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IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0811080/ So I guess I'll be the first to confess my feelings on the Wachowski Brothers' latest movie. In the shortest terms, I can say I absolutely loved it, though Emile Hirsch was an easily forgettable Speed. First, about the way the movie was filmed, the way they layered it so that in some shots the entire scene was in focus, wasn't as noticeable to me as the movie went on. In fact I cant say that it was in the movie much at all, though there was a noticeable scene when Speed is leaving school where the Mach 5 is parked outside on the curb with Rex waiting to pick him up where my eyes just totally bugged out. It looked like a cartoon, but real. I won't say much about the story, except that it was pretty standard fare. The real draw was the racing, just as it should've been. Every race was just a visual feast that I couldn't help but be drawn into. Honestly, it sounds dumb, but I really felt like a little kid watching one of my favorite old cartoons again. Every time he hit the A button to launch (and they made alot of use of this particular feature of the Mach 6) I got giddy. The fact that the track races all had a ton of drifting and spinning didn't really annoy me at all. It just felt right for the style the Wachowski Bros. were aiming for. Early reviews on Rotten Tomatoes and Metacritic tell me that my opinion will be in the minority. The flashing lights and wacky colors (and the fact that they're present alot) might hurt your eyes, or make you stop and consider, or even assert that the Wachowskis were on weed or something when they made this. But honestly, I had a drat good time watching it, and if you enjoyed the cartoon when you were younger I definitely think you will too. 4/5
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May 9, 2008 23:56
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 01:19 |
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Similar feelings here! This is what I wrote on another forum. Oh. My. God. I spent the last few months building up my hopes for this movie, against all odds and the trend that movies like it usually sucked major rear end. I kept telling myself that I would go for the stylization of the movie, the colors and HD ultra-high resolution effects. I went into this movie excited, but clenching my teeth at the lamefest that was most-likely to follow. Dear Wachowski Brothers, Thank you for not following the trend of everyone else. Thank you for hiring people based on talent as opposed to popularity, your screenwriters, your actors, and especially your compositors. Thank you for making Hot Wheels: The Movie. Thank you for making Burnout: The Movie. Thank you for taking everything that made the original whacky/lame Speed Racer good and wholesome and earnest, then injecting it with pure AWESOME! You sirs, have just accomplished a feat that no other has survived; you made a great movie with a monkey as a key character(Well, Pete Jackson did that too, but not like this). You made a movie that makes the real world seem disappointingly colorless... and slow. Jesus don't get me started on how slow the world seems after coming out of your movie. I suppose I should also thank you for making a movie that makes tripping balls in public an appealing idea to me. This, coming from a guy who doesn't touch ANY sort of altering substances, alcohol or the like. The colors, Mike. The COLORS! Does your movie fall into the category of astonishing drama or story-telling? Probably not. It is not the greatest contribution to cinema and the arts that has ever been, no sir. However, you've taken two hours of my time, and in return you've provided me with a more thrilling sensation of speed, color, beauty, and excitement than I will likely get from a movie for some time to come. I hope that the audiences that follow me into those theaters sees your movie with open minds, accepting it as digital art with real humans in it. I hope the full meaning of why one shot looks cartoony and the next ridiculously realistic is apparent to them. I hope this effort you've put forth earns you the money you deserve, so much loving money!! "Greatest movie EVAR?"... not really. But it's definitely up there. Most fun I've had sitting in a theater for two hours? It's up there, too. And I think that's what you were aiming for. Good work, Wachowski Brothers and Army of Compositors. Good work.
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May 10, 2008 03:58
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Speed Racer is a non-stop acid trip into what a good remake should be. The movie never takes its self too seriously, but at the same time it's honestly good. It has a genuine plot that makes automobile racing of actual importance to the world. The characters are for the most part believable; although I do have to say that Matthew Fox just seemed horribly bored with himself through the whole thing. Most importantly the action is fricken intense! Keeping up with forty cars literally battling with each other at seven-hundred mph will probably make your eyes explode out of your head. Half the time you won't even know who's doing what, but you won't care because there's an upside car with weapons and someone's exploding! Pros: It's infinitely better than most of the live-action attempts that Japan does at their own anime. Also obviously the races are awesome! Cons: Length. This movie has a lot of scenes that seem unnecessary, and after the first climatic race the second somehow has less meaning.
