Hello again! In lieu of having played enough of FES to review it, I will instead offer you all something different--a movie review. I actually write more of these than I do game reviews, though I see that I haven't written a single movie review for this site, so...without further ado, review.
---
Speed Racer is a moving work of art.
I know. Shocking. From half-baked trailers that look like the product of some hapless bastard's LSD trip--mixed with monkeys--I wasn't really sure what to expect from Speed Racer going into it. I never grew up with the cartoon, and the only things I know about it are that there was some guy named Speed, he had a girlfriend named Trixie, and he raced.
Fortunately, that's all I really needed to know. Speed Racer is being held on the banner of the Wachowski Brothers, famous for making the Matrix Trilogy--and whether you loved the last two Matrix movies or hated them, there's no denying that each film spices up the medium with new adjustments to the visual arts field. I mean, we take bullet time effects for granted nowadays, but the Matrix STARTED that, as far as anyone is concerned, and because of that alone, Speed Racer remained curious to me, despite it's seemingly candy-colored descent through kidstown.
The story is pretty simple: unfortunately named middle child Speed Racer tries to follow in his dead brother's footsteps by becoming the greatest speed car racer there is. Along the way he is faced with the terrible truth that his beloved sport is, in fact, controlled by corporate entities, who use the popularity of speed racing to boost their stock--and guarantee profit by fixing the races. Speed thus teams up with the mysterious Racer X to try and right the wrongs and make speed racing about what it is--the racing.
And oh my fucking god, the racing. From the very first few minutes, you're treated to a spectacular feast for the eyes as Speed charges down a treacherous race course, smacking around opposing cars and launching himself into the air with bizarre vehicular acrobatics. The entire sequence is infinitely over the top, but it's ok because--in case we forgot--this movie is based upon a cartoon, something of a more serious version of Wacky Racers, and that, plus, the crazy sci-fi world in which the story takes place in, we are perfectly capable of accepting that cars have little just springs that can launch them into the air.
It's really easy to dismiss this movie as just a loose plot tying together spectacular race scene after race scene, but I really feel that that sort of opinion isn't terribly fair. There's a great deal of heart at the core of the story--the main character development comes from Speed's devotion to his family--his parents, played by John Goodman and, surprising, Susan Surandon, his dead brother Rex, played charmingly by some guy I don't know, and his obnoxious little brother and their pet monkey.
Yes, there's a pet monkey, but we'll get to that in a minute.
Speed is accompanied by his fantastically hot girlfriend Trixie, who wears a miniskirt so short that I'm surprised they let it (and the copious use of "ass" and "damn") into a children's movie. Even when the camera isn't dizzily racing around a track, the visuals don't let up. The backgrounds shimmer and fluctuate, every set piece is an array of dazzling color, and there's an urgent sense of, well, speed in every shot. It's a kinetic movie, and there are such little touches--like when the camera is spinning around Trixie and Speed, changing roses to blurs (like we've seen in other movies) but then those blurs turn into a dazzling kaleidoscope of hearts that hearkens back to old fashioned cartoons, where when a character likes somebody, big hearts appeared in their eyes.
Every shot is filled with some kind of explosive visual effect, some subtler than others, but they all add to the feel that this is a living cartoon--literally, regular people living in a watercolor universe, and while it can feel a little forced at times, it almost immediately makes you forget the forced effects by dropping your jaw at the next big thing.
There is a monkey. And a kid. And it is, lest we forget, a kid's movie--and in fact, a movie and not a tech demo. But, really, it's quirky and funny, and most of comedy is perfectly safe and the sort of thing a nine-year old would laugh at, even if at times we adults can roll our eyes. But that's ok, because there's plenty for us grown ups to like too--the story's emotional core is threatened by the antagonistic force of the villains, caricatured by Roger Allam--he was the Voice of Fate in V for Vendetta--and he takes his to his role with such malevolent glee that I almost wish they'd given him a mustache, just so he could twirl it dastardly when doing something evil.
The plot itself goes for about half the movie innocent enough, but there are about two or three big plot twists that actually throw you for a loop, and I find that being genuinely surprised about a plot twist in a children's movie is a big plus. There's a strong sort of "anti-capitalism" message in the movie, and one can't help but see the parellels between the corporate sponsers in Speed's world and the ones that are in ours. It's taken to a vindictive extreme, but it's quite refreshing, and plays in nicely to give the adults something to ponder while the kids laugh at the monkey.
