F1: The Movie Review – Brad Pitt’s Nights of Thunder

You can’t convince me that F1: The Movie didn’t start life as a stealth sequel to Days of Thunder. Swap Tom Cruise‘s Cole Trickle for Brad Pitt’s Sonny Hayes, trade NASCAR for Formula One, and you’ve got a shiny new chassis on a familiar speed machine. But director Joseph Kosinski (Top Gun: Maverick) doesn’t just recycle the playbook that made that Tony Scott film a summer sensation in 1989; he supercharges it for a 2025 crowd. The result? A high-octane crowd-pleaser with the brains of a sports drama in the body of a summer blockbuster. It’s too long, occasionally repetitive, and powered more by star wattage than story innovation. Wow, though. It’s hard not to be massively entertained.

Pitt (Bullet Train) plays Hayes, a Formula One driver who raced during the 1990s before a horrible crash forced his retirement. Leaving the track behind for brief stints as a taxi driver, a husband, and a speed demon on lower circuit tracks, he’s not so much stewing in his regrets as slowly marinating in them. A visit from former teammate turned flamboyant Formula One owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem of Skyfall, having the time of his life) ropes him back in to mentor rookie sensation Joshua “Noah” Pearce (Damson Idris, The Commuter) for Reuben’s struggling Apex Grand Prix team. What begins as simple mentorship to turn a losing season around evolves into something more profound, forcing Hayes to confront his past while helping shape the future of both the sport he loves and the young man just getting started.

Is the plot predictable? Absolutely. But it’s dressed in enough style to forgive its numerous clichés. Pitt is the main attraction, magnetic, cool, and aging like he’s been preserved in carbon fiber. There’s a looseness to his performance that reminds you why he’s remained at the top for decades. Above all else, it’s a Movie Star turn through and through, but one with just enough grit in its bones to keep it grounded in reality. He’s in remarkable physical condition and instinctively charming throughout, finding chemistry with everyone from his immediate co-stars to one-line bit players that Kosinski has cast so well.

Idris has been given a slightly more thankless role, but it’s one that the young actor more than capably navigates, avoiding being a stock hotshot who needs to be schooled by the wise old-timer. Going toe-to-toe with Pitt’s laid-back energy and coming out the dominant one is no small task, but Idris matches the Oscar-winner beat-for-beat, even if his character could use more fleshing out in Ehren Kruger‘s screenplay. As is the case with these “hate at first sight” set-ups, their characters eventually find the sweet spot between rivalry and respect. It’s because Idris and Pitt have eased us both into the middle of the ring that we wind up rooting for them equally.

Kerry Condon (Night Swim) continues to prove she’s incapable of delivering anything less than stellar as APXGP’s sharp-witted technical director, Kate McKenna. Her scenes with Pitt have snap to them, and based on performances like this, I hope more leading roles are in her future. The character is eventually weakened by the script’s insistence on pushing a love story between her and Pitt when their working relationship winds up being far more appealing to see unfold.

Even Bardem seems to be mildly amused, with the usually serious actor embracing Ruben’s over-the-top bravado and relishing the opportunity to have fun. A special shout-out to the scene-stealing Sarah Niles (Austenland) as Pearce’s protective mother. Written entirely differently than typical sports movie parents, she lets her son make his own decisions and then stands behind him. Her mama bear will growl if you interfere but embrace you when you do right.

The real star might be Kosinski’s camera, and his direction, as expected, is polished and precise. Coming from a CGI background, he’s a filmmaker who knows his way around speed and consistently proves himself visually while also improving his emotional storytelling with each new project. F1: The Movie represents growth in his comfort with dramatic sequences as well. While it features extensive racing scenes, there are moments off the track that are equally compelling.

Now, let’s talk about those racing scenes. With Oscar-winner Claudio Miranda (Nyad) behind the lens, F1: The Movie is shot almost entirely in breakneck IMAX, and it shows. Featuring revolutionary camera angles and incredible track sequences representing amazing feats of camerawork and digital effects, you hover so close to the hot asphalt that you might be moved to check your tires after the film ends. Hans Zimmer’s (Mufasa: The Lion King) score adds rocket fuel, launching you into every turn with thundering synths and emotional lift. By the way, Zimmer also scored Days of Thunder. Coincidence? Try resisting goosebumps when the credits appear ten minutes in as one of Zimmer’s stirring recurring themes plays. The moment that music reaches a crescendo is pure cinema magic.

Julian Day‘s costume design keeps things visually interesting off the track, too. Pitt’s rumpled cool contrasts sharply with Idris’s blindingly all-white outfits, which scream confidence and announce his presence. Every element has been considered, from the design team making the cars sing with every glint of sunlight to the smear of oil on the ground. Whether it’s pit crew tension as they wait to change a tire in milliseconds or quiet conversations under fluorescent lights about shaving time off a curve, Kosinski never lets the film sag. And unlike many blockbusters that are pure flash, F1: The Movie gives its quieter moments room to breathe—like Pearce talking with his mom about legacy or Sonny confronting his past with the same intensity he brings to the track.

Still, not everything lands. The film’s structure is far from perfect, and the second act drags with repetitive emotional loops. While it avoids the whole soap opera spiral of Days of Thunder, you can still see the dotted lines where a much cheesier version of the script once lived. But it all holds together thanks to charm, craft, and an evident love for the genre. With Formula One’s popularity soaring in the U.S., F1: The Movie couldn’t be better timed, and it succeeds because it understands what audiences want from racing films: the combination of human drama and mechanical poetry that makes motorsports gripping. The film explores themes of redemption, mentorship, and the price of pursuing perfection while never forgetting that people come to see cars go fast. It’s proof that Kosinski can make practically anything cinematic if you give him a large enough lens and a big enough screen.

And yes, it’s loud—IMAX loud. If your ears are sensitive, bring earplugs. But whatever you do, don’t skip (or skimp on) the big-screen experience. This is one of those “you must see it in a theater” films, the kind that roars to life when it’s eight stories tall and vibrating through your seat into your bones. It may not be rewriting the rulebook, but it knows how to race with the best of them.