I don't know why Speed Racer has been maligned by the majority of major critics. This is definitely the most fun I've had while watching a movie in years, and although it's not as good as last weekend's major release, Iron Man, it's definitely a darn good flick. You know what? Maybe it's got to do with the age of the viewer. Most of the critics are 30 year olds or 40 year olds, and since the film is so fast and wild and colourful and full of CGI, it's pretty much impossible for them to enjoy it. A more digital generation, a generation of people who have grown up with videogames and computers and Pixar movies will definitely have a lot of fun with Speed Racer. Yes, I'm talking about of people my age (17) and younger. Speed Racer is one crazy flick, a mix of digital effects and real-life actors that manages to tell a compelling story, while providing with impressive CGI work and solid performances.
As everybody must know, Speed Racer is based on the Japanese cartoon of the 60s, but the great thing is that one doesn't have to be fan in order to enjoy the movie adaptation. The story is pretty straightforward and easy to follow, and characters, while not exactly developed - most of them are archetypes -, have their own backstories which make them more interesting and identifiable: heroes are heroes, and villains are evil and hateful - there's only one character who does seem to be on the gray area of characterization, but the film doesn't dwell on him too much.
In order to create their movie, the Wachowskis didn't want to create a mere film adaptation. They wanted to create an experience, a flick that would resemble a cheesy cartoon come to life. The whole film was shot in front of blue screens and green screens, and the majority of the sets and backgrounds - if not all of them - were created inside a computer. All this means, of course, that the movie is visually impressive, awe-inspiring and exhausting. Cars fly around and flip and attack using hidden weapons and transitions are used by means of superimposing images and close-ups. Car races are, for the most part, completely computer-generated, and are so exaggerated that the viewer feels as if he/her were watching a realistic-looking cartoon. Speed Racer has a unique look and style, providing with a cinematic experience in a fashion that has never been seen before. It's all really cool.
I guess that's why there are so many conservative viewers that haven't liked Speed Racer. The movie's fast and wild, and constructs its scenes and racing sequences in rather unorthodox manners. Some may consider that one has to be an ADD viewer in order to enjoy the movie, but I don't think that's true. I can enjoy Speed Racer as much as I enjoy The Maltese Falcon (I'm not comparing the two flicks, of course, but you get the idea), so yeah, I'm a pretty normal guy, and I had tons of fun with film. I didn't get dizzy or lost, and I was just marvelled by its (intentionally) cheesy CGI and impressive set pieces.
But special effects aren't the only things that make a film worth-watching; there are things like performances, for example, that are important for a motion picture to work, and thankfully, Speed Racer has pretty good acting. (Had the performances or the storyline been crappy, the movie would've only served as a demonstration of what CGI can do.) Emile Hirsch (Girl Next Door, the impressive Into the Wild), while not particularly great, is not bad as Speed. He's the classic hero, the selfless and naïve boy who wants to fight the big corporations. Yes, he's a little boring (I guess the Wachowskis have a tradition of providing with somehow dull leads - just go and watch Keanu Reeves' performance in The Matrix and its sequels), but I found him likable enough. Christina Ricci is great as Trixie, and Matthew Fox is suitably mysterious and dark as Racer X. Susan Sarandon and John Goodman don't have much to do as Speed's parents, and Roger Allam goes amazingly over-the-top as Royalton - a memorably evil villain for a memorably cartoonish movie.
But audiences watch films like Speed Racer in order to watch the races, and fortunately they won't be disappointed. Apart from being visually stunning, these sequences are also pretty tense and exciting too. There was more than one occasion in which I had goosebumps while watching one of these scenes, and since Speed as likable and worth-rooting-for, one can actually feel for him during his quest for glory and destroying Royalton's plans. Races are not hard to follow - at least not for me nor for my girlfriend - and apart from trying to now what's going to happen next, one awaits these races in order to discover what exaggerate and outrageous situations and tracks the Wachowskis can come up with. Physics and logic are not present in these set pieces - they're as exaggerated and outrageous as any race could be, and that's why they're so fun.
