God, this movie looks like it’ll be a disaster. I can’t believe some people here are looking forward too it.
I’ll probably see it because I loved the cartoon, but, I won’t enjoy it, god damnit!
It’s funny how people have to be embarrassed to like it.
And I don’t get the reactions I’ve been reading in reviews & previews. It’s a movie based on “Speed Racer.” What were people expecting? I’ve got to wonder if they’ve ever seen the cartoon. Or the trailers, for that matter.
My biggest gripe is that the movie is way way too long; I think it should’ve been at least 30 minutes shorter. The moment-to-moment pacing is fine, since they balance the ridiculous race sequences with slower scenes. But the slower scenes go on too long, and there are too many of them. I think they actually failed by trying to make it too much like a “real” movie. And there’s way too much repetition.
But the visuals are fantastic, and there are plenty of clever ideas – I never expected the bee catapult, for one thing. The rest of it is pretty much exactly what I expected going in, and it was satisfying.
Uh, fyi, they fell a couple of Matrix films back.
Well V for Vendetta wasn’t the complete failure the 2nd and 3rd Matrix films were. The nerd community seemed about split on whether V was totally awesome or a dumbed down insult to fans of the book, which is overall a much more favorable reaction than the last two Matrix movies. So some people hadn’t completely written them off yet.
It worked on a crazy visuals level, but the villains were a little too cartoonish. Sometimes you can’t translate what works on a Saturday morning cartoon onto the big screen without some major character editing. The slow parts went on too long. The chimp and younger brother were horribly annoying. All the racing scenes were pretty damn good, and Matthew Fox totally works as Racer X.
I rewatched V a little while back and my opinion of it has declined drastically. The thing that I liked most about it was that we hadn’t seen a near-future totalitarian dystopia in a while, so there wasn’t a movie that really dealt with current concerns through that lens. However, Children of Men totally whipped its ass on that front, so its many failings no longer had that to hide behind while I was assessing it.
I was bored stiff through most of this. It doesn’t work on any level: as a racing film, the racing is too cartoonish to offer any excitement… there’s just no feel that there’s any real danger or skill attached to what’s going on on-screen. As a living cartoon, it’s better, but it just isn’t a very funny or interesting one. And there’s no point looking for a character piece here, obviously, leaving the film with nothing going for it. No style, no substance, no wit, merely flash. Don’t bother.
Also, I really can’t stand Roger Allam. He’s been a villain in two of the Wachowski Bros films, and yes, he’s certainly loathsome, but you don’t love to loathe him… he comes across less as a real threat than a pompous, insufferable twat.
Ebert & Roeper gave it a thumbs up. If critics like it, it can’t be that good. :-)
I’m thinking it’s a great cartoon, and everyone will look at it as a movie instead of a cartoon.
Dave Halvorson of Play Magazine infamy gave Speed Racer a 99/100. His verdict (verbatim): I’m saving the perfect 100 for the sequel. True family filmmaking has finally arrived.
I don’t think there will be a sequel. Revised totals show it finished third for the weekend at about $18.5m, behind What Happens In Vegas. This movie is headed for $50-60m US at best, which is bad for a movie that cost $100m or more to make.
Oh I agree completely. There won’t be a sequel. Just pointing out yet another example of Dave Halvorson being a hyperbolic man-child.
This is a completely fantastic family movie that everyone should go see. If you’re in here poo pooing it without going to the theatre, pipe down, go take your little boy or your nephew or whosever little kid you can find and enjoy a fantastic ride that completely lives up to the source material in a way I never really thought anyone would ever pull off.
I took my three boys tonight and we walked out of there stoked for some Car-Fu with the Hot Wheels cars as soon as the school day is over tomorrow.
I’ll check out Halverson’s review, but I suspect he’s exactly right on with his excitement and assessment of this film. It’s live-action anime and it’s brilliant! I want to go again!
Dave Long is…Earl Dittman?
One place where the eventual Blu ray release of this film will be welcomed will be your local big box home theater department. The visuals will make a great sales tool for the better HDTVs.
I agree with much of the criticisms, yet found myself entertained enough by the film that I’m glad I went.
Speed Racer is live-action anime as much as Ang Lee’s Hulk was a live-action comic book. It sure has the look, but it doesn’t have a clue how to make it interesting. Not that the source material was all that great to begin with, but there was the potential for something interesting here. Oh well.
How many more crap films do the Wachowskis have to make before Hollywood figures out The Matrix was a fluke?
Ang Lee’s Hulk was only like comic books in that it occasionally used multiple panels onscreen at once, even though that device serves no useful purpose in film. Speed Racer is only like anime in that there are occasionally speed lines, even though that device serves no useful purpose in film.
… hey, I think you may be on to something, here…
This could well be it…