Go Speed Racer, Go!
So, yes, they made a movie out of Speed Racer. Everybody was incredibly skeptical, and for VERY GOOD REASON. Speed Racer is one of the cheesiest, lowest quality cartoons out there. It's the butt of almost as many jokes as Scooby Do, and most anime fans, proud to watch Dragonball Z and Sailor Moon, are embarrassed to admit that Speed Racer counts as anime.
Yet, I was just amused enough by the concept that I watched the preview. It looked oddly surreal and spectacular. I realized it was being directed by the Wachowski Brothers, and starred Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman. This all intrigued me enough to actually get me into the theater today.
And man, was it worth it. The movie was surreal, it was silly, and it was GORGEOUS. It's cinematography was in many ways downright ground breaking, full of clever transitions, interesting camera angles, and switching between surrealism, hyper-realism and mundane realism, from scene to scene, somehow without ever being particularly jarring. The effects were spectacular, and I never would have thought that car choreography could be that clever and interesting.
On top of that, it was well written, well acted and well directed.
If you don't like surreality, or hyper-reality, or wanton silliness, then this may not be the movie for you, because it has all of those things, in spades. However, if you can enjoy those aspects, and appreciate the sheer artistry which went into it, then believe it or not, Speed Racer is actually, remarkably, surprisingly, an excellent movie. I give it 2 thumbs and 5 stars.
Yet, I was just amused enough by the concept that I watched the preview. It looked oddly surreal and spectacular. I realized it was being directed by the Wachowski Brothers, and starred Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon and John Goodman. This all intrigued me enough to actually get me into the theater today.
And man, was it worth it. The movie was surreal, it was silly, and it was GORGEOUS. It's cinematography was in many ways downright ground breaking, full of clever transitions, interesting camera angles, and switching between surrealism, hyper-realism and mundane realism, from scene to scene, somehow without ever being particularly jarring. The effects were spectacular, and I never would have thought that car choreography could be that clever and interesting.
On top of that, it was well written, well acted and well directed.
If you don't like surreality, or hyper-reality, or wanton silliness, then this may not be the movie for you, because it has all of those things, in spades. However, if you can enjoy those aspects, and appreciate the sheer artistry which went into it, then believe it or not, Speed Racer is actually, remarkably, surprisingly, an excellent movie. I give it 2 thumbs and 5 stars.