In 2022, when cinemas were still largely recovering from the pandemic and blockbuster viewing wasn’t guaranteed, director Joseph Kosinski (and Tom Cruise) revitalized such a brand with Top Gun: Maverick. It was undeniably thrilling popcorn entertainment that, with its heart, humour, action and dramatic stakes, checked all the boxes for each major demographic, ultimately resulting in a neat billion dollar haul across the globe.
Adhering to the mentality of “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”, Kosinski has reunited with Maverick scribe Ehren Kruger and producer Jerry Bruckheimer, and layered another pulse-racing sense of action (here it’s Formula One racing) with an intended emotional outpouring and certified movie star charm (hello, Brad Pitt) with F1.
Getting the criticisms out of the way, F1 in no way compares to Top Gun: Maverick. Yes, it aims for the same vein of entertainment, but the Cruise-led sequel tapped into something truly special, with the team on board evidently taking their time over the years to perfect the craft. F1, if we’re talking in racing terms, will continually come second to Kosinski’s high flyer, but it’s ultimately unfair to pin the two against each other. F1, on its own accord, is a perfectly serviceable, masculine-charged slice of escapism that’ll easily connect with a large subsect of audiences, and, really, that’s all it needs to do.
Narratively, Kruger’s script never really travels anywhere entirely unexpected across F1‘s excessive 150 minutes, but it also proves incredibly apt at hitting such beats that, when combined with Kosinski’s exciting, immersive direction of the sport itself and the charisma of its ensemble cast, it all feels fresh and incredibly inviting. Pitt’s “has-been” (or is he a “never was?”) driver, Sonny Hayes, leads the charge here, a one-time wunderkind who crashed and burned early on in his driving career and never really recovered.
Sonny’s former glory in no way keeps him in good standing with the racing community today, so when his former teammate, now owner of the Apex Grand Prix team (APXGP), Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), calls for him to join his team, it’s met with a considerably lukewarm reaction. Ruben makes no apologies for the fact that his team is going under and that Sonny is absolutely a result of desperation, but he also knows how good a driver Sonny is, and combined with APXGP’s promising rookie, Joshua “Noah” Pearce (Damson Idris), he sees potential to get them out of last place – or at least to go out with a considerable bang.
The story beats all play as expected, with Joshua’s cockiness – which doesn’t match his racing stats – causing on and off-track drama with the seemingly more calm, yet unorthodox Sonny playing as the most consistent throughline. The young buck vs. old dog mentality has been done before, but Pitt and Idris prove so damn watchable that we don’t care that it’s all entirely telegraphed. There’s a little bit of corporate villainy thrown in for good measure, and Kerry Condon makes her presence considerably felt (both because she’s one of the sole females in the film and that she’s a force of nature as a performer) as Kate McKenna, the APXGP technical director, who, almost expectedly, breaks her own rule of no “office romance” by filling the film’s needed romance quota as Sonny’s object of affection. It’s conventional, with very few stakes, but such a temperament doesn’t equate to anything overtly negative either.
It all truly works because F1‘s main driving force is Kosinski himself. The man knows cinema, and he is acutely aware as to what can elevate such a tried and true underdog tale as this – that being the visceral nature of how he shoots the action itself, as well as the right co-pilots in how it should look and sound; regular collaborator Claudio Miranda (Tron: Legacy, Oblivion, Top Gun: Maverick) serving as the film’s cinematographer, whilst the musical score comes courtesy of Hans Zimmer (Gladiator, The Dark Knight, Dune).
Whilst the running time is a little indulgent, the script’s mention of a specific number of races means it’s somewhat justified in showcasing them all – even if each one feel somewhat repetitive in their action and equate to little more than added promo for the film’s considerably commercial soundtrack; for the kids at home Ed Sheeran, Tate McRae, Doja Cat, Dom Dolla and Rosé are just a slew of the names who contribute a variety of genres to proceedings. And, really, such a collective of sounds that very much speak to what’s happening in music right now only helps enhance F1 as an experience overall, proving it’s a slice of cinema for all ages and, quite frankly, genders.
It’s a testosterone-driven film around the past and the future of its sport coming together for the present that isn’t afraid to show a sense of vulnerability in the process. In a movie such as this, getting to the finish line is obviously the most important factor, and though F1 takes its time on the journey, it’s all so effortlessly entertaining along the way that you won’t mind the extended route getting to its final destination.
THREE AND A HALF STARS (OUT OF FIVE)
F1 is screening in Australian theatres from June 26th, 2025, before opening in the United States on June 27th.