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May 11, 2008 02:21
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I really wasn't going to see this until my nephew (fellow goon Marsol0x) told me it was awesome. So I went, but I had pretty low expectations. Boy, was I surprised. I was absolutely blown away. The visuals do take some getting used to, but it isn't because they're bad. It's because it's not what we're used to. It really works, and it really brings it to a real-life-cartoon level. The story was fairly basic, as stated, but the message of family unity is still a pretty good one. The bit in the middle with the stock market might be a little lost on the younger audience, but at the same time, Spritle and Chim-Chim are speeding around on a segway, playing air guitar, to keep the youngsters happy. I've already recommended this to everyone I know, and I'll do the same to all of you, who I don't know. 4.5/5
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May 13, 2008 01:42
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Wow, I'm not quite sure what to say. I read all these reviews before I saw it and really was surprised that it could be rated so high. I just felt it was a way to cash in on our childhood interest. Although the actual original cartoon was mediocore at best. As someone else already said, this movie took what was awesome from that and just amplified it. Regardless, the movie was awesome and entertaining, through and through. As others have said you feel quite immature or childish thinking about how this movie invokes your emotions and adrenaline. But it does. And it does it drat well. I was on the edge of my seat during all the races. The back story and character development was there. But not too much. All the characters were enjoyable and humorous. The whole Rex Racer bit was a bit intense. Lied to his family and got re constructive facial surgery just to protect speed? This was the only thing a bit awkward and hard to understand. I'm not sure what the original story was but I know he was the "Racer X", mystery dude, whatever. And that he was always helping Speed, I think. The movie is pure fiction and fantasy and should be taken that way and nothing more. The backstory and drama is enough to keep you interested, as well. The modern day portrayal on the politics of racing was quite hilarious and over exaggerated. Which is what made it so interesting. And the clash of cultures as well (the Brit, Japanese, etc) was cool. All that being said the movie was a complete trip from start to finish. From the vibrant colors, flashing lights, to the simple backdrop of the scenes. I don't like purchasing movies because I only watch them once. But I think this is one that I feel it would be worth owning. All the details of every scene is awesome and you'd find something new everytime you watched it. 5.5/5 My only complaint is that the cars seemed to be doing a lot of jumping and not using all those other special moves. But I absolutely love that echoing sound they make when they use their "jump jacks". Nostalgia4Dogges fucked around with this message at 19:35 on May 15, 2008 |
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May 15, 2008 19:32
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I like a good, silly, action-y movie now and then. I loved The Forbidden Kingdom, for example, in spite of its obvious flaws. But Speed Racer was, unfortunately, an almost worthless viewing experience for me. I had no expectations, no aching desire to hate this movie. It was just bad. The counts against Speed Racer: - General plot incoherency/inanity. I realize the difficulty in motivating a race car movie, and I might have gone along with anything as long as it wasn't a) wretchedly confusing and badly told b)dead serious and c) the bulk of the viewing experience.The filmmakers seem glaringly aware that there is no grand point to this movie, and are desperate to explain it away with lots and lots of talky scenes and intricate yet worthless plot garbage. This movie takes itself pretty seriously for what it is but it doesn't sell its motivation, ever. -The characters, of which there at least a dozen, are all very one-dimensional and uninteresting, especially Speed, and their interactions are completely lifeless. This is a problem, because close, loving family over all is the biggest theme in the film, meaning there is a dangerous amount of heartfelt talks from mom and pop and girlfriend and more. The movie is absolutely stuffed with close-up dialog scenes. They account for a tremendous percentage of screen time and are usually repetitive or unnecessary. Lots and lots of little chats. Enjoy. I know what you're saying: Who cares about a plot or character interactions in this particular movie, right? And I'm telling you once again, I do - since it absolutely dominates the screen time. - When they actually got around to having a race, well, I hope you like looking at color commentators, reaction shots, and poorly-composited crowd shots instead of actually seeing cars race. And when you do see them, I hope you like incoherency, the stupidest physics in a movie ever, endlessly repeated actions (oh look, he jumped his car! x 100) and absolutely zero tension. I went to this movie to see cars race and crash awesomely, but these scenes are all quite boring, similar to one another, and poorly constructed. And they don't even get much screen time! Most definitely the biggest disappointment of the film. - The visual style... I saw this movie in the first place partly because of its unique look. The effect however ends up ugly, flat, kind of sickeningly unreal and cutesy, and once again, incoherent. It also confused me as to why, in this computer generated wonderland, I still had to look at Christina Ricci's blemishes, facial hair, and conjunctivitis. The imperfect melding of ugly, be-moled human faces and lumpy, spotty, flabby bodies with clean, perfectly rendered cartoonish environments left a bad taste in my brain. Shame on the visual style of this movie. -Part of the incoherency and/or overall badness of the film is the fault of the editing... it's hard to describe how poorly certain plot information was delivered through editing style choices. It was one of my