In fact, thinking back on it, the movie would be the most bizarre creation ever made if it wasn't so beautifully paced. It's some strange blend of avant garde film mechanics and cheesy, in your face childish fancy, and if you put those two ingredients in a blender, you'd almost certainly expect to get a shit smoothie. However, instead we get some sort of cheery coke blend with a copious sprinkling of LSD, and that brings us nicely back to the movie's main draw--the visuals.
I kid you not when I say that this may very well be the most beautiful movie ever made. The wachowski's certainly wanted to push the visual envelope, and with 100,000,000 dollars for a budget, they certainly did that. The races, in particular, are spectacular explorations of just what kinds of things you can do with a car, space-age or otherwise, and they throw in a lot of cool gadgets and strange opposing drivers for Speed and his allies to triumph against. But it's not JUST racing either--there are at least two kung-fu fights, one elaborate shoot out, and four or five (depending on what you count) long racing sequences. The movie builds and builds, teasing you with some cool tricks in the beginning, then letting out as many big guns as it can squeeze into the monstrously epic middle, and then finally breaking out the biggest surprises at the very end. Every race plays out differently, and the sheer imagination that is put into the races is enough to boggle the senses. If you play video games, this movie is going to be your next best friend, because I couldn't help but be reminded of just that--a video game. The movie borrows the bizarre tracks, the crazy cars, and a lot of the other gadgetry and racing violence from popular racing games, and it shows.
The movie is weird, and it is at it's heart childish. However, it is based on a children's cartoon from the 80's, and unlike it's similar-in-origin Transformers cousin, Speed Racer doesn't just drown you in cool effects. If you are at all used to playing any sort of video game, you can keep up with all of the action pretty well, as seizure inducing though it may be, and in the hands of a skilled camera, this movie doubles the special effect intensity of Transformers and keeps the focus on what's important, letting you always know exactly what's going on.
Go see Speed Racer. You may not love it as much as I did, but if you can stomach the childish humor and some of the sappy dialogue, you'll find yourself sitting through a gorgeous, engrossing and flat out kick-ass movie that'll have you leaving the theater either scratching your head but smiling--or else punching the air and chanting the Speed Racer theme song.
Here he comes. Here comes Speed Racer! Vroooooooom!
I don't usually go for movies that are basically all computerized. Just don't float my boat. Needs to be believable for me to enjoy it. I could be wrong though so I will check it out at some point or another.
AnGeL.SLayer: I don't usually go for movies that are basically all computerized. Just don't float my boat. Needs to be believable for me to enjoy it. I could be wrong though so I will check it out at some point or another.
^_^
Really, when it counts, it's hard to tell. Because the world is crafted in such a stylized manner, there's no distinction between reality and fantasy.
Which is why it's so mezmirizing at times, because it LOOKS believable.
...No..I can tell when everything is pure computerized. It bothers me a lot. As an art student for most of my life it's pretty easy to tell the difference, even on the big screen. Having to study real art for a good part of my life makes it hard for me to consider anything but 'life like' to be acceptable. In terms of drawing or in film. A ton of what this movie is made up is what I disliked about a lot of 'realistic' video games.
I have to agree with Angel, AngEl, An63l, damnit! I has to agree with that previous poster>_<! :P, it's becomming increasingly easier to spot when a movie is nothing but pure green screen. It's starting to make me wonder why thy don't go Beowulf and just 3-d render the actors. Speed Racer wasn't that great of a cartoon to begin with, and all I've seen of this movie, through trailors and shit, is that it was made to remind us of that. It seriously looks like an F-Zero acid trip with wheels. That, for a good movie, does not make. See: Special effects; Not so special?
Must agree with TheNecro. It's really easy to spot 3D animation and effects these days; I should know, I'm in school for animation. I think the big reason is that certain things cannot safely be referenced for the animator, and so it looks unnatural.
(lol I must also agree with Necro about Angel's name :P)
I think we can all spot animation, but what the original poster means, perhaps, is that it is handled in such a way in this film (I.e its constant in the whole world, not just slapped next to a normal scene on a set) that you accept it. Part of the film, rather than sections which break the flow and believability of the film. Thanks for the review RentCavalier, I was skeptical about seeing this film (I don't often shell out my money for the cinema), I still am. But your review was nicely put together so I may give it a shot.
