I’ve been reading the reviews, seen much scathing commentary, scratching my head over the hostility engendered by “Speed Racer.” I’ve been wondering whether others saw the same film that my family dID: 00 The kids’ film that people slam as being too long for kids, yet five-year-old Caroline was captivated, and I thought was thoroughly engaging.
And I realized a lot of this negativism was sounding familiar to me. Too long. Too loud. Too overwhelming visually with lots of mindless sound and fury signifying nothing. And I realized where and when I had heard it all before:
“Blade Runner.”
Critics and fans leveled many of the same complaints at “Blade Runner,” comparing it unfavorably to other then-popular SF films, and it was crushed at the box office by a powerhouse called “E.T.” “Blade Runner” tanked.
Yet over time it was seen as visionary, and its stylings let an indelible impression on fans and future filmmakers. Any number of dramatic endeavors have the visual stamp of “Blade Runner” upon them.
I think that’s what’s happened here. I think “Speed Racer,” consistent for its title character, is ahead of the pack, and no one has realized it yet. I suspect you’re going to see tricks from “Speed Racer” showing up in other films in the next years, and it’s going to be one of those movies in which, years from now, film students are going to be seeing the basis for many subsequent films. While now people dismiss Emile Hirsch as being bland, others are going to realize he wisely underplays the titular character to serve as a quiet center against the overplaying of his costars and the go-go visuals that surround him. The constant motion of the wipes and the way that even heavily expository scenes are made visually stimulating are going to be aped in subsequent movies.
“Speed Racer” may crash, but like a first rate car, it’s going to be cannibalized for its parts.
PAD
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“Speed Racer” is to “Blade Runner” as “Bugsy Malone” is to “The Godfather.”
I have to agree with Peter David on this and say that I quite enjoyed the movie. In fact, I enjoyed it much more than I expected. I went to the movie simply because I think the Wachowskis are brilliant visual filmmakers, and I knew the movie would be gorgeous, even if I didn’t enjoy it much. I’ll also freely admit that, for the first 20 minutes or so, I felt very disconnected from the characters and perhaps a tad overwhelmed. However, after that, the movie really pulled me in, and I found myself enjoying it immensely, and actually caring about the characters.
I think it’s a very strong film, and moreover, it’s fun. It’s something that a family can enjoy together and that’s becoming increasingly rare. And even for someone like myself, who has no children to take to the theater, it offers a lot of enjoyment.
I would agree with this.
My first thought on seeing the visuals was “this looks like 60s retro and Blade Runner had too much sugar [and some crack] and had a love child.”
I also am mystified by the fact that the critics seem pretty universally to hate the movie. The majority of people I know who have seen it really enjoyed it.
“Speed Racer” is to “Blade Runner” what “Bugsy Malone” is to “The Godfather”
No. It’s really not.
PAD
I also am mystified by the fact that the critics seem pretty universally to hate the movie. The majority of people I know who have seen it really enjoyed it.
I suspect a majority of the people you know don’t have a beef with the Wachowskis. Hollywood thrives on two things: Taking glee in the success of unknowns, and taking even more glee in the failure of people who are successful. Ridley Scott made the critically acclaimed “The Duelists” and the financial smash-hit “Alien.” I suspect plenty of people were itching to see him take a fall, and when a visionary film that a lot of people didn’t “get” came out, they seized the opportunity. I think we’re seeing a replay of that now.
PAD
Drugs are bad, mmmmkay.
While the movie was a tad too long, it was still a fantatic ride. It amazes me that reviewers just cannot allow themselves to actually enjoy a fun movie, they feel the need to rip it to shreds.
IMO, Speed Racer was more fun to watch than Iron Man, even though they’re both very good movies.
You may recall that Blade Runner actually beat out E.T. for the Best Dramatic Presentation Hugo for their year. Would it not be a hoot and another half if Speed Racer did the same to some sure-shoo-in competitor for Long Form?
Haven’t seen it yet so I can’t judge it but comparing it to Blade Runner is mighty high praise.
I’d say maybe a better comparison would be TRON, which also bombed and was also technically fresh and new and ahead of its time.
What a lot of people are objecting to is the amount spent on a kids movie about characters that few kids remember. That’s not entirely fair–it shouldn’t matter what a movie costs, just if it’s good or not–but it’s a fact. ISHTAR isn’t the worst comedy ever made but t cost almost as much as any 15 bad comedies put together.