Speed Racer has the right amount of action, races, impressive visual effects, cheesy characters and juvenile humour (courtesy of Spritle Racer and the monkey, who become involved in some amusingly cheesy situations), which makes it really fun. You may have noticed that I've used the words "cartoonish", "cheesy" and "visual" a lot in this review. Well, I guess those words pretty much sum up the whole film. If you go and watch it with an open mind and considering it's gonna be a really cartoonish and wild flick, you'll by no means be disappointed.
As everybody must know, Speed Racer is based on the Japanese cartoon of the 60s, but the great thing is that one doesn't have to be fan in order to enjoy the movie adaptation. The story is pretty straightforward and easy to follow, and characters, while not exactly developed - most of them are archetypes -, have their own backstories which make them more interesting and identifiable: heroes are heroes, and villains are evil and hateful - there's only one character who does seem to be on the gray area of characterization, but the film doesn't dwell on him too much.
In order to create their movie, the Wachowskis didn't want to create a mere film adaptation. They wanted to create an experience, a flick that would resemble a cheesy cartoon come to life. The whole film was shot in front of blue screens and green screens, and the majority of the sets and backgrounds - if not all of them - were created inside a computer. All this means, of course, that the movie is visually impressive, awe-inspiring and exhausting. Cars fly around and flip and attack using hidden weapons and transitions are used by means of superimposing images and close-ups. Car races are, for the most part, completely computer-generated, and are so exaggerated that the viewer feels as if he/her were watching a realistic-looking cartoon. Speed Racer has a unique look and style, providing with a cinematic experience in a fashion that has never been seen before. It's all really cool.
I guess that's why there are so many conservative viewers that haven't liked Speed Racer. The movie's fast and wild, and constructs its scenes and racing sequences in rather unorthodox manners. Some may consider that one has to be an ADD viewer in order to enjoy the movie, but I don't think that's true. I can enjoy Speed Racer as much as I enjoy The Maltese Falcon (I'm not comparing the two flicks, of course, but you get the idea), so yeah, I'm a pretty normal guy, and I had tons of fun with film. I didn't get dizzy or lost, and I was just marvelled by its (intentionally) cheesy CGI and impressive set pieces.
But special effects aren't the only things that make a film worth-watching; there are things like performances, for example, that are important for a motion picture to work, and thankfully, Speed Racer has pretty good acting. (Had the performances or the storyline been crappy, the movie would've only served as a demonstration of what CGI can do.) Emile Hirsch (Girl Next Door, the impressive Into the Wild), while not particularly great, is not bad as Speed. He's the classic hero, the selfless and naïve boy who wants to fight the big corporations. Yes, he's a little boring (I guess the Wachowskis have a tradition of providing with somehow dull leads - just go and watch Keanu Reeves' performance in The Matrix and its sequels), but I found him likable enough. Christina Ricci is great as Trixie, and Matthew Fox is suitably mysterious and dark as Racer X. Susan Sarandon and John Goodman don't have much to do as Speed's parents, and Roger Allam goes amazingly over-the-top as Royalton - a memorably evil villain for a memorably cartoonish movie.
But audiences watch films like Speed Racer in order to watch the races, and fortunately they won't be disappointed. Apart from being visually stunning, these sequences are also pretty tense and exciting too. There was more than one occasion in which I had goosebumps while watching one of these scenes, and since Speed as likable and worth-rooting-for, one can actually feel for him during his quest for glory and destroying Royalton's plans. Races are not hard to follow - at least not for me nor for my girlfriend - and apart from trying to now what's going to happen next, one awaits these races in order to discover what exaggerate and outrageous situations and tracks the Wachowskis can come up with. Physics and logic are not present in these set pieces - they're as exaggerated and outrageous as any race could be, and that's why they're so fun.
Speed Racer has the right amount of action, races, impressive visual effects, cheesy characters and juvenile humour (courtesy of Spritle Racer and the monkey, who become involved in some amusingly cheesy situations), which makes it really fun. You may have noticed that I've used the words "cartoonish", "cheesy" and "visual" a lot in this review. Well, I guess those words pretty much sum up the whole film. If you go and watch it with an open mind and considering it's gonna be a really cartoonish and wild flick, you'll by no means be disappointed.