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Does ‘Speed Racer’ have enough velocity?
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The summer’s second big movie, “Speed Racer,” better get it in gear.
With mostly unflattering early reviews from older critics (New York Magazine calls it an “eyesore”) and fan grades being all over the map (boxofficemojo.com readers who’ve seen the film generally give it an “A” or an “F”), “Speed Racer” might have a hard time this weekend climbing over the formidable, fun and entrenched “Iron Man” at the box office.
Rated PG, “Speed Racer,” starring Emile Hirsch in the title role, is a futuristic homage to the 1960s cartoon. A simple good-vs.-evil race car story, it’s all pop art colors and built-for-speed races where the cars and camera, like a churning carnival ride, go up, down, swing to the side, flip over, turn, twist and defy gravity.
“You might admire it as a Warholian blur of pop art,” writes Ian Nathan of Empire Magazine, “gawk and gasp at its Hot-Wheels-for-real dynamism, or get a headache.”
In Atlanta, Warner Bros. screened the two-hours-plus movie for critics on Monday night. Here’s what moviegoers will likely be talking about after “Speed Racer” opens on Friday (there are also a few late-night Wednesday and late-night Thursday screenings at several theaters):
THE COLORS AND IMAGERY: The film has a distinct otherworld feel, a kind of cross between “The Cat in the Hat” and “2001: A Space Odyssey.” The comic-book colors are bright and deeply vivid, the kind John Waters will love. Visually, it’s as if humans dwell in a candy-colored world eons after the live-action “The Flintstones.” “Speed Racer” is also the type of film that literally shows a greedy character with dollar signs in his eyes.
THE MONKEY: Speed’s hyperventilating little brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) has a pet chimp named Chim Chim, who steals every scene it’s in. The monkey hangs in there to deliver surprised expressions and, in explaining one reason why the film is rated PG, does what a fighting monkey does — hurls poo.
CULTURAL REFERENCES: There are lots of them, including dialog that drops a mention of the Commodore 64, the popular 8-bit home computer from the early 1980s.
THE TALK, TALK, TALK: There seems to be more race car announcers and analysts than main actors (one announcer is Peter Fernandez, who provided the voice of Speed Racer and Racer X in six episodes of the original “Speed Racer”). The movie overflows with exposition and plot updates and reprises. Perhaps it’s an unintentional joke, but when the young Speed Racer in school is supposed to be taking a test while his mind wants to be elsewhere, the words on the page literally become “blah blah blah.”
THE VIDEO GAMESMANSHIP: Speed’s macho car, the Mach 5, is outfitted with all kinds of James Bond-style gadgetry, all operated with a circular control panel with buttons labeled “A,” “B,” “C,” etc., just like your joystick at home.
Are you planning on seeing “Speed Racer”?
Permalink | Comments (12) | Post your comment | Categories: Bob Longino
Comments
By Marvel
May 6, 2008 10:45 AM | Link to this
Iron Man looked cheesy in the previews, but it wasnt - some of the fight scenes were way to hokey and lengthy but it exceeded my expectations - i dont think Speed Racer will - the appeal with the original Speed Racer was mainly due to the era - it was early Japanimation and we knew no better; now we do
By Keefer
May 6, 2008 11:22 AM | Link to this
The Wachowski brothers are the absolutely cutting edge of technical filmmaking. I’m anxious to see this because I know i will be blown away by the visual art and stunning effects. I HATE movies that are built with CGI, and this one is not.
Add to it that I loved Speed racer as a kid, I’ll probably enjoy it a lot because of the connection to my childhood. Anyone who isn’t already a SR fan AND a lover of the Wachowski’s work will probably not find this movie as exciting as me.
By Debbie
May 6, 2008 2:25 PM | Link to this
This looks too grown-up for kids, and too childish for grown-ups… not sure who the audience is going to be.
Just watching the trailer made my teeth rot and gave me a migraine :-)
By Mutter
May 6, 2008 4:54 PM | Link to this
I plan on seeing this movie while tripping on mushrooms. I can’t wait.
By Kelly
May 7, 2008 10:22 AM | Link to this
I was at the screening of Speed Racer Monday night and I plan to see the movie again. It was very true to the cheesyness that was the original cartoon Speed Racer, right down to the sweat on Speedy’s face during the race scenes. My childhood was filled with fantasies of being Trixie to my good vs evil car racing hunk of a boyfriend Speed Racer. This movie brought back all of the childhood wonder and excitement of Speed Racer and did for me exactly what it was supposed to do,brought the cartoon into the present day. It was well written, stayed true to the original and took me on one hell of a ride!
By Kelly
May 7, 2008 10:25 AM | Link to this
I was at the screening of Speed Racer Monday night and I plan to see the movie again. It was very true to the cheesyness that was the original cartoon Speed Racer, right down to the sweat on Speedy’s face during the race scenes. My childhood was filled with fantasies of being Trixie to my good vs evil car racing hunk of a boyfriend Speed Racer. This movie brought back all of the childhood wonder and excitement of Speed Racer and did for me exactly what it was supposed to do,brought the cartoon into the present day. It was well written, stayed true to the original and took me on one hell of a ride!
By kelly
May 7, 2008 10:29 AM | Link to this
I was at the screening of Speed Racer Monday night and I plan to see the movie again. It was very true to the cheesyness that was the original cartoon Speed Racer, right down to the sweat on Speedy’s face during the race scenes. My childhood was filled with fantasies of being Trixie to my good vs evil car racing hunk of a boyfriend Speed Racer. This movie brought back all of the childhood wonder and excitement of Speed Racer and did for me exactly what it was supposed to do,brought the cartoon into the present day. It was well written, stayed true to the original and took me on one hell of a ride!
By Christopher Cook
May 7, 2008 12:18 PM | Link to this
Ummm……no. I was never heavy into the original, with its click-clack animation and its cheesy dubbed dialogue (“I’m going to win this race because I’ve got to and I know I can do it, i’ve just got to”), and this film looks like it will do for 2008 movie-going what “Transformers” did for 2007. All visuals, no brains.
By mom3boys
May 7, 2008 12:39 PM | Link to this
GO, GO, GO GO SPEED RACER!!! I remember this as a kid; it was my little brother’s favorite show. My 12 year old and I will be taking him (almost 40 now!) to see it. It’s probably going to be stupid, but it’s a trip down memory lane! We used to call it “gocey racer” because that’s how my “little brother” would say it when he was about 4! Let the good times roll!!
By Gary
May 7, 2008 3:53 PM | Link to this
I remember the “Speed Racer” cartoon as a kid. Even at that young age I recognized how poorly produced it was and rarely could sit through an entire episode. I saw the preview of the movie version when I went to Ironman. Looks to be of similar quality as the cartoon. No way I would spend money to see that. Now Ironman, that’s a movie!
By Jimmer
May 7, 2008 4:39 PM | Link to this
This looks like it will be really cool.
Mutter, I don’t need DRUGS to enjoy this movie!! Here he comes! Here comes Speed Racer!!
By Tattletale Strangler
May 7, 2008 5:03 PM | Link to this
I’m going with a van of my epileptic friends to see who can hold off on going into a seizure the longest.