Brad Pitt stars in F1: The Movie, an action-drama from both the writer and the director of Top Gun: Maverick (not to mention also the producer, cinematographer, and composer), and the first reviews of the new movie say it’s somewhat on par with that blockbuster sequel. F1 follows an aging has-been Formula One driver (Pitt) who is pulled out of retirement to mentor a hot newcomer (played by Damson Idris). While the script is simple and generic at best, the racing action and Pitt’s performance are enough to make it one of the year’s most thrilling releases.
Here’s what critics are saying about F1: The Movie:
Is it the dad blockbuster of the season?
F1: The Movie [is] a turbo-charged Dad Movie par excellence.
— Adam Woodward, Little White Lies
[It’s] yet another high-velocity dad movie of sturdy quality — something more refreshing than the latest clutter of poorly rendered superheroes.
— Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch
F1 The Movie is poised to dominate the summer blockbuster track with the same adrenaline, charisma, and pulse-pounding action that defines Formula One itself.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
It’s undoubtedly a fun time at the movies, bringing audiences one of the best theatrical experiences they can have this year.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
How does it compare to Top Gun: Maverick?
Director Joseph Kosinski and screenwriter Ehren Kruger, who previously collaborated on 2022’s Top Gun: Maverick, are reunited here to similarly earnest chest-thumping effect.
— Adam Woodward, Little White Lies
F1 succeeds for many of the same reasons that Top Gun: Maverick does: for elevating familiar material with old-school filmmaking swagger.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
They practically feel like companion pieces. Kosinski could have called this Form’ One: Maverick and no one would have blinked.
— David Fear, Rolling Stone
F1 doubtlessly feels like a spiritual successor to the palpable, visceral sensations that outlined Maverick, particularly behind the camera.
— Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch
F1 works almost as a quasi-sequel to Top Gun: Maverick, having this almost meta-like quality of an older Hollywood star still holding on to an industry that seeks to move past them.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
How does it compare to other racing movies?
F1 performs best as all good racing movies do: when all the annoying storylines have been dealt with so we can get back to the track, the whole reason we and our dads bothered heading to the theater.
— Jackson Weaver, CBC News
[It’s] a deft addition to a sturdy lineage of motorsport flicks, from Rush and Gran Turismo to Ford v Ferrari and, most recently, Ferrari.
— Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
There’s just an emotionality that feels absent here, which… keeps F1 from cementing itself as one of the greatest racing films ever made.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
How well does it capture the sport?
As they did with the aerial maneuvering in Top Gun: Maverick, the director and his longtime cinematographer, Claudio Miranda, favor edge-stretching wide-angle lenses that convey the experience of G-force pressure while operating exceedingly fast vehicles.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
Miranda’s clean cinematography puts audiences in a position that is the closest they’ll ever get to being in that driver’s seat themselves.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
There are scenes in F1 that put viewers in the car so as to translate the feelings conjured by such proximity to, well, death.
— Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
The razzle dazzle of these scripted races doesn’t compare to the thrilling excitement of real Formula 1 racing, yet replicates the driving aspects brilliantly.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Does it feel like a documentary?
Not even [Netflix’s Drive to Survive] communicates the manner in which every element of a race team must work together with lightning-fast reflexes to place in a grand prix.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
Every merciful retreat to a top-down angle feels like a concession to the fact that Kosinski hasn’t found a more satisfying way to shoot F1 than they do on TV.
— David Ehrlich, IndieWire
Netflix’s Formula 1: Drive to Survive and F1: The Academy rank higher in their craft, creating intriguing emotional throughlines from human interest stories.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
As evidenced by Netflix’s wildly popular docudrama Drive to Survive [the sport] is engineered to continuously fuel its own hype machine. If you’re looking for a serious window into the high-stakes, cutthroat world of Formula One, you certainly won’t find it here.
— Adam Woodward, Little White Lies
Is this strictly for die-hard racing fans?
Even if you’re not into the sport or have never watched a race in its entirety (I haven’t), F1 will still hold your interest.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
Hairpin turns and stressful pit stops go a long way toward entertaining F1 fans and neophytes alike.
— Brian Truitt, USA Today
The movie’s commitment to authenticity extends to every aspect of its titular sport, both on the track and off, as its mission to win over new converts is only outdone by its eagerness to satisfy diehard fans.
— David Ehrlich, IndieWire
If one of the goals of this film was to bring in new fans, it won’t accomplish anything, because it takes no time to be welcoming.
— Kaitlyn Booth, Bleeding Cool
How are the racing sequences?
The racing scenes in F1 seize your gut and sear the eyeballs.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Every time the drivers get into their cars and the red lights begin appearing before the race starts is a hold-your-breath moment.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
Kosinski stages his set pieces with a clinical sleekness that still retains a propulsive sense of exhilaration… The action is always staged for maximum impact and to get the viewer as immersed in the fluidity of motion as possible.
— Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch
It’s hard to truly capture speed on film, but Kosinski and his team really make you feel like you’re right there, from the booming shakes of the sounds in the IMAX theaters that shake the floor to the multiple different first and third person point of views that make you feel like you’re in the driver seat too.
