Filmmaker Joseph Kosinski supercharged and revitalized the summer blockbuster and flyboy action drama in 2022 with the masterful “Top Gun: Maverick,” possibly one of the best thrilling popcorn movies of this century. ‘Maverick’ was the total package: heart, humor, soul, romance, action and dramatic personal stakes. Reteaming with that movie’s writer Ehren Kruger and super producer Jerry Bruckheimer, Kosinski attempts to reach a similar velocity for the propulsive Formula One racing drama—visceral action and bruising emotional poignancy— “F1” starring Brad Pitt.

And frankly, it cannot compare if you go that route. “Top Gun: Maverick” is just perfect as an escapist four-quadrant thrill ride; moreover, the collective team who worked on it, including Tom Cruise, co-writer/exec producer Christopher McQuarrie, Kosinski, Bruckheimer and composer Hans Zimmer, had years to work and fine-tune the picture thanks to the pandemic-led delays.
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So, if you’re matching it to ‘Maverick,’ “F1” cannot compete; it certainly doesn’t have the same personal, life-or-death stakes for its characters or the increasing, relentless, seemingly impossible obstacles thrown at the protagonist the way a writer like McQuarrie is so good at creating. Yet, still, on its own merits, “F1” is another stripe of muscular, exhilarating thrill ride that will connect with audiences.
Pitt stars as Sonny Hayes, a “greatest-who-never-was” almost wunderkind who burned out way too fast and never reached his potential, even though he demonstrated all the hallmarks of a champion to be. Meeting an early end to his career thanks to a horrible crash, Hayes tries out other racing disciplines for cash and formulates a gambling habit in the process. He’s not on anyone’s radar.
That is until, Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem), the team owner of APXGP (Apex) finds himself in dire straits. With Apex’s track record in the gutter and its board of directors—represented by board member Peter Banning (Tobias Menzies)—looking to make significant changes or sell off the team, breathing down his neck, Ruben finds himself in serious need of a Hail Mary salvation.
A former F1 driver and former teammate, Ruben’s desperate last resort leads him to try and woo Sonny back into racing, specifically for the Apex team.
Now Apex has one young superstar, the hotshot rookie Joshua “Noah” Pearce (an excellent Damson Idris, bound for superstardom), but he’s inexperienced, cocky and he’s not enough for Apex to get back into the pole position.
Reluctant at first, Sonny eventually agrees to join the Apex team, maybe for one last shot at the glory that escaped him early on in his career.

Other key members of the Apex organization include, its technical director Kate McKenna (a sturdy and compelling Kerry Condon), team principal Kaspar Molinski (Kim Bodnia from “Killing Eve”), chief mechanic Dodge Dowda (Abdul Salis), and representing a rookie mechanic that the veteran Sonny shows empathy towards is Callie Cooke as Jodie (Samson Kayo, Samson Kayo and Shea Whigham round out the cast).
But “F1” is more or less the story of Brad Pitt’s Sonny versus himself and his demons, vs. his teammate Joshua, who becomes a bitter rival, against Ruben, feeling the brunt of Apex’s board frustrations and then taking it out on his driver and Sonny versus his would-be legacy, the doubters and everyone who doesn’t think he can achieve his destiny.
As it goes, narratively, “F1” lacks. It’s conventional, familiar, and does not have the obstacles and stakes to make things seem truly do-or-die. Sonny chooses to join the Apex team on his own accord, rather than feel he has no choice or is pushed into any financial or moral hole. And the only thing truly at stake is the existence of Apex under Ruben—he’s not the primary character, so it’s not the end of the world to the audience if he loses the org—and the reputation of a driver (Sonny), who doesn’t really have one to begin with other than that of a rogue rebel who never played by the rules.
In that sense, it’s something of a miracle that “F1” remains as compelling as it is, mainly thanks to its cast and the visceral nature of Kosinski’s filmmaking.
The former is front-loaded to be sure. Pitt, as the cocksure veteran— a mix of sagacious and insubordinate, with the wisdom and experience to know which mode works best when— is as charming as ever. Bardem elevates what could be a thankless role, Idris goes toe to toe with Pitt and gives as good as he gets, which is more than enough and Kerry Condon shows a persuasively dynamic side of herself that convinces as a fetching paramour and knowledgeable boss lady that can’t be pushed around. This ensemble works well together and uplifts a rather standard-issue screenplay.

The latter, Kosinski knows how to play his instrument, which is cinema. As the conductor and orchestrator of this big symphonic underdog sports drama, he understands that heart and soul are just as crucial as the visceral and dangerous nature of racing, which is expertly captured by his ace Academy Award-winning cinematographer Claudio Miranda. Having multiple Oscar, BAFTA and Grammy-winning composer Hans Zimmer (“Dune”) on your squad doesn’t hurt either. Zimmer also inspires and exalts, helping to ratchet up tension, the stakes that do exist, suspense and grit needed to win to ascending, anthemic heights.

“F1” likes to rock out like a big stadium concert, and it often contains the same kind of elating, rousing levels of magnificent ecstasy thanks to the swirl of all these cinematic elements working in terrific concert.
Not to mention the driving viscera that’s captured is adrenaline-charged, nerve-wracking and white knuckling in excitement and bracing intensity.
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“F1” is no “Top Gun: Maverick,” but then again, what is? Kosinski’s crew falls short of those levels of cinematic glory. Still, as racers in it for the love of the game and not just the come-from-behind victory, they have nothing to be self-conscious about as the impressive filmic torque still flies off the entertaining charts. [B]
“F1” opens in theaters June 27, 2025, via Apple Films and Warner Bros.