Today’s film: Speed Racer
Review Style: What I Liked/Didn’t Like
What I Did Like About Speed Racer
The Palate: The Wachowskis wanted to make a live action cartoon, and they did. Granted, a lot (most) of it comes from the handy computer, but every frame of this film looks like...nay, IS...a cartoon. And that is because the palate is nothing but big, bright colours. I, for one, love it.
John Goodman: Some people are born to play certain roles – Patrick Stewart as Charles Xavier, Sir Ben Kingsley as Mahatma Gandhi, Linda Carter as Wonder Woman, and John Goodman as Pops Racer. The man was BORN to play Pops Racer, and since he first entered public mainstream consciousness (somewhere around him being cast in Roseanne) – hell, even before – people had been saying that he would be an awesome Pops Racer. And he is.
The Casting In General: Everyone manages to play their characters with just enough blending between 2 and 3 dimension that they don’t stick out either way. The primary characters are given actual motivation and emotion; the secondary characters are there to fill roles – just like any good cartoon.
Live Action Cartoon: Seriously, go and watch some old episodes of the show –then watch the film. This was made by people who not only were respectful to the original property, but wanted to do their best to work within the rules set by the look and feel of the original. I’m of the opinion that people who complained about the film not being true to the cartoon had never actually seen an episode.
What I Didn’t Like About Speed Racer
The Drag: I’ll freely admit, at parts, the plot does drag a bit making for a film that could have had 10-15 minutes trimmed out of it – particularly anything to do with Royalton giving any history lessons. I do enjoy Roger Allam, but the character of Royalton was missing something for me, which made for any time he was on screen drag.
Too much Spridle: Yes, this is an annoyance going back to me being a child and watching the show then. I hated the character then and I hate him now. I have never been a fan of the “we need to have a child character so that the child audience has someone to identify with” line of thinking. It’s always come off as condescending and patronising to me.
Is this a film that will go down on top of critical or cultural lists? No.
Is this a film that is just a fun watch? Yes.
Is this a film that is just a fun watch? Yes.
I've tried multiple times to see this and haven't made it through the whole thing yet. I don't know if it is my timing or the movie itself I'm just not into it who knows? Even the scrumptious Scott Porter in it cannot keep my attention (although they kill him off so that doesn't help).
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