After much hype the highly anticipated Watchowski brothers live action anime blockbuster is here. A popular children’s cartoon from the late 60s, the story follows the trails of a young racing enthusiast destined for greatness. He is called to aid a secret agency to help bring down the evil conglomerates that corrupt the racing world. When dealing with any adaptations to film, no matter what the medium (books, comics, tv shows, cartoons, video games) I do not believe one has to be a fan of the source to enjoy the film. This is something that the Watchowskis needed to remember, as the movie seemed to be made for either the kids of today or the kids of original series.
The story was truly kept simple. There seems to be no interesting plot much like original series. The story only allowed a world of racing, but never gave us a glimpse into the lives of the characters outside the speed realm, very 1 dimensional. The characters were kept even more simpler…only to deal with the racing aspect with no opportunity for growth. The villains of the evil companies seemed to have their own rivalries that takes importance along the way.
The script was poor as they screenwriters seemed unsure what style to keep. At times it was retro at times it was modern day, quite in consistent. There was never any mixed emotions that were conveyed through any of the conversations. Although topics of death and parental problems were mentioned, they weren’t ‘acted’ out. The straightforward conversations left me quite detached.
Considering how simple the material was, the acting was actually good amongst a few. Emile Hirsch has a bright future as he was a pleasure to watch. Fresh from the success of the more adult INTO THE WILD, it’s clear this young man will be careful in selecting his role. Another actor who held his screen presence was TV’s LOST star Mathew Fox. He was without a doubt the most interesting character in the movie, that was left under developed. Spritle’s interactions were the most annoying of all. I honestly found Chim-Chim more entertaining than the boy! The Asian superstar Rain needed more elocution classes before his first English appearance. He was clearly cast in the movie to gain Asian favor in the worldwide box office.
The cinematography was quite spectacular. One thing the Watchowski’s did achieve is creating an alternative world of color and brightness. The race sequences although overwhelming at times, was visually entertaining. The interaction of the cars, gadgets and the tracks were quite stunt filled and exciting.
I could not believe the people created some of my favourite movies (THE MATRIX TRILOGY, V FOR VENDETTA) had anything to do with this. Although their past work also had a lot of special effects, it was not substitute for good writing and story. This was not the case in SPEED RACER as the effects not the characters, seemed to be the heart of the film. There were so many redundant flashbacks I forgot what time frame I was in! This is due to a lack of confidence on the part of the directors. It is an attempt to ‘spoon-feed’ the thoughts of the characters rather than allow growth.
If the Watchowski's wanted to make a live action video game/cartoon, with a simple script with matching characters then they have achieved their goal. I for one need more than just visual entertainment in a film.
RATING: 2 COCONUTS
Pieries
Teaser
After much hype the highly anticipated Watchowski brothers live action anime blockbuster is here. A popular children’s cartoon from the late 60s, the story follows the trails of a young racing enthusiast destined for greatness. He is called to aid a secret agency to help bring down the evil conglomerates that corrupt the racing world. 
11 comments:
i agree with the reviewers completely with their comments on the script and story being kept too simple. for 2+ hours i felt like i was being spoon fed the whole tight knit american family values overcomes evil thing. the annoying token chubby kid and his pet monkey were given FAR too much screen time.the chemistry between the kid speed and trixie seemed to outshine their older counterparts. christina ricci's acting was unbearable to watch. there were too many one liner's in a diologue that lacked substance. the saving grace of the movie were the visual effects, which were without a doubt mind boggling. i was literally dazed for a full five mins after stepping out of the theatre. steven colbert's comparison of getting into an industrial sized barrel filled with fireworks and lighting the fuse seems quite apt. athough the poor dialogue and lack-lustre acting of a few had me almost girnding my teeth the CGI more than made up for it..pushing my rating to 3 coconuts. in the end however dissapointing the script was i found that i actually had a good time watching the movie. also in defense of the brilliant wachowski's i must say that any comparison with the matrix trilogy is completely unfair. they're two completely different genre's and i believe the target audiences were also different. if you go into the theatre with that mindset rather than watching the movie to compare/contrast i believe it will overall leave a better impression than 2 cocnuts.
*coconuts
ah and also although i agree that Rain needs more elocution i disagree that the only reason he was cast was to get the asian market. i am familiar with his korean work and i can say with utter sincerity that the boy can act. of course whether he can act while using english remains to be seen, he can definitely act in korean drama's(check out "a love to kill") and his movie "i'm a cyborg, but that's ok" is probably one of my fav movies. i highly recommend it to anyone who is a fan of amelie, slightly dark comedies, or anyone who wants to get a taste of korean films.
