The collaboration of Apple, Formula 1, Brad Pitt, and the crew of “Top Gun: Maverick” produced “F1,” which races toward the top of this year’s box office charts.
Can we tell the truth about it?
Rating: 2 stars out of five
History repeats itself, sometimes as a plane movie, sometimes as a racing movie.
At the start of the decade, cinemas were closed for a long period due to the pandemic, and when they reopened, one of the first hits that brought them back to life was “Top Gun: Maverick” by Joseph Kosinski.
In recent weeks they closed again, this time only in our region because of the war with Iran, and when they returned to routine last weekend, it was with the premiere of “F1” by the same director.
By all signs, it is set to be a huge hit worldwide and a reminder that there are still movies people will leave their homes for.
Kosinski returned to work with most of the crew from “Top Gun: Maverick,” including cinematographer Claudio Miranda and composer Hans Zimmer.
One thing changed: Tom Cruise’s role as the lead actor was replaced by Brad Pitt.
He plays a Formula 1 driver who retired from the track due to a series of personal and professional crises. His longtime friend and rival, played by Javier Bardem, recruits him to save his team, which is also in desperate shape.
The veteran driver meets a young Black driver, a promising talent and a brash character played by Damson Idris, whom he initially dismisses, but over time learns to accept as a mentor.
His character checks the box for ethnic diversity, and the female role is filled by an aerospace engineer played by Carey Condon, who recently excelled in “Winds of Inshern,” a film whose quality difference to this production is like that between a Mercedes and a pony.
Her character states she does not engage in workplace romances, but guess what happens.
The film was made in full cooperation with the FIA, the governing body of Formula 1.
Lewis Hamilton, one of the competition legends, participated in its production.
Like previous productions of this type, for example “Goal” with FIFA or Netflix’s silly Eurovision film, it completely sterilizes the story and prevents it from showing any criticism or complexity.
The result functions as one big advertisement for the racing empire and for the countries hosting it, especially Dubai, which hosts the film’s climax.
It includes endless marketing content of all kinds, ultimately meant to promote Apple, which produced this hit with a huge budget and will release it on their streaming service in a few months.
The film flatters everyone and is careful not to upset anyone.
The protagonist’s problematic past is mentioned at the start as a plot device, but over time it becomes clear he has no complexes or demons to deal with, and Brad Pitt could just as well have played a character with a clean past.
There is no violence, swearing, or sex the only romantic interaction lasts about three clean seconds.
Just as care was taken with picture and sound quality, the producers ensured the hit is suitable for viewers worldwide, for all ages and genders, no matter how conservative.
The main goal is that nothing interferes with the enjoyment of the racing scenes.
Here is something that unites devout Muslims in the Emirates, religious people in Jerusalem, and Christian fans in the southern United States they all like watching men drive fast cars. Perhaps a new religion could be built around it.
Apple and the FIA took no risks.
They spent huge sums and recruited the most skilled film crew available, and it paid off, especially if you watch the film in IMAX.
The racing scenes are excellent.
But as someone who is not a Formula 1 fan, I must say they did not interest or excite me at all.
Give me a behind-the-scenes film about a local soccer match, and I would be much more engaged.
In addition to box office success, future film critics and researchers will likely insist that thanks to the excellent use of camera, sound, and Brad Pitt’s charisma, this hit is virtuoso cinema in its purest form. Maybe, but even if so, it is hard to ignore everything around it.
The script written by Kosinski with Ehren Kruger, who also co-wrote “Top Gun: Maverick,” is almost insultingly inferior.
Saying AI could have written something is a cliché, but this time it is true, and this is exactly the critique required.
It is a script that uses every possible convention, and every comma is fully functional.
It conveys information in the least sophisticated ways.
For example, how do we learn exactly what happened in the protagonist’s past? At his press conference, a journalist simply reads his entire biography.
If a first-year screenwriting student had written this, they would be corrected, but at the highest levels, sometimes professionals allow themselves what amateurs dare not.
What is unforgivable to me is that the characters are so weak that actors like Pitt, Bardem, and Condon have nothing to work with, producing some of their weakest performances in years.
Maybe intentionally.
Apple’s algorithm probably told them that too much cleverness could hurt the box office goals.
“F1” is not aiming for a Palme d’Or or an Oscar it aims to be the film that receives no awards but is credited with saving Hollywood’s year.
Or maybe my criticism is personal.
What is the problem? Complaining about it is like criticizing a lawyer who secures a client’s acquittal by any means.
Ultimately, “F1” achieves all its goals: creating a summer blockbuster that does not require thinking, bringing people back to theaters, providing content for Apple’s streaming service, glorifying Formula 1 and its partners, further boosting Pitt’s star power, and showing what modern film technology can do.
So what is the problem? Personally, the film is unbearable for me, I suffered through it, will never watch it again, and it only made me hate Formula 1 even more.
Apple’s AI probably predicted that a few annoyances like me would exist, but overall, it does not matter.
The only question is what comes first a sequel or another “Top Gun” sequel.