At least BLADE RUNNER tried to tell an ambitious story and be more than eye candy. I have no objection to eye candy, even expensive eye candy. But as soon as I heard about SPEED RACER I knew it would not bring them in, no matter what. Most of us who remember it remember it mostly for the atrocious dubbing. Not a big selling point. The fans of the Wachowskis are mostly MATRIX fans, not the SPEED RACER demo at all. As a 50 million dollar gamble, maybe. A $150 million or more movie? Yikes.
You know, they could have made a racing movie free of the Speed Racer mythos, it might have succeeded. If I were making an adventure movie about a writer/pilot I sure as hëll would not call it CLUTCH CARGO and spend 160 million on it.
How could it be bad? It has John Goodman in it. If it’s half as good as King Ralph, I’ll be satisfied.
Well, I think it’s a bit funny that a live action film based on a sixties cartoon is being viewed as seomthing that is supposed to be ‘high art’ as opposed to just a bit of movie escapism. The review I read in the paper was talking about the underpinnings of the Speed Racer franchise itself. If your daughter had fun and enjoyed the movie then I imagine it succeeded greatly.
I hadn’t thought of it in that way PAD.
In fact, I’d kind of missed the negative publicity (which may be a miracle in of itself).
The film was fantastically good fun though, the only critiscm I’d level is that there were a huge number of families in the showing I saw, and (amusingly) the kids laughed at some of the (suprising) language, whilst the parents were in shock….
I do think they should have had a disclaimer however: ‘Do not watch this film if driving’. I spent my trip home trying not to but my foot through the floor 🙁
I totally agree with PAD. The movie rocked. I went in kind of expecting it to suck, but had a great time. I’ll probably see it again with my nephew on a DLP screen sometime.
Dawfydd Kelly saID: 00″…the kids laughed at some of the (suprising) language, whilst the parents were in shock….”
I only remember 2 things as being possibly offensive. Speed says approximately “Don’t bring that šhìŧ to my track.” And Spritle gives the finger to a bad guy.
Were there more? Did I miss something?
When I saw the previews, I knew this movie had to be seen in the theater to fully appreciate the visuals. I found it to be more fun than the Iron Man movie. I won’t be seeing Iron Man in the hteater again, but might go see Speed Racer again.
Wasn’t planning to see it right away even though have the complete original on DVD.
Hated Matrix so that tag didn’t entice me.
Friends wanted to go. Had fun with it, gotta love cars racing.
Besides wasn’t the most appealing part of the original the MACH 5 herself?
Gotta love the MACH 5.
Not a great film but fun and pretty true to the series (and they didn’t break canon, when you see it of if you did, you know what I mean)
I’ve only seen the preview so far (as it’s not out here yet) but I was relatively impressed with what I saw.
My general experience has been that if the critics hate it, I love it and vice-versa. Maybe I’m just plebian? 🙂
Peter, I think you’re spot on about people in the future looking back on this and appreciating it. It’s definately a stylistic piece and undeniably experimental. My friends and I possibly enjoyed it more than the children in the audience (and they were gorging themselves upon this film). I just don’t think people have picked up on the tongue-in-cheek humor this film is trying to capture. The dynamics between the stoicism and melodrama you mentioned only make it funnier in my opinion.
Also, did the kid playing Spridle (sp) remind anybody else of a young Andy Richter? 🙂
What really bums me out is that this probably kills any chance of a WACKY RACERS movie. That would have been great. Yes, I AM serious.
What I don’t get is people complaining that critics don’t know how to enjoy a fun movie, a mere week after Iron Man received rave reviews. Maybe they just don’t like bad fun movies (though I haven’t seen Speed Racer, so I can’t judge it for myself).
“How could it be bad? It has John Goodman in it. If it’s half as good as King Ralph, I’ll be satisfied.”
You’ll be satisfied. It IS half as good as King Ralph.
“‘Speed Racer’ is to ‘Blade Runner’ what ‘Bugsy Malone’ is to ‘The Godfather.’
No. It’s really not.”
I stand corrected by a well-reasoned, professionally constructed argument. Well played, sir!
I’ve actually seen the movie, and it was, well, perfectly what it wanted to be, which is, the first ever live-action cartoon.
The look was fantastic. The races were thrilling, and utterly absurd, as were the fight scenes. The plot was enough to string together the action, and the writers should’ve realized that’s all it was and trimmed the exposition scenes considerably. This movie needed time in the editing room.