I am completely disgusted at all the people criticizing Rain's English. I used to teach English in Japan, and I can say with perfect honestly that Rain's pronunciation and intonation in Speed Racer was better than at least 99.9% of people I taught. (Korea and Japan are similar in this respect, or so say the other teachers I know.) That is simply what a Korean accent sounds like, and if he had a cute French accent instead, no one would be complaining.
The latent racism of the responses I've seen is horrifying.
First of all Thank you Sarra and Franzeka for your honest thoughts.
SPEED RACER, being a WATCHOWSKI production is still a surprise to me. As Sarra mentioned the target market is certainly more general and wholesome than those of THE MATRIX, V FOR VENDETTA & BOUND. But the quality of film making of the above titles are stellar. That is something that SPEED RACER did not have. Btw, love the Colbert comment!
Having a rating of scale of only 5 it's sometimes tough to decide on a review. I was tempted to go for 3 COCONUTS due to the effects, but not the story. It was even simpler and less interesting that INDIANA JONES (3 coconuts).
As for the vocal training comment, lol. I would like to mention that Ken Wanatabe & Djimon Hounsou have some of the thickest Japanese and African accents(respectively) in hollywood. But it does not debilatate their performance but enhances it, thus their Oscar Nods. They seem natural and never struggling for words. I have to mention Ken Wanatabe's mere 5 minutes in BATMAN BEGINS added so much class to the movie, and that's 'because' of his accent.
Rain may be a great and popular actor in the his own element. But it was clear his acting ability was affected by the language in SPEED RACER. That could have been easily avoided if they cast an actor (korean or not)who was more comfortable in english.
keep the comments coming!
After reading your review, I can honestly say that I completely DISAGREE with you.
SPEED RACER was one of the most original movies I have seen this summer. Not only were the visuals outstanding, but I found both the characterizations and the story to be superb. Even my dad, who did not even want to see this movie, was very impressed by it.
Oh well. To each his or her own.
It's a good thing I prefer to judge a movie for myself, instead of depending upon the views of others.
I take it back. SPEED RACER was THE most original movie I have seen this year, hands down.
But it was clear his acting ability was affected by the language in SPEED RACER.
Ah, now that's a totally different story. I thought Forbidden Kingdom was dreadful for this very reason. Li and Chan have both done good work in English before, but everyone else seemed a bit wooden; I assume it was a language issue.
I still don't think that the issue is accent or "elocution" specifically. I know many people who are completely fluent in English but have poor accents.
That said, I thought Rain was quite good in Speed Racer. I haven't seen his work in Korean, but I didn't notice any of the awkward stiffness of Forbidden Kingdom.
Then again, I'm also with Juanita on this one. Speed Racer is brilliant, and the story is a great deal more complex than reviews are giving it credit for. I particularly enjoyed the (quite plausible) stock price fixing explanation.
BTW, how on earth can you say the story in Indiana Jones was anything other than abysmal? Good god, what a hamfisted, incompetent excuse for a story! Speed Racer actually had a bit of complexity and plot twists that were relevant to the rest of the film instead of a poorly-chosen MacGuffin/deus ex machina standing in for a plot. As someone else said, to each their own. :-)
"I haven't seen his work in Korean"
franzeska, well i have. as i've stated previously i am a fan of his work in korean. no one here said anything remotely racist. we were only commenting that he did not seem at ease with the language and it thus effected his acting. if you've seen his korean work then you too would be able to see the marked difference between his acting when he uses his native tongue as opposed to using english. with more elocution and practice he will be able to develop the same charming ease he's shown in his korean work. no one said anything about race, rendering your comment totally thoughtless and unnecessary. in future please read people's comments carefully and give them due consideration before jumping the gun and calling someone racist. there is a difference between a critique of a person's acting and racism. where exactly is this "latent racism" you talk about? please point out where in this blog anyone commented on rain's korean accent or the fact that he is a korean in a derogatory racist manner so that i may give a proper rebuttal.
Why even bother with smut like Speed Racer, Caspian etc... All hogwash and a total load of crap. I mean is this really what the general public is clammering for???? Come on. I need to get the reviewers attention to probably the most amazing love story since Harold and Maude...R A M B O! ! ! ! Not First Blood, not First Blood part II (Should have been called "Blood anone going for Seconds"), and not amazingly original Rambo III, just plain and simple R A M B O! ! ! ! The sheer plethora (excuse the pun) of emotions evoked by Sly's performance moved me to a single tear...followed by many more and some wretching
I would love to see what rating a class act like the S.L.F.C. would give a movie that has scored a booming 7.5 on imdb (counting approx 45000 votes)
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0462499/
franzeska i think you may have taken my INDIANA JONES comparison to SPEED RACER as a complement, it was actually an insult to both, lol.
If you read my critique of the movie you will see i was not too kind to that either. You were spot on about the 'MacGuffin' of the skull. It was quite poor.
As for Oliviers comments...they are continued in THE RANT, our newest section for readers.
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