[Rating: Rock Fist Up]
F1: The Movie is a glossy collision of melodrama and marketing, barreling dangerously close to self-parody. At times, you’re going to feel like you’re watching Formula One racing propaganda, but in then right in the middle of this high-octane storm of promotional visual filmmaking is Brad Pitt, playing it straight and grounding the chaos. His performance provides the illusion of balance: a steady hand on the wheel while the film swerves between ludicrous character arcs and jaw-dropping racing set-pieces. The electrified track scenes may be the spectacle, but it’s Pitt’s quiet gravity that keeps us from spinning out.
In F1: The Movie, directed by Joseph Kosinski (Tron: Legacy, Top Gun: Maverick), Pitt plays Sonny Hayes — a former racing legend-in-the-making who left the track (and his dignity) behind three decades ago after a nasty crash. Now he’s back, mostly to save his old teammate’s crumbling team, APXGP — but also for the sheer adrenaline and probably to prove once and for all that this old man still has what it takes and always did. In your face, haters.
Of course, not everyone is on board with the ill-timed publicity stunt bringing Hayes in, not only to race but to mentor a rookie, Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), whose ego causes imbalance with his driving talent. The obstacle? Their last‑place standing and a boardroom villain who’d rather flip the team for a profit than race to the podium. It’s predictable — yes, absolutely, and to be fair… most sports flicks are — but the results are the movie version of comfort‑food storytelling with a turbo boost.
Kosinski brings the Top Gun: Maverick attitude into to every frame, delivering a visual spectacle worthing of an IMAX viewing so you can truly breathe in the exhaust of the V‑8-powered cinematography. The film was shot across real F1 circuits during actual Grands Prix, edited later to replace real cars with the fictional APXGP rides — because why settle for CGI when you can slam real tires on real tarmac? Bonus points to Kosinski for keeping it real.
The supporting cast have fun: Javier Bardem (No Country for Old Men, Dune) is on board as a former teammate of Pitt’s Hayes and as always is one of the coolest dudes in the flick. he keeps things sultry as the team owner. Add Kerry Condon (The Banshees of Inisherin) as the team’s tech director who both delivers the brains and chemistry with Pitt that isn’t always love-interest-y. And every racing movie needs a villain, payed here by Tobias Menzies (The Crown), who skulks boardroom corners like a Bond villain.
As silly and cliched as the movie feels at times, it’s fueled by the chaotic racing scenes. But even then, as exciting as those can be, the racing — especially the demonstration of the team racing strategies — do teams really use delays and stoppages to climb the leaderboard? Seems like it would slow down the viewing experience. Does it make sense? Not always. Motorsport fans may wince: plot holes and light regulation talk sometimes make an overly chatty scene unbearable.
Still, that sums it up — F1: The Movie knows what it has working for it and guns the engine where it counts, and lets everything else coast. Most people won’t notice how goofy it is because…who cares. It’s fun as hell to watch. Kosinski straps you in the cockpit of a Formula One race car and hits the gas, letting the sheer drama pull you through the dazzling imagery.
The soundtrack is a playlist dream. Hans Zimmer teams up with Steve Mazzaro for a hybrid score mixing orchestral bravado with electronic pulse that feels a little like thunder meeting lightning on the track. Add in tracks by Doja Cat, Ed Sheeran, Don Toliver, Rosé, Tate McRae… it’s a sonic collision of high‑octane beats and pop music divas.
Pitt maybe the star here and he is as good as we’ve come to expect from the great Brad Pitt. Regardless, this is Kosinski’s F1 — a movie that knows you’re not here for subtlety. You’re here to be dazzled, feel the brakes burn, and cheer when those underdogs cross the finish line. It doesn’t ask for your deep analytical mind; just your pulse and a popcorn bucket.
F1: The Movie is stylish, loud, occasionally ludicrous — but undeniably fun. See it in IMAX if you can, the bigger, the better.
Lover of movies and tacos. Ad man. Author. Member of the Kansas City Film Critics Circle and the Broadcast Film Critics Association. Founder of the Terror on the Plains Horror Festival. Creator and voice of the Reel Hooligans podcast.
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