fortuitous case of mistaken identity, but finds himself out of his depth when he volunteers to negotiate with the warmongering Lord Grigon (Brad Garrett) in order to secure his place in the communiverse. Fail, and he’ll be responsible for its destruction.
It’s a fussier plot than we’re used to from Pixar, critically lacking the clean high concept and inextricable emotional throughline of the studio’s defining stories. For example, also central to Elio is Glordon – Grigon’s adorable space-slug offspring who has no desire to follow in his father's destructive trail. He's a delightful presence, voiced winningly by Remy Edgerly, but a character whose arc feels reverse-engineered for a tear-jerking climactic payoff.
With three credited directors, including Domee Shi (Turning Red) and Adrian Molina (Coco), there are tell-tale signs of a film retooled mid-production. A third-act debris-dodging space-escape feels particularly underpowered and conceptually bland. But despite all its flaws, Elio is as bewitchingly animated and gorgeously rendered as anything Pixar puts its creative might behind.
Compared to the more muted vision of star-travel in 2022's Lightyear, Elio is a dazzlingly colourful, visually ravishing, gleefully weird vision of space. And Elio's longing for place and connection is treated with touching sincerity. Above all, it's admirable that Pixar continues to shoot for the stars with original movies when more bankable sequels are there for the making, but Wall-E or Inside Out this ain’t. (Jordan Farley)
ROLE OVER Though not a John Ratzenberger-level regular, Brad Garrett has several Pixar priors, most notably playing Gusteau in Ratatouille.
The Last Journey
PG, in cinemas now
⭐⭐⭐☆☆
Non-Swedish viewers may not know Filip Hammar from Adam, but many will recognise the TV celeb’s dilemma: how to coax his ageing dad out of the funk he’s been sinking deeper and deeper into since retirement? Filip’s solution is to ease 80-year-old Lars out of his old armchair and into an orange Renault 4 (just like the one the family used to own) for a road trip to the former teacher’s beloved south of France. Co-directed by Hammar and showbiz partner/bestie Fredrik Wikingsson (who’s also along for the ride), this accessible documentary - the highest-grossing in Swedish history - has the contrived feel you often get with spontaneous-road-trip docs where comic opportunity awaits at every junction and rest stop (see also Will & Harper).
There’s also the unsettling sense at times that Filip is nudging his dad a tad too hard to be the sprightly fun-lover he remembers from childhood. Acceptance of the unavoidable facts of ageing does come eventually, but reliving the past far outweighs facing the future; on balance, we’re left entertained, but hankering for deeper insights. Still, Filip and Fredrik’s well-oiled, consistently amusing repartee reveals why they’ve been a successful double act for decades. And however misguided Filip’s intentions can appear, his love for Lars is clearly immense, expressed most movingly in the It’s a Wonderful Life-esque gesture he orchestrates for the film’s big, beach-set finale. (Matthew Leyland)
JOURNEY TO THE PODIUM: The Last Journey was put forward as Sweden’s entry for Best International Feature Film at this year’s Oscars. It didn’t make the shortlist, but did pick up a brace of gongs at the Guldbagge Awards (aka the Swedish Oscars).
Trailer Club
From cradling old photographs to standing silhouetted by the lake, our first look at Scott Cooper’s Bruce Springsteen biopic promises a sombre vibe in keeping with the album the story centres on, 1982’s Nebraska. True, by the end of the trailer Bruce (played by Jeremy Allen White) is belting out ‘Born to Run’, but elsewhere there are more hints of stark, downbeat drama, with flashbacks to Springsteen’s childhood (suggested caption: The Boss: Baby) lensed in Raging Bull-esque black and white. Jeff Bridges won an Oscar on Cooper’s watch in earlier musical portrait Crazy Heart; alongside White (who’s got the Springsteen seal of approval), potential big-award nominees here include Jeremy Strong as manager Jon Landau and, as Springsteen’s dad Douglas, Stephen Graham (also a hit with the veteran rocker).
The jury’s still out on whether Liam Neeson’s deadpan skills are a match for Leslie Nielsen’s, but the latest trailer for The Naked Gun certainly has a handle on other series staples: puns, inadvertent destruction, terrible policing…
The second trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer boasts a callback to the ’97 original fans will Love…
Looks like Dream isn’t going quietly into the night in this epic preview of the second - and final - season of The Sandman. Keep ‘em peeled for Jack Gleeson (Game of Thrones’ Joffrey)...
There’s park strife for Eric Bana, Sam Neill and Rosemarie DeWitt in Netflix’s Yosemite-set murder-mystery series Untamed…
On the Wingman office stereo…
Watching F1® The Movie sent us hurtling down memory lane to another Jerry Bruckheimer-produced A-list racing flick, which spawned this UK No.1. It remained in pole position for four weeks - the early 90s being the peak era for the movie-tie-in power ballad, when listeners simply wanted MOR, MOR, MOR…
I am really looking forward to seeing F1 on Thursday. I saw 28YL last night having watched Days the night before. For the most part I did enjoy it but I do think it was a bit clunky (for lack of a better word) in parts. It seemed very much like 2 stories put together. And the ending seemed so weird I was left wondering if it was a parody of itself.