Does F1: The Movie have the Maverick magic?

In 2022, Joseph Kosinski proved his blockbuster bonafides with the exhilarating legacy sequel Top Gun: Maverick. That film was able to save Hollywood, mint a new crop of stars, and prove yet again that Tom Cruise is Hollywood’s top dog. In 2025, he is trading fighter jets for high-speed race cars in F1: The Movie.

F1: The Movie tells the tale as old as time: A washed up American athlete crosses the pond to compete in the highest level of an international sport…. Okay it’s not all that common in that it never ever happens but a little American hubris actually goes a long way in this movie. F1 is a sport that is growing in popularity in the states but there is still an air of mystery about it. If you asked most people in America to list famous F1 drivers I imagine most would burn out after saying “Lewis Hamilton” (I could only get two more names than that if we are being honest). Lack of knowledge actually plays a crucial role in the screenplay though. Pit crew members, engineers, and commentators routinely give the clueless members of the audience some background into the sport. In the end, I felt I had a much better understanding by the end.

While Brad Pitt, Kerry Condon, Damson Idris, and Javier Bardem are all very watchable, the star of the show here is the driving scenes. By shooting from inside the car, on the track, and everywhere in between on real F1 tracks on big beautiful IMAX cameras, Kosinski creates a really immersive experience. While I don’t think any of this stands up to what he achieved in Top Gun: Maverick, there is something admirable about this. His previous film got the benefit of being about fighter jets. Very few people on Earth ever get to fly one of those and few still ever get to pilot a flying vehicle of any kind. However, many of us drive a car every day. We aren’t driving these scientifically-enhanced super cars that can easily go hundreds of miles an hour, but we do get to drive. Watching (and feeling) these cars go at such high speeds from every angle imaginable there is transforms the relatable into the magical.

In between the high energy driving scenes, the movie is able to retain your attention by doing all the easy things right. The characters are simple and their conflicts are well-defined and relatable. The plot is as standard as they come. The emotional beats are obvious but effective. The comedy is funny enough for you to chuckle a few times and maybe even start a belly laugh. The music is a little questionable throughout but there are enough dad rock anthems to keep your head nodding.

The most questionable part of the script comes in the form of the “villain”. The, pardon the pun, driving force of the movie is the need for Bardem’s character to retain control of his team. If Pitt is unsuccessful at winning a race before the film finishes, the team is going to oust him. That is a fact we learn in the first 10 minutes. Around the 2 hour mark a new conflict is introduced with essentially the same stakes. It adds texture to some of the forces at play, but it doesn’t change the motives of the characters in a meaningful way.

F1: The Movie feels like a spiritual remake of Top Gun: Maverick directed by the guy who directed Top Gun: Maverick. However, I LOVE Top Gun: Maverick so this movie works on me. It is a great summer spectacle and seeing it in IMAX is imperative if you have the option.