RentCavalier: I mean, we take bullet time effects for granted nowadays, but the Matrix STARTED that, as far as anyone is concerned, and because of that alone, Speed Racer remained curious to me, despite it's seemingly candy-colored descent through kidstown.
Actually, ironically Speed Racer is the first media that introduced the bullet time effect. During the intro of the Anime series look at the end when he jumps out of his car and there it is.
As I work in a theater, I get to see bits and pieces of movies during my breaks, and so I've managed to piece together a rough picture of what Speed Racer is like.
From what I've seen, the movie does indeed have some amazing race sequences. The final one at the end of the movie was particularly epic, and the others are not without their own share of "the awesome". They are definitely the highlight of the movie, much like the fight scenes in the last two Matrices.
While the effects during these scenes are incredibly well done, it seems like they didn't know when to quit. Perfectly mundane moments are upset by spinning camera angles, floating heads crossing the screen, and motion blurs. One scene in particular that bothered me was when the Racer family was sitting down to dinner. The camera moved around so much I was half-expecting them to all start vomiting.
While many of the lines could be considered highly cheesy, it can be mostly overlooked because a) It's a kid's movie, and b) They are presented very well by the actors. It's definitely not the worst I've ever heard, and if you could handle something like Kingdom Hearts, this movie shouldn't pose too much of a problem.
Whoever played the little kid with the monkey was absolutely terrible. His acting was so bad I literally cringed every time he showed up on screen. I kept hoping that Speed would accidentally lock him in the trunk as he was stowing away in there, and he would sufficate to death.
Anyway, the movie is pretty good if you can stomach the kiddie dialog and overused special effects. I wouldn't say it's as good as the OP made it out to be, but it's a fun time nonetheless.
Yeah there is a badly made Dragonball Z movie, it's so bad it's actually kind of funny. The Death Note movies are pretty well made, I recommend them. Battle Royale is pretty good, I found it entertaining. There are lots of others but I haven't seen them.
Somebody posted a Rotten Tomatoes link, so I'd like to address "other critics", who complain that this is all flash and no content.
Myself--and this guy: http://www.digitalpimponline.com/strips.php?title=movie--disagree. It's not a groundbreaking or innovative story, but it's fucking SPEED RACER--some crappy TV show I've never watched before. The fact that the story was still engrossing and that, by the end, you like just about every character (except for the kid and his monkey) is pretty damn impressive.
It's a movie you have to sit through, beginning to end, and get swept up in it. The scenes are extremely busy, as one person said, and I'll agree with that, but most of the scenes also reveal more than just what the action in the scene is about--the details stay in your mind and make it all the more satisfying when bigger reveals are made.
I'll chock this up by quoting Yahtzee and saying that, despite its flaws, go see it anyway, because you'll never see anything quite like this ever again.
I was a little weirded out by the trailers for it. It just seemed too...epic to be Speed Racer. Don't get me wrong, I love Speed Racer, but I was getting the feeling the Wachowski Bros were trying a little too hard when the trailer made it look like the races all occured on tracks out of old Mario Kart games. I think it's still something I can wait to see where I don't have to pay theatre prices.
irishdelinquent: I know it's not that hard, but it's funny.
That's what she said!
I haven't seen this film yet, but I saw the first seven minutes of it and it looked really uneven. I'll see it anyways, but I'm not as enthused as I ought to be.
Larenxis: [quote=irishdelinquent] I haven't seen this film yet, but I saw the first seven minutes of it and it looked really uneven. I'll see it anyways, but I'm not as enthused as I ought to be.
Really? That's the exact opposite for me--I saw the first seven minutes and, while strange, I was really intrigued. The beginning race sequence is one of the better parts of the film for me.
Indigo_Dingo: Is Speed racer the first Anime to be adapted into a live action movie?
Far from it. There have been loads, mostly Japanese. Fist of the North Star has an western live action movie, couple of others as well. (You could argue that The Matrix is a live action movie of Ghost in the Shell as well, natch.)
The most common complaint I've heard of Speed Racer is that there's only about enough plot for an episode of the TV show, and that was only half an hour long.
TheNecroswanson: F-Zero acid trip with wheels. That, for a good movie, does not make. See: Special effects; Not so special?
Never play Extreme G, then? What happened to that series, anyway?