But despite its flaws, I was entertained. It picked the right thing to do well for what it was. I disagree that this will become more than a cult classic – I think Tron is a smart comparison, not Blade Runner – but it’s not a train wreck (car crash?) like some reviews seem to say.
Also: can’t wait for the video game version. I’ve never seen a movie more crying out for one.
I agree with you in some respects — Speed Racer didn’t deserve the Rotten Tomatoes rating it got, and it was much better than I expected despite Matthew Fox showing all the personality of a rutabaga.
This was probably the first time I’ve had any appreciation for Michael Giacchino’s scoring (frankly he’s so bland that Hans Zimmer seems enthralling by comparison) because the ongoing variations on the Speed Racer music were not only often quite witty, but the composition overall had a subtlety to it that the rest of the movie lacked — unlike many movie scores of late, the music didn’t attempt to compete with the thundering soundtrack.
That said, the film left me with an ice cream headache and a touch of vertigo. God help epileptics.
So, overall? A bit of a failure with some magnificent visuals. The trick they did with the floating wipes built around various characters and scenes isn’t a new trick, by the way — I first saw something of the sort in a Pet Shop Boys video back in the 1980s.
Also, how can anyone seriously hate a movie in which a ninja not only turns out to be wearing polka-dotted boxers but gets his ášš bëáŧ by John Goodman?
The negative reviews appear to come from the critics’ perception that “Speed Racer” is a bad, unentertaining movie. PAD’s feeling otherwise would be as convincing to them as their distaste for the film is to him. It is normal to trust his own taste better than theirs, but unjustified to think it self-evident that he is right.
I loved this movie!
I don’t understand why critics hated it so much. It was amazing to look at at. The actors were great. It’s a movie about race car driving how complicated does the plot need to be.
Emile was great as Speed. I’m 31, no kids. never saw the cartoon. Saw Iron Man the week before hoping there would be an Indiana Jones preview.. Iron Man was ok but Speed Racer was amazing, easily one of my favorite movies.
AT Speed Racer everyone in the theater was laughing, cheering, having a great time. When the kid flipped off the bad guy everyone gasped, which was great cause nothing shocks anyone anymore, nice to see the good old bird hasn’t lost it.
I guess the only good thing about it tanking is that the DVD will be out sooner.
Personally, I was never a Speed Racer fan growing up, but after I saw the preview for it, I simply had to see it, and loved it to death. It was one of the most unique things I’ve ever seen.
Of course, the more negative reviews critics give a movie, the more likely I am to see it and probably love it. That’s how I ended up seeing Wild Hogs, actually, which I enjoyed immensely. I prefer going to see fun movies, to space out for a few hours and enjoy myself. If I want drama and tragedy I’ll flip on the news.
y’know, a thread like this certainly demonstates the ideas that opinions are like @$$holes – everybody has one.
Genuinely glad for those who enjoyed the film – good for you! Big supporter of the idea that some movies are there to just enjoy. This is why movies like Hudson hawk have their own cult following (yes, I’m a member of that cult).
Personally I don’t plan to see the movie because I never have seen the original Speed Racer series and the campain for the film just didn’t pique my intrest. Dosn’t look bad, just not my cup o’ tea. ’nuff said.
What I don’t get is the need to be insulting when opinions clash.
Hence, James McClain –
How well reasoned and professionally constructed an argument can PAD be expected to make to a comment that demonstrated neither it’s reason or or professionalisim?
y’know, a thread like this certainly demonstates the ideas that opinions are like @$$holes – everybody has one.
Genuinely glad for those who enjoyed the film – good for you! Big supporter of the idea that some movies are there to just enjoy. This is why movies like Hudson hawk have their own cult following (yes, I’m a member of that cult).
Personally I don’t plan to see the movie because I never have seen the original Speed Racer series and the campain for the film just didn’t pique my intrest. Dosn’t look bad, just not my cup o’ tea. ’nuff said.
What I don’t get is the need to be insulting when opinions clash.
Hence, James McClain –
How well reasoned and professionally constructed an argument can PAD be expected to make to a comment that demonstrated neither it’s reason or or professionalisim?
y’know, a thread like this certainly demonstates the ideas that opinions are like @$$holes – everybody has one.
Genuinely glad for those who enjoyed the film – good for you! Big supporter of the idea that some movies are there to just enjoy. This is why movies like Hudson hawk have their own cult following (yes, I’m a member of that cult).
Personally I don’t plan to see the movie because I never have seen the original Speed Racer series and the campain for the film just didn’t pique my intrest. Dosn’t look bad, just not my cup o’ tea. ’nuff said.