biggest grievances with the movie. Plot information sometimes just seemed thrown in, or was told out of order, or told in a distracting way, because of the editing order and style. Has to be seen to be understood, but really, don't see it. I really haven't been this confused by a movie for as long as I can remember, and I've seen Inland Empire. - I want to especially mention an overall blundering idiocy this movie exhibits in its comic sequences, especially with the fat kid and the British bad guys. This is a very humorless movie - it takes its asinine story completely seriously most of the time. But it tries in a spastic, grating way to inject some comedy now and then. If you think a fat kid talking about and eating a lot of food constantly is hilarious, this is your movie. By the way, the amount of screen time the kid gets is at least twice as much time spent showing cars racing. I hope that sounds attractive to you. And now finally, the case for Speed Racer: - A fight scene on a glacier that was briefly cool style-wise but overstayed its tenuous welcome. - Susan Sarandon's luscious breasts. Forget this movie, 2 out of possible 10. Do not waste your time and money. Babs Johnson fucked around with this message at 11:51 on May 19, 2008 |
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May 19, 2008 11:39
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I feel compelled to write a review here because even now that I've seen every fantastic blockbuster movie the summer could throw at me, I'm still completely convinced that Speed Racer was the year's best film. In fact, it's hard to remember enjoying a movie so much in all my adult life. Speed Racer made me feel like I was 6 years old on a Saturday morning, hopped up on Froot Loops, racing Hot Wheels cars around on the floor while I watched all my favorite cartoons. It was raw, unapologetic entertainment of a kind I haven't seen since Star Wars. Two hours of pure adrenaline wrapped in candy-colored euphoria. A roller-coaster for the eyes. A synthesis of a lot of weird modern cinematic ideas into a bona-fide pop masterpiece! Consider the opening scenes, which use layers and layers of composited images to give you years of backstory in the space of a couple of minutes. The whole movie is filmed like a dream sequence, a dense interweaving of impossible images and strange ideas culminating in a delirious wish-fulfillment climax. The casting was oddly inspired all around. Speaking as somebody with only the dimmest childhood recollections of the original cartoon, I still noted the uncanny resemblance each character had to their animated counterpart. For example, casting Christina Ricci as an anime girl was a brilliant call. Having seen Matthew Fox's ruggedly pointed chin jutting from the mask of the mysterious Racer X, it's hard to imagine any other man in the role. The characters were thin all-around and the dialog, like the movie, made no effort to be realistic, which is why it was so crucial to cast actors who could really, really act - people who could say ridiculous poo poo to a green screen and make it sound natural - and they did a fine job. It can be said - and it is said often as hell! - that the movie is popcorn trash. It has nothing to say, and it says it way too loud. But you know what? gently caress that. I could barely walk out of this movie, my mind was so blown. I went back the next day to see it again, and it blew my mind all over again. Months later, I think back on that movie and get a silly grin on my face. I wish I hadn't missed out on the Imax version, even though, as a friend said, the theater would have been full of "epileptics' heads exploding all over the faces of delighted children." 5.5/5
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Jul 20, 2008 08:48
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Simply put it's one of the most psychedelic movies to come out in the past 10 years. I can understand why this is not everyone's cup of tea. It's heavy on slapstick humor and cartoon action intersplicing that's very much in the tradition of the source material. Mainstream U.S. audiences were probably expecting more of a reboot edition of Speed Racer remade into gritty realism live action similar to other comic/cartoon inspired films. The Wachowskis went balls out and against their own financial detriment made a full on piece based on the original cartoon. Unfortunately, it seems like their ambitious ploy failed but for some of us it's a fantastic movie all the same. This movie has a lot in common with other live action "cartoon" type films like Roger Rabbit, Cool World, etc.. but Speed Racer is far superior in every way. Give it a chance. Even if you don't like this type of movie there are some interesting effects by FX pioneers like Gaeta. Just watch an episode of the original Speed Racer first. If you liked that then you will most likely love this movie. 4/5
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Sep 14, 2008 13:16
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I saw this movie in the theater back in May (or June) and couldn't wait to buy it on Blu-ray when it came out. It was great the second and third time I watched it. I only regret not seeing it on IMAX. The whole movie was obviously shot in front of green screen but the actors sold it. It's greatest strength is that every single detail you could really complain about was intentionally put in there. It's campy. The story isn't really important but it did its job of showing what motivates each and every character and developing most of the characters. The movie was a technical feat of modern cinema. Everything is in focus due to their layering technique. This made the movie look fantastic and surreal, like it was real but not quite, like it was animation but real and not CG. My favorite trick they did with the editing was the transitions. There are some awkward time sequences (someone explaining what was going to happen and us seeing it happening and then going back to him finishing explaining it before it happens) but it's amazing what they do to transition the scenes. I love this movie. I'm glad it exists and I'm sad it didn't do well in the box office or with reviews. I just feel like people that poo poo on it just don't really get it. They have no imagination. This movie was about being a kid again and it was amazing. Probably the most fun I've had in the theater in a long time. 5.5/5
