‘F1 - The Movie’ continues the legacy of Top Gun: Maverick

Not only that, after directing Top Gun: Maverick, Joseph Kosinski took the helm of F1 - The Movie, but for the project he returned to working with screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who, along with colleagues Christopher McQuarrie and Eric Warren Singer, had brought life, substance, and dialogue to Tom Cruise’s return to the screen for the acclaimed 2022 sequel. The signature of these collaborators is immediately evident while watching the film. Centered around the world of auto racing, the project doesn’t strictly follow the structure and intent of the previous Top Gun: Maverick, but it echoes them in tone, humor, boldness, and the classic style of much elementary (and therefore effective) Hollywood cinema. The description of the protagonists is the same: men in their fifties – or even sixties – with a debt to settle with the past and a desire to speed ahead without answering to anyone, whether flying a Boeing F/A-18 Super Hornet through the sky or handling a hyper-tech car on the track. F1 is a predictable product, yes, yet its grandeur, its roar, and its predictability offer the viewer the carefree and adrenaline-charged experience it promises.

We meet Sonny Hayes, a Brad Pitt increasingly in his Cliff Booth Era, who returns to the Formula 1 circuits after a serious accident in his youth that drove him away, to help his friend Ruben Cervantes, played by Javier Bardem, and seeks a bit of redemption. Sonny, however, won’t just be one of the racing horses in his friend’s stable, but will also have to act as a mentor to young rookie Joshua Pearce (Damson Idris), who feels threatened by the presence of a potential rival, even if he’s part of the same team. The generational dynamic is prominent, just like in Top Gun: Maverick, and holds clear significance within the narrative structure of F1 - The Movie, with a slightly paternalistic tone that ends up being acceptable while watching the races and the initially tense, then motivational exchanges between characters. All aimed at a single goal: the protagonists toward victory in the Formula 1 season, Kosinski and his crew toward reaching the emotion and jolt of energy they want to convey through the film. And they succeed without far-fetched twists or flights of fancy, respecting the economy of blockbusters, albeit with some flair – like filming during real Formula 1 races around the world and involving some of the most famous personalities in the racing world – most notably, appearing in the film and also as a producer, is champion Lewis Hamilton.

Thus, for Joseph Kosinski, F1 - The Movie becomes the same conquest pursued by its protagonist Sonny, and for the director, it also has roots in the past: for years he had wanted to make a racing film, but had to give up his version of Ford v Ferrari (known in Italy as Le Mans ’66 - The Great Challenge, with Christian Bale and Matt Damon), which was eventually directed by James Mangold as it was less costly. The production Kosinski dreamed of, titled Go Like Hell, would have involved Brad Pitt alongside Tom Cruise, though Cruise was later ruled out for F1 as he was considered too zealous and reckless – a decision made not just by the director but also on the advice of his own crew, many of whom came from the Mission: Impossible franchise and were relieved not to have risked a car crash with the actor, who would surely have found a way to push his limits behind the wheel. Though not in the same film, Pitt and Cruise still act as counterparts to one another given the obvious similarity in narrative solutions between Maverick and F1, even though the latter is less impactful and spectacular compared to the return of the 1980s cult classic, lacking the background that made the 2022 sequel not just a portal of nostalgia, but a true cinematic event that helped heal the wounds still open at the box office due to Covid-19 and reminded audiences of the simple – and for that reason, magnificent – greatness of American cinema. On the same track but less forceful, speaking to all kinds of audiences and not failing to act as a long commercial for the discipline it portrays, F1 - The Movie is the quintessential summer blockbuster, with the star of the moment and his story of redemption pumping epinephrine and allowing viewers to easily connect with the characters as they watch them attempt the impossible – and succeed.