What I don’t get is the need to be insulting when opinions clash.
Hence, James McClain –
How well reasoned and professionally constructed an argument can PAD be expected to make to a comment that demonstrated neither it’s reason or or professionalisim?
y’know, a thread like this certainly demonstates the ideas that opinions are like @$$holes – everybody has one.
Genuinely glad for those who enjoyed the film – good for you! Big supporter of the idea that some movies are there to just enjoy. This is why movies like Hudson hawk have their own cult following (yes, I’m a member of that cult).
Personally I don’t plan to see the movie because I never have seen the original Speed Racer series and the campain for the film just didn’t pique my intrest. Dosn’t look bad, just not my cup o’ tea. ’nuff said.
What I don’t get is the need to be insulting when opinions clash.
Hence, James McClain –
How well reasoned and professionally constructed an argument can PAD be expected to make to a comment that demonstrated neither it’s reason or or professionalisim?
y’know, a thread like this certainly demonstates the ideas that opinions are like @$$holes – everybody has one.
Genuinely glad for those who enjoyed the film – good for you! Big supporter of the idea that some movies are there to just enjoy. This is why movies like Hudson hawk have their own cult following (yes, I’m a member of that cult).
Personally I don’t plan to see the movie because I never have seen the original Speed Racer series and the campain for the film just didn’t pique my intrest. Dosn’t look bad, just not my cup o’ tea. ’nuff said.
What I don’t get is the need to be insulting when opinions clash.
Hence, James McClain –
How well reasoned and professionally constructed an argument can PAD be expected to make to a comment that demonstrated neither it’s reason or or professionalisim?
y’know, a thread like this certainly demonstates the ideas that opinions are like @$$holes – everybody has one.
Genuinely glad for those who enjoyed the film – good for you! Big supporter of the idea that some movies are there to just enjoy. This is why movies like Hudson hawk have their own cult following (yes, I’m a member of that cult).
Personally I don’t plan to see the movie because I never have seen the original Speed Racer series and the campain for the film just didn’t pique my intrest. Dosn’t look bad, just not my cup o’ tea. ’nuff said.
What I don’t get is the need to be insulting when opinions clash.
Hence, James McClain –
How well reasoned and professionally constructed an argument can PAD be expected to make to a comment that demonstrated neither it’s reason or or professionalisim?
Where were the bad reviews? I only saw the ones on Ebert and Roper. Surprisingly Roper and the fill in guy both liked it. Roper was a Speed Racer fan and loved it. People that grew up on the original show should drag as many people to see this as possible. It is a great looking, fun family film. I want it to do well enough here and overseas so that we get to see the rest of the Speed/Racer X arc from the show. As to the comments about language, it was a little jarring, It didn’t bother me, but it was out of place. I think that it was included to guarantee at least a PG rating. I saw a quote from the head of a theater owners group saying that the reason that the movie didn’t do well was because it was a PG. According to this person, only PG-13 films make money. PG films don’t and G films are even worse.
I don’t know if this is true, but if this is the perceived wisdom in Hollywood, the language might have been put in to get a certain rating and make the suits at Warner’s happy.
The marketing campaign was to blame for Speed Racer’s bad opening weekend. “from the makers of the Matrix Trilogy and V for Vendetta” angle was the wrong way to go for what is a very good kids movie. If the Spy Kids movie advertisements had “Form the makers of Desperado and From Dusk Till Dawn” they would have received the same criticism as Speed Racer. The expectations of what type of movie it is supposed to be influences how people will judge a film.
(as I remember it) The same can be said for Blade Runner. When I was a kid I remembered the advertising consisting of Han Solo/Indiana Jones in a flying car in a flashy yet gritty in a cool way futuristic city hunting killer androids. If It was marketed with more of a comparison to film Nor crime drama and under played the SciFi element I bet it would have done better.
It’s funny. I just got done writing an extra credit paper about Speed Racer for my Digital Media class. I got to see the film a few weeks early and I was completely floored by it. Peter is right about Speed Racer. Much like the Matrix before what we have here is a seminal film that will come to set the tone of effects driven films for years to come. In many ways this takes many of the techniques and ideas of people like Lucas and Rodriguiz and perfects them. Mark my words the last 3 minutes of the last race is going to, in years to come, become a (if not the) text book example of modern storytelling by way of intensified audiovisual aesthetics. Mark my words.