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Sep 21, 2008 08:21
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Go to this movie and just sit there and wait for the racing scenes, for the style, the psychedelic explosion of colors, the eye candy. Watch this movie if you spent your childhood watching speed racer. Sure the acting is very hammy and wacky, but its in spirit of the original show and the racing in this movie makes up for everything and is absolutely breathtaking. Its a cartoon come to life. Its beautiful to look at and it will surprise you with the adrenaline pumped action scenes. I really regret not having seen this in IMAX, I was on the edge of my seat towards the end. 4/5
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Sep 29, 2008 10:43
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I wish I knew what movie you people who gave it 4s and 5s because what I saw was a headache inducing nightmare. The blue/green screen work on this just seemed like this should have came out before movies like Sky Captain and Sin City because there are several scenes that just look fake and some scenes that made me think I was watching scenes from an old FMV Sega Cd game. Racer X was the only good thing about this movie, if they made a movie about him I would gladly see it but the rest of this just seemed like someone read too much into the old show, and at parts decided to make this the Spritle and Chim-Chim movie, and I have to say that kid was more annoying that the kid from the original cartoon. The other actors in the movie were ok. Im not going to pull the comic nerd "Durr they look nothing like the cartoon" complant because there is no real way in hell you will be able to find people that look like an anime character (human hair just can't do the things cartoon hair can) giving this movie 1/5, and the 1 point was for Racer X
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Oct 15, 2008 03:16
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Speed Racer is a remarkable unique piece of film that combines an absolute orgy of color with the unique imagination of the Wachiowskis. While it doesn't have a lot on the side of plot, it doesn't try to, and instead delivers and absolutely breathtaking visual experience that is fantastically edited together and lit up with an intense score that fits it perfectly. The overly cartoony CG style smashes headfirst into the live action scenes and they combine together in a way that leaves you mesmerized and staring at scene after scene just admiring it all. As for the people who are bitching this movie out because it didn't have Oscar quality acting, ignore them - they cannot appreciate a film for its merits. The editing really deserves a second mention, it's so well done and the transitions are so amazing to watch that I would not be surprised if it received an Oscar nod. Go get stoned / trip out of your mind / take a liberal amount of the drug of your choice, and sit back and prepare to have your eyes blasted through the back of your skull. 4.5/5
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Nov 27, 2008 10:38
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| # ? Apr 24, 2024 01:19 |
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It's too bad this movie got consistently panned by critics, but it's not surprising. This isn't a movie most people are going to like, probably because they go into with the expectation of it being a movie they can enjoy in the same way as any other movie. So for anyone trying to judge if this a good movie for them, here's some stuff about Speed Racer you should know:
If you'd hate a movie with any of those things, and can't get passed them to enjoy this movie for what it is, don't see Speed Racer. You won't like it. You won't get it. It won't make any sense to you. It'll probably give you a headache, and you'll spend the entire time wishing the story made sense or something. That's what all the critics did, and they didn't get it either. So here's the real deal: This movie is a mind-bending, amazing, ecstasy-laced explosion of candy colored awesomeness, and it's obviously not meant to be enjoyed as anything but. Here's some but not all of the stuff that makes this movie great: The racing scenes: They're not so much racing scenes as much as kung-fu battles except the cars are fighting rather than people. (Though there's kung-fu fights between people as well.) What the Wachowskis with these cars was spectacular and awesome, and has to be seen to be believed. The excitement: Regardless of the fact that this movie is predictable as hell, all of the racing scenes are still exciting. Of course you know Speed Racer is going to win, but that doesn't take away from it. They set up every battle and every race so well that you're rooting for him every time. The ending race in particular is completely one sided but one of the most awesome things in the movie. The spectacle: The entire movie is one big special effect, and the stylized look it achieves is great. This isn't a live action movie. This is a cartoon, except with live action people in it. Never before has anyone managed to pull that off. And once again the ending race manages to push these things to new depths. It's more like the end of 2001 on even more drugs than anything else. Hell, the entire last part of the end race is exactly like a huge dose of MDMA. In fact, never before has there been a movie that's on more ecstasy than this. There's more stuff I could list, but I'll end it there. Read the other people's reviews to get more of that kind of thing. Needless to say, I loved this movie, but I was able to open up to what it is. And let me tell you, it's an amazing escapist candy colored blast of ecstasy action and adventure like no one else has ever made before. Don't go to it expecting a normal movie because it's not. Go to it with your heart and mind opened to the spectacle, and you might love this movie too. 5/5
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Feb 18, 2009 16:34
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