— Kaitlyn Booth, Bleeding Cool
F1 fans might end up feeling short-changed by how much driving that the movie actually contains… F1: The Movie has more montage action than driving action.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
Are they the only good parts of the movie?
Some of the film’s most thrilling moments home in on the observation box where Kate and Kaspar make split-second strategy decisions to keep their drivers in sync, or the dizzying speed with which the pit crew refurbishes a seemingly wrecked vehicle and getting it back on the track.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
Apart from Kosinki’s portrayal of the races, some of the most exciting elements of F1 grapple with the intergenerational differences between Sonny and Joshua while exploring the way the sport has changed.
— Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
Whenever the cars are parked, every moment Pitt and Idris share the screen is F1 at its best.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
Outside of the adrenaline-charged Big Action set pieces, there’s nothing audiences haven’t seen before.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
How is Brad Pitt’s performance?
It’s hard to argue with seeing a true movie star like Pitt on screen. He carries himself with that casual late-period swagger.
— Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch
He even manages to upstage the cars. It’s a turn that reminds you of Clark Gable, Gary Cooper, Burt Lancaster, William Holden, and, notably Steve McQueen, no stranger to movies about racing.
— David Fear, Rolling Stone
Pitt, effortlessly charismatic, brings gravitas and grit to the role, channelling equal parts Steve McQueen and Rocky Balboa.
— Linda Marric, HeyUGuys
He chews his scenery and spits it back out in every scene, with the swagger only a talent of his caliber and age can.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
Brad Pitt still has that onscreen charm that convinces us to believe in his character’s underdog story.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
Pitt delivers a watered-down Moneyball-esque performance.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
What about the rest of the cast?
The supporting cast as a whole is excellent, mainly Bardem and Condon.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
Condon, as always, is the bright spot, building depth and dimension into what might’ve been a thankless role in anyone else’s less capable hands.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Damson Idris is also excellent as Joshua, elevating the material with well-timed looks and an assuredness that rivals Sonny’s.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
I can’t talk about the performances in F1 without mentioning the work of character actor extraordinaire Shea Whigham, who only needs to appear in all of two scenes in the opening 10 minutes of the movie to deliver a character you’ll still want to talk about when the credits roll more than two hours later.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
How is the script?
Narratively, the old guy vs. rookie relationship dynamic is fairly lean, but present enough to get the job done and have you cheering at the end.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
F1 does what it can to find a new lane in which to explore the age-old learned-master-meets-naive-protégé dynamic and situates itself as a steady sports underdog and redemption story within a well-tread genre legacy.
— Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch
One of the best things about the film is the fact that the main characters are fleshed out enough for the story to work.
— Mae Abdulbaki, Screen Rant
It’s a very simple concept featuring familiar tropes and storytelling techniques, but that simplicity is one of F1‘s greatest strengths.
— Charlie Ridgely, ComicBook.com
This simple premise keeps the focus mostly on the action.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
The simplicity of the film’s story makes it easier for Kosinski to accommodate the arcane nature of F1’s rules, even if he never finds a satisfying way to incorporate them on the fly.
— David Ehrlich, IndieWire
F1: The Movie is an empty spectacle. You can appreciate the craft on display in the driving sequences, but it’s hard to be fully invested when you don’t care about the characters in them.
— Ian Sandwell, Digital Spy
What about Hans Zimmer’s score?
Composer Hans Zimmer’s thumping techno score is akin to Reznor and Ross’s work in Challengers mixing sports and sex appeal.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
The music, by Hans Zimmer, works on the audience the way Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross’s EDM throb score for Challengers did.
— Owen Gleiberman, Variety
Hans Zimmer’s adrenalized score ups the ante, adding tension to already nail-biting moments like a driver making a dangerous turn on a slick course or mechanics in the pit having mere seconds to switch out a car’s tires.
— Lovia Gyarkye, The Hollywood Reporter
Hans Zimmer’s soundtrack will become people’s new workout movie soundtrack.
— Kaitlyn Booth, Bleeding Cool
Is this also notable for its editing?
Intriguingly, Stephen Mirrione’s editing… keeps up a breakneck momentum during the race sequences while allowing the actual shots of driving breathe enough to let the audience follow the constant transitions between cars roaring down straight stretches of track and sudden, hairpin turns at curves.
— Jake Cole, Slant Magazine
Editor Stephen Mirrione’s quickly paced cuts give the exhilarating, edge-of-your-seat racing sequences a comparable, compelling energy. His montages percolate.
— Courtney Howard, Fresh Fiction
Oddly enough, there’s more symmetry in the editing of the racing sequences than in some scenes where multiple characters are conversing with one another, coming off as stilted at times.
— Giovanni Lago, Next Best Picture
Could the movie have been better?
F1 was produced in collaboration with the Formula One World Championship’s governing body… [so it] was never going to be particularly adventurous.
— Trace Sauveur, AwardsWatch
The FIA’s involvement also means that, even more than the strong smell of Brut, burnt rubber and testosterone, the film has the unmistakable whiff of an expensive, sanitised PR exercise.
— Adam Woodward, Little White Lies
Melodrama and a bloated run time put the brakes on what should be a film that zips.
— Brian Truitt, USA Today
F1: The Movie opens in theaters on June 27, 2025.
