Speed Racer Review
Since, unlike Iron Man, Speed Racer did not require babysitting, and both David's mom and I wanted to see it, watching the movie was our main Mother's Day activity for today. I'll fill in more on our Mother's Day weekend goings on tomorrow, but there is a certain sense of urgency to rush to Speed Racer's defense and get some bodies in the theaters before it gains some sort of bad reputation.
First off, Speed Racer is awesome. And I mean, really, really, really good. Easily one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I loved (most of) the Matrix, I'm a fan of the original Speed Racer cartoon, I like anime in general... so I expected to like the movie anyhow and even if it had been a giant ball of cinematic candy fluff I probably would have still walked away satisfied. But the movie really blew me away.
The special effects were incredibly well chosen, truely this was a cartoon brought to life and did as much justice to its source material as Transformers did to its. There was an obvious love and respect for the source material here - all the original characters are intact, the familiar theme song incorporated into the movie's soundtrack, many of the editing cuts, and basically the entire look and tone of the film is as true to the original as it could possibly be and not be a cartoon. And yet there was a depth to the storytelling I absolutely did not expect. There is a tremendous cleverness to how the story unfolds and I was very impressed with the use of various literary devices (in media res being the big one) to give us the full scope of Speed's background while keeping a very fast pace. This was not just a silly kids movie, it was an epic tale of family and friendship, about the little guy winning out against the evil corporation, about how you can stick to your ethics and still come out on top. Yes, most of the themes will feel familiar, but that is because they are timeless. This was the classic epic tale of the younger brother stepping into his older brother's shoes to fullfill his destiny and bring honor to his family, except that instead of being a backwoods prince going out and fighting the evil empire that threatens to consume the family homestead, he is a racecar driver going out and fighting the evil corporate empire the threatens to consume the family race car building business. Sure it isn't anything particularly new, but it's told very well, and not the sort of depth and morality tale I've come to expect to find in a family popcorn movie these days. It's one of those pleasent surprises that happen far too little these days at the theater.
The movie was, in turns, hilarious, endearing, thrilling, and sweet, but never cloyingly so. The casting is supurb, not only because many of the actors look uncannily like thier cartoon counterparts, but because they seem so at home in their characters. MVP goes to John Goodman - I always forget how much love his acting until I see him in something new. (Anyone not familiar with a little movie called Barton Fink should go add it to their Netflix queue right now.)
And the action was just awesome. After the Matrix I had no worries the ninja fighting scenes would be terrific, and I was not disappointed - if anything I was very delighted with the large dose of humor thrown in for good measure. (One of the other great things about this movie is that it never, ever takes itself too seriously - in this it wins out over the Matrix to a great extent.) But what I was really impressed with were the car races. They were just astounding. A perfect mix of the excitment of watching real races with Sci Fi twists that will knock your socks off. I can only hope Nascar looks like this in another 50 years. (I will confess here that my uncle is an ex-professional race car driver, as is my first cousin, so I'm more than a little biased when it comes to watching car races.) Also, the amazing tracks reminded me of the giant monsterous slot car tracks I used to build with my dad and older brother when I was a youngster (our most ambitious one took up half the garage) - so there was a bit of an extra dose of nostaligia to the movie for me.
But really, the movie IS awesome. I could keep trying to describe it, but you really have to experience it to understand. My mother-in-law expected to hate it, even if the trailer made her curious, and she said it might well have been the best movie she'd ever seen and wants to go back to see it again as soon as we can, and this is coming from a lady that usually makes us sit through such thrilling action movies as Pride and Prejudice, Cold Mountain, and Gone with the Wind. (Ok, ok... she likes The Matrix and Star Wars, too, but mostly for the romantic mushy parts.) So, before you dismiss my glowing review as geek girl nonsense, take that into account. Or go see the movie! You won't be sorry!
First off, Speed Racer is awesome. And I mean, really, really, really good. Easily one of the best movies I've seen in a long time. I loved (most of) the Matrix, I'm a fan of the original Speed Racer cartoon, I like anime in general... so I expected to like the movie anyhow and even if it had been a giant ball of cinematic candy fluff I probably would have still walked away satisfied. But the movie really blew me away.
The special effects were incredibly well chosen, truely this was a cartoon brought to life and did as much justice to its source material as Transformers did to its. There was an obvious love and respect for the source material here - all the original characters are intact, the familiar theme song incorporated into the movie's soundtrack, many of the editing cuts, and basically the entire look and tone of the film is as true to the original as it could possibly be and not be a cartoon. And yet there was a depth to the storytelling I absolutely did not expect. There is a tremendous cleverness to how the story unfolds and I was very impressed with the use of various literary devices (in media res being the big one) to give us the full scope of Speed's background while keeping a very fast pace. This was not just a silly kids movie, it was an epic tale of family and friendship, about the little guy winning out against the evil corporation, about how you can stick to your ethics and still come out on top. Yes, most of the themes will feel familiar, but that is because they are timeless. This was the classic epic tale of the younger brother stepping into his older brother's shoes to fullfill his destiny and bring honor to his family, except that instead of being a backwoods prince going out and fighting the evil empire that threatens to consume the family homestead, he is a racecar driver going out and fighting the evil corporate empire the threatens to consume the family race car building business. Sure it isn't anything particularly new, but it's told very well, and not the sort of depth and morality tale I've come to expect to find in a family popcorn movie these days. It's one of those pleasent surprises that happen far too little these days at the theater.
The movie was, in turns, hilarious, endearing, thrilling, and sweet, but never cloyingly so. The casting is supurb, not only because many of the actors look uncannily like thier cartoon counterparts, but because they seem so at home in their characters. MVP goes to John Goodman - I always forget how much love his acting until I see him in something new. (Anyone not familiar with a little movie called Barton Fink should go add it to their Netflix queue right now.)
And the action was just awesome. After the Matrix I had no worries the ninja fighting scenes would be terrific, and I was not disappointed - if anything I was very delighted with the large dose of humor thrown in for good measure. (One of the other great things about this movie is that it never, ever takes itself too seriously - in this it wins out over the Matrix to a great extent.) But what I was really impressed with were the car races. They were just astounding. A perfect mix of the excitment of watching real races with Sci Fi twists that will knock your socks off. I can only hope Nascar looks like this in another 50 years. (I will confess here that my uncle is an ex-professional race car driver, as is my first cousin, so I'm more than a little biased when it comes to watching car races.) Also, the amazing tracks reminded me of the giant monsterous slot car tracks I used to build with my dad and older brother when I was a youngster (our most ambitious one took up half the garage) - so there was a bit of an extra dose of nostaligia to the movie for me.
But really, the movie IS awesome. I could keep trying to describe it, but you really have to experience it to understand. My mother-in-law expected to hate it, even if the trailer made her curious, and she said it might well have been the best movie she'd ever seen and wants to go back to see it again as soon as we can, and this is coming from a lady that usually makes us sit through such thrilling action movies as Pride and Prejudice, Cold Mountain, and Gone with the Wind. (Ok, ok... she likes The Matrix and Star Wars, too, but mostly for the romantic mushy parts.) So, before you dismiss my glowing review as geek girl nonsense, take that into account. Or go see the movie! You won't be sorry!
Labels: Speed Racer
posted by BurgandySkies at 11:20 PM
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