Putting ‘blockbuster’ in ‘summer blockbuster’ in the way few films can is F1 — The Movie. This high-octane, classic underdog story, stylishly acted and seamlessly picturised, is just the adrenaline shot that the big screen needed. Dominating cinema space this weekend, big movie comfort food rarely felt as enticing as F1, which may run on familiar fuel but delivers huge dollops of entertainment.

Powering this rise-against-all-odds story is Brad Pitt. At 61, Pitt fires on all cylinders, showing us yet again why he and Tom Cruise, a year older than him, are indisputably the last great movie stars. That F1 is directed by Joseph Kosinki, the man who helmed Cruise’s 2022 summer blockbuster Top Gun: Maverick — the film that brought theatres back into business globally after the pandemic — is only one of the many commonalties that their careers have shared. In the late 2010s, Kosinski was developing a racing film with both Pitt and Cruise set to star — and do their own driving. Earlier this week, Cruise landed up at the London premiere of F1 to support his Interview with the Vampire co-star. Needless to say, in its thrills and chills and its need-for-speed DNA, the shadow of Cruise looms large over F1.

But once you watch F1, you can’t think of anyone but Pitt in the role of Sonny Hayes, a sort of upstart Formula One driver who left the sport during his rookie season in the 1990s after severe injuries sustained in a crash at the Spanish Grand Prix. Years later, we find Hayes as a twice-divorced, poker-playing ex-New York City cabbie living out of a lifted Ford Econoline camper van with a surfboard and a dirt bike ratchet-strapped to it, lending his talents to a Daytona team.

Things take a turn when former driver-turned-Formula One team owner Ruben Cervantes (Javier Bardem) fishes Sonny out of a laundromat with the lure of fame and money. Ruben himself is facing a financial crunch bad enough to derail his struggling APXGP team, and he believes that it is only Hayes who can bail him out. One first-class flight later, Hayes joins a dysfunctional group of racing experts, including the cocky and talented but unseasoned rookie Joshua Pearce — played by Damson Idris in a career-defining act — who turns out to be Hayes’s teammate and main rival.

F1 doesn’t aspire to break new ground in storytelling. This Formula One film is — to quote an apt cliche — driven by formula, but when a film promises you entertainment — and delivers it in spadefuls — resulting in a gala time in the theatres, that is really the only thing that should matter. That, anyway, is the very definition of a summer blockbuster.

The familiarity is all part of the thrill, and there is something extremely comforting, even exhilarating after a point, about witnessing a down-on-his-luck hero defy expectations and roar back to life.

What contributes to F1’s immersive experience is Kosinski’s nifty pacing and deft action sense. Superlative camera work from Oscar-winning Life of Pi cinematographer Claudio Miranda — the film was shot at actual F1 circuits during race weekends — and a pulse-pounding score by the legendary Hans Zimmer contribute richly to the film. The races make you feel you are right in the middle of all the action, making the film a heady cocktail of sound and speed. Lending two-factor authentication is seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton, one of the producers of the film.

The non-stop action and strong emotional beats help to tide over the film’s shortcomings, including some extremely clunky dialogue. It is only to Bardem’s credit that he manages to even sell the Baazigar-coded: “Sometimes when you lose, you win,” to the viewer.

The performances are all-round effective and effortless. In a world dominated by testosterone, Kerry Condon’s no-nonsense Kate McKenna, the technical director of the Formula One team, brings in an element of femininity and freshness, with Damson Idris’s career, as mentioned earlier, poised to fly after this film.

Playing out over 156 minutes, there is scarcely a dull moment in F1. Pitt hits the gas and rarely lets go. He brings in his trademark cool and age-defying good looks. This is movie-star power with a double dose of charm. And we are all for it.