Regardless, according to a few sources; the style was supposed to be made in an Anime-esque way, which explains the extravagant colouring schemes. It appears they sucked all of the colour from out of The Matrixes and put it all into a single, blaringly obvious film adaptation of a 'popular' cartoon. Apparently it works really well, so I'm withholding my complaints until I get to see it for myself.
TheNecroswanson: F-Zero acid trip with wheels. That, for a good movie, does not make. See: Special effects; Not so special?
Never play Extreme G, then? What happened to that series, anyway?
Regardless, according to a few sources; the style was supposed to be made in an Anime-esque way, which explains the extravagant colouring schemes. It appears they sucked all of the colour from out of The Matrixes and put it all into a single, blaringly obvious film adaptation of a 'popular' cartoon. Apparently it works really well, so I'm withholding my complaints until I get to see it for myself.
That's all I really ask. The thing cost 100 mil to make and has made...20 of that. The Wachowski Brothers NEED to keep making movies, if only because they care a lot about making things radically different. Change is good!
RentCavalier: That's all I really ask. The thing cost 100 mil to make and has made...20 of that. The Wachowski Brothers NEED to keep making movies, if only because they care a lot about making things radically different. Change is good!
Yeah, but since the original Matrix, all their movies have sucked. People who make crap movies need to be stopped from making movies until they've learned to do it better.
RentCavalier: That's all I really ask. The thing cost 100 mil to make and has made...20 of that. The Wachowski Brothers NEED to keep making movies, if only because they care a lot about making things radically different. Change is good!
Yeah, but since the original Matrix, all their movies have sucked. People who make crap movies need to be stopped from making movies until they've learned to do it better.
V for Vendetta was decent, not a masterpiece but decent.
And honestly, the last two Matrix films certainly aren't BAD. People are really harsh to them, but despite the ridiculous writing in the second one, they actually tell a pretty good story.
I finally saw it. I liked it. Didn't love it, but I liked it. I loved the racing sequences, especially the final race, they were incredible and involving. I hated the boy and his monkey. I get it, they wanted to be ridiculous, but couldn't they have more of the right kind of ridiculous (flipping a car in midair to punch the driver of another car flying through the air) rather than have the stupid fast motion and such? I'd like to add, Mathew Fox was awesome in this movie.
Hello again! In lieu of having played enough of FES to review it, I will instead offer you all something different--a movie review. I actually write more of these than I do game reviews, though I see that I haven't written a single movie review for this site, so...without further ado, review.
---
Speed Racer is a moving work of art.
I know. Shocking. From half-baked trailers that look like the product of some hapless bastard's LSD trip--mixed with monkeys--I wasn't really sure what to expect from Speed Racer going into it. I never grew up with the cartoon, and the only things I know about it are that there was some guy named Speed, he had a girlfriend named Trixie, and he raced.
Fortunately, that's all I really needed to know. Speed Racer is being held on the banner of the Wachowski Brothers, famous for making the Matrix Trilogy--and whether you loved the last two Matrix movies or hated them, there's no denying that each film spices up the medium with new adjustments to the visual arts field. I mean, we take bullet time effects for granted nowadays, but the Matrix STARTED that, as far as anyone is concerned, and because of that alone, Speed Racer remained curious to me, despite it's seemingly candy-colored descent through kidstown.
The story is pretty simple: unfortunately named middle child Speed Racer tries to follow in his dead brother's footsteps by becoming the greatest speed car racer there is. Along the way he is faced with the terrible truth that his beloved sport is, in fact, controlled by corporate entities, who use the popularity of speed racing to boost their stock--and guarantee profit by fixing the races. Speed thus teams up with the mysterious Racer X to try and right the wrongs and make speed racing about what it is--the racing.
And oh my fucking god, the racing. From the very first few minutes, you're treated to a spectacular feast for the eyes as Speed charges down a treacherous race course, smacking around opposing cars and launching himself into the air with bizarre vehicular acrobatics. The entire sequence is infinitely over the top, but it's ok because--in case we forgot--this movie is based upon a cartoon, something of a more serious version of Wacky Racers, and that, plus, the crazy sci-fi world in which the story takes place in, we are perfectly capable of accepting that cars have little just springs that can launch them into the air.
It's really easy to dismiss this movie as just a loose plot tying together spectacular race scene after race scene, but I really feel that that sort of opinion isn't terribly fair. There's a great deal of heart at the core of the story--the main character development comes from Speed's devotion to his family--his parents, played by John Goodman and, surprising, Susan Surandon, his dead brother Rex, played charmingly by some guy I don't know, and his obnoxious little brother and their pet monkey.