Well, I’m in the group that never paid much attention to the cartoon, don’t care for the Wachowskis enough to go see a movie on their name alone, and quite frankly saw nothing in the previews that made me want to see it.
Just wanted to comment on two things;
– didn’t the Wachowskis already ‘fail’ with the Matrix sequels and V For Vendetta? (I quite liked Vendetta but it seems like it didn’t meet box office expectations…could be mistaken)
– unless it’s a horror movie, I don’t know anyone who really pays attention to what a movie’s rating is when deciding if they want to see it.
Peter,
I thought you were going to say: [you] had heard it all before: “grown-ups.”
My husband said it basically reminded him of a cross between Blade Runner and Willy Wonka.
We loved it too!
I noticed that at Rotten Tomatoes, Speed racer has a fresh rating of 32% by the critics..but the community has it rated at a 76% fresh rating. That tells you right there…critics don’t get the movie at all. (I stopped listening to any movie critic years ago. Makes my movie going so much better. 😉 )
For all those who enjoyed it – I assume it got better after the first few scenes? I watched the first 7 minutes that had been posted, and that convinced me to skip it this weekend.
Did they at least use the Speed Racer theme song ?
I took my 2 kids and one of their friends to the movie Friday, 2 girls age 7, 1 boy age 5. To my knowledge everyone left happy. Personally I liked the movie, epsecially the begining sequences, I think it could have been a bit shorter, but as it was everything wrapped up nicely. Right now, it’s a certain to catch again at the $1 theater, and a high probable purchase on DVD.
Did they at least use the Speed Racer theme song ?
Yes. It was played throughout, but you really had to pay attention to notice it. The full song was played during the end credits.
Somebody elsewhere said:
“If you don’t like this movie, you just stabbed your Inner Child.”
‘Speed Racer’ is to ‘Blade Runner’ what ‘Bugsy Malone’ is to ‘The Godfather.’
“No. It’s really not.” – PAD
I stand corrected by a well-reasoned, professionally constructed argument. Well played, sir!
You offered a flippant, barely clever response to a 300+ word review, and you’re going to hold HIM to task for not being well-reasoned? Logician, heal thyself.
Somebody elsewhere said:
“If you don’t like this movie, you just stabbed your Inner Child.”
If my ‘Inner Child’ liked this movie, the lil sumbitch deserved to be stabbed…
Bill Mulligan stated:
“…this probably kills any chance of a WACKY RACERS movie. That would have been great. Yes, I AM serious.”
Was WACKY RACERS that Hanna-Barbara racing cartoon from Saturday Mornings of the 1970s where various “teams” of Hanna Barbara characters like the “Dastardlys”(?) compete with Yogi Bear lead teams(?)….I’m getting lost… can anyone else help me out?
Because if you are serious Bill, then are we to believe “Speed Racer” is to “Wacky Racers” what “Chariots of Fire” could be to “The Laff-o-lipics?” ;n)
–Captain Naraht
P.S. Tell me you remember the “Laff-o-lipics”…
The Wacky Races consisted of:
two cavemen in a stone car
A scientist in a gadget laden auto
A german in a WW1 airplane/car
2 GIs in a tank
Penelope Pittstop
her neutered male couterpart
A lumberjack in a car made out of logs
The ant hill mob–midgets who dress like gangsters
The Gruesome twosome- my personal faves, monsters in a traveling haunted house, complete with a dragon
A hillbilly car
And of course dìçk Dasterdly and Muttley, who were the actual main characters of the show.
It could work, I’m telling you. They might have to work a few more stereotypes in to be more inclusive–a couple of luchadors would be a fine addition, for example–but it could work.
Wouldn’t spend $160 million on that theory though.
I guess you can count me as one of the few sci-fi fans who despised Blade Runner. Not because it was “busy”, but because it was BORING. It put me (and the friend I was watching with) to sleep.
I know some movies will do that (2001 comes to mind), but I’ve bothered to take the time to watch Blade Runner since.
I grew up watching SPEED RACER, and have gotten interested in Manga in the last few years, so I got what the movie was trying to accomplish. Furthermore, my entire family liked it as well, including my 5-year-old, who was dancing to the Speed Racer theme song in the aisles when the movie let out…I thought it was a great experiment, and I look forward to seeing it again.
Bill,
Would the “Wacky Races” be related to the cartoon “The Perils of Penelope Pitstop” or is it a rose of a different name that smells as strange?
I remember the “Perils” but not the “Wacky Races”
–Captain Naraht
P.S I am so F@#%$%# old to remember this šhìŧ.