F1: The Movie (2025)
Popcorn dopamine.
Presentation:
Although 2025 is turning out to be a dismal year for cinema, I think F1 delivers. Going into this film, I had extremely low expectations. I knew the visuals would be fantastic - they are, but was expecting an afterthought story on par with Gran Turismo. Now this film won’t be winning any Oscars, but if you view it solely through the lens of a popcorn film, it’s perfect. Great visuals, good pacing, rollercoaster of formulaically proven plot devices, this is the guilty pleasure of 2025 and is thoroughly entertaining. I think I even like this film over Top Gun: Maverick, so kudos to the director again. Considering what has already been done, I think this is a pretty innovative racing film. We don’t typically get to see POVs from inside the car with intimate ultra wides like this. The cinematography is breathtakingly immersive at times with Sony and some of the sharpest optics with Zeiss and Sigma glass. The equipment, lighting and grade can add up to a clinically precise look like an Apple commercial, after all it is an Apple film, and a pretty good one for their studio. But I think the sharp visuals really work well here to give that aspirational premium vibe. There’s just a ton of product placement, and though I love watches, the IWC Ingenieur shots are one too many. If you want to make an icon watch, the film needs to be iconic.
Conclusion:
Now if you are expecting serious storytelling, then you will be disappointed. Characters are one dimensional and have paper thin motivations, conflict is artificial and the transformative chemistries are hit or miss. Brad Pitt is okay, Javier Bardem probably has the lamest duck performance of his career to chase the bag, Damson Idris doesn’t pull off the transformation, the best character is Kerry Condon bringing her Irish charm from Banshees of Inisherin. I always had a feeling she had star power and she outshines Pitt here. Despite the shallow characters, I think the script had potential. Structurally it follows the adversarial nature of Rush, but the duo teaming up here has a fresh take, even if they don’t have much chemistry. The whole concept of team combat in F1 racing was awesome, I thought it felt like Speed Racer at some point, even if it is totally illegal and dangerous. In fact, there are many unscrupulous aspects of this film, which range from borderline cheating all the way to the morally repugnant sports washing from Abu Dhabi. But we watch a racing film to get away from politics and it did admittedly made me escape from reality with an unpredictably satisfying story. Shallow but nevertheless visually impressive, F1 delivers the popcorn dopamine.
Recommendations
Draw me like one of your French girls.