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I’ve had some film going quirks over the years. I’ve randomly booked seats next to friends of mine without knowing before I got there, I’ve seen a movie largely set in the exact location where I am watching it (it was Times Square) and I’ve even been to a film that had my name as the title but for one different letter at the start. Today I had the funny little coincidence where my seat number was also the same as the movie I’d come to see. Yep, when people are talking about this film I can honestly say l was in F1. 

That’s not the only coincidence surrounding this movie though. There is a strong sense of déjà vu about the whole thing. Back in 1986 director Tony Scott released Top Gun and then shortly followed it with a motor racing movie. He’d made one film in between but here he was returning with another huge Jerry Bruckheimer produced blockbuster four years later, oh and it had a score by Hans Zimmer. Now we have Joseph Kosinski who made Top Gun: Maverick and is shortly following it with a motor racing movie. He made one film in between but here he is returning with another huge Jerry Bruckheimer produced blockbuster four years later, oh and it has a score by Hans Zimmer. Then it was NASCAR  with Days of Thunder, now we are in the world of Formula One but it all feels a bit familiar. There are even rumours that this was originally proposed as a sequel to Days of Thunder just as Top Gun: Maverick was obviously a sequel to Top Gun but while this is not true you can see where the idea has come from. 

The difference is that unlike Days of Thunder being a significantly weaker movie than Top Gun, this is (yep, I’m going there) better than the widely loved Top Gun: Maverick. 

It has to be said that both films are fairly corny, with similar beats around the older guy coming back to take on the younger set, early missteps in the ‘mission’, support crews being won around by the old timer’s unconventional style and reluctance to be bound by the rules, montages, crashes, rock anthems and middle age people hooking up. F1 just feels a little more developed around this though and slightly more believable (slightly). It is certainly more grounded being shot across two years in the real world and locations of the sport. This film also has a more rounded ensemble cast without key players becoming marginalised as the plot progresses. 

F1 does better by its female characters too. The women on the crew don’t feel like token placements, although they are still outnumbered, and they have more important roles in proceedings. Kerry Condon, who is absolutely the equivalent to Jennifer Connelly in Top Gun: Maverick, isn’t just a bystander. She is key to the victory the story heads toward. She is still twenty years younger than Brad Pitt but let’s assume he is playing younger. It’s not as bad as Ted Lasso’s Sarah Niles being cast as Damson Idris’s mother when she is only four years his senior, but even she feels like a properly developed character. 

Of course the race sequences are thrilling and you get swept up in the whole competition too. There is something perhaps more relatable about being behind the wheel of a car too, even if it is a £20 million supercar. As an audience most of us are more distanced from jet planes. Fans of the sport will undoubtedly love it as well. 

While the camera work is exceptional I don’t think F1 is in itself very groundbreaking, certainly not in terms of the storytelling, but it is very effectively managed. I love it when cinema pushes boundaries but a lot of the time I’m just happy sitting in my chair being entertained. 

Especially the one I was in today. Sorry, but that still amuses me.