Yes, there's a pet monkey, but we'll get to that in a minute.
Speed is accompanied by his fantastically hot girlfriend Trixie, who wears a miniskirt so short that I'm surprised they let it (and the copious use of "ass" and "damn") into a children's movie. Even when the camera isn't dizzily racing around a track, the visuals don't let up. The backgrounds shimmer and fluctuate, every set piece is an array of dazzling color, and there's an urgent sense of, well, speed in every shot. It's a kinetic movie, and there are such little touches--like when the camera is spinning around Trixie and Speed, changing roses to blurs (like we've seen in other movies) but then those blurs turn into a dazzling kaleidoscope of hearts that hearkens back to old fashioned cartoons, where when a character likes somebody, big hearts appeared in their eyes.
Every shot is filled with some kind of explosive visual effect, some subtler than others, but they all add to the feel that this is a living cartoon--literally, regular people living in a watercolor universe, and while it can feel a little forced at times, it almost immediately makes you forget the forced effects by dropping your jaw at the next big thing.
There is a monkey. And a kid. And it is, lest we forget, a kid's movie--and in fact, a movie and not a tech demo. But, really, it's quirky and funny, and most of comedy is perfectly safe and the sort of thing a nine-year old would laugh at, even if at times we adults can roll our eyes. But that's ok, because there's plenty for us grown ups to like too--the story's emotional core is threatened by the antagonistic force of the villains, caricatured by Roger Allam--he was the Voice of Fate in V for Vendetta--and he takes his to his role with such malevolent glee that I almost wish they'd given him a mustache, just so he could twirl it dastardly when doing something evil.
The plot itself goes for about half the movie innocent enough, but there are about two or three big plot twists that actually throw you for a loop, and I find that being genuinely surprised about a plot twist in a children's movie is a big plus. There's a strong sort of "anti-capitalism" message in the movie, and one can't help but see the parellels between the corporate sponsers in Speed's world and the ones that are in ours. It's taken to a vindictive extreme, but it's quite refreshing, and plays in nicely to give the adults something to ponder while the kids laugh at the monkey.
In fact, thinking back on it, the movie would be the most bizarre creation ever made if it wasn't so beautifully paced. It's some strange blend of avant garde film mechanics and cheesy, in your face childish fancy, and if you put those two ingredients in a blender, you'd almost certainly expect to get a shit smoothie. However, instead we get some sort of cheery coke blend with a copious sprinkling of LSD, and that brings us nicely back to the movie's main draw--the visuals.
I kid you not when I say that this may very well be the most beautiful movie ever made. The wachowski's certainly wanted to push the visual envelope, and with 100,000,000 dollars for a budget, they certainly did that. The races, in particular, are spectacular explorations of just what kinds of things you can do with a car, space-age or otherwise, and they throw in a lot of cool gadgets and strange opposing drivers for Speed and his allies to triumph against. But it's not JUST racing either--there are at least two kung-fu fights, one elaborate shoot out, and four or five (depending on what you count) long racing sequences. The movie builds and builds, teasing you with some cool tricks in the beginning, then letting out as many big guns as it can squeeze into the monstrously epic middle, and then finally breaking out the biggest surprises at the very end. Every race plays out differently, and the sheer imagination that is put into the races is enough to boggle the senses. If you play video games, this movie is going to be your next best friend, because I couldn't help but be reminded of just that--a video game. The movie borrows the bizarre tracks, the crazy cars, and a lot of the other gadgetry and racing violence from popular racing games, and it shows.
The movie is weird, and it is at it's heart childish. However, it is based on a children's cartoon from the 80's, and unlike it's similar-in-origin Transformers cousin, Speed Racer doesn't just drown you in cool effects. If you are at all used to playing any sort of video game, you can keep up with all of the action pretty well, as seizure inducing though it may be, and in the hands of a skilled camera, this movie doubles the special effect intensity of Transformers and keeps the focus on what's important, letting you always know exactly what's going on.
Go see Speed Racer. You may not love it as much as I did, but if you can stomach the childish humor and some of the sappy dialogue, you'll find yourself sitting through a gorgeous, engrossing and flat out kick-ass movie that'll have you leaving the theater either scratching your head but smiling--or else punching the air and chanting the Speed Racer theme song.
Here he comes. Here comes Speed Racer! Vroooooooom!