First Speed Racer Review Hits! Edit: RT at 35% now!

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avatar299 said:
Dude, it's friday estimates. I'm sorry but you have to out of your mind if you think this movie will do that badly based on one day.

This is TMNT all over again.

You know...TMNT barely grossed 50 million. That number would be disastrous for Speed Racer's $100+ million production budget. Lately just the marketing budgets for movies are 50 mill. :P

I seriously hope the film somehow comes out alive after this weekend crash, but, you know... *points at tag* :P

This result is pretty disheartening, and I'm really surprised the kiddie crowd didn't flock to this one...I thought the latest trailers were quite good, too.
 
Saw it yesterday. HATED everything with the kid and the monkey (especially that
stupid 4th wall breaking
at the end). You basically have to be 10 years old to enjoy most of their scenes. Otherwise, the racing scenes were pretty cool, the fight scene in the mountains was awesome and most of everything else was solid. 3/5
 
JzeroT1437 said:
Fortunately, neither take shit roles.


Downey has starred in more than his fair share of turds. Thankfully, he balances that out by starring in fucking awesome movies like Wonder Boys and KKBB, but you're full of shit if you call his career choices unimpeachable.

Anyways, cant wait to see Speed Racer. Probably check it out Monday or Tuesday. Looks like the sooner the better based on the opening weekend BO.
 
Caught it yesterday after uni. Hated it all the way up until Speed entered the cross country race, everything past that point was pretty cool.
 
Costanza said:
Saw it yesterday. HATED everything with the kid and the monkey (especially that
stupid 4th wall breaking
at the end). You basically have to be 10 years old to enjoy most of their scenes. Otherwise, the racing scenes were pretty cool, the fight scene in the mountains was awesome and most of everything else was solid. 3/5
:lol I loved the kid/monkey parts. Especially after they OD on candy and wreak havoc on the facility.
 
Decent movie. Only 1 real complaint: the kid at the beginning was a horrible actor. I can usually make exceptions for younger actors because they're not as experienced, but he showed no emotion and just kinda said the lines. It really took me out of it right at the beginning. And the racing scenes seemed to exaggerated for me to really enjoy them.
 
just saw it. i thought is was pretty good.

the race scenes were great and the all the bright colors subconsciously made me happy.

i think it was bad timing for this movie to come out a week after ironman though. they should have pushed it back a bit to go up against something like kung fu panda.
 
Riskbreaker23 said:
just saw it. i thought is was pretty good.

the race scenes were great and the all the bright colors subconsciously made me happy.

i think it was bad timing for this movie to come out a week after ironman though. they should have pushed it back a bit to go up against something like kung fu panda.
They definitely weren't expecting Speed Racer to be destroyed by Iron Man, though.
 
WickedAngel said:
Doubtful.

As a kid, what would you rather see? A flashy race movie about a character you've never heard about or a movie about a bad-assed mechanical superhero that you have at least heard about through your friends? You can bet your ass that parents are going to choose Iron Man over Speed Racer as well due to the fact that there is a chance that they might actually enjoy it.

As a kid, you would probably want to see the movie that was being forced into your face the most during commercial breaks on cable TV. Speed Racer has a ton more eye candy so I would think kids may lean towards it a bit more. You honestly think kids really know who Iron Man is? Spiderman and Batman I can see, but I'm not so sure about Iron Man. I guess it depends what age we're talking.

And as a parent, I'm taking my kid to see what she wants to see as long as it's suitable for her. And from what I've experienced in the theater, when a kid loses interest in a movie, it completely sucks for the parent (and everyone around him). I honestly wouldn't categorize Iron Man as a kids movie - it's action is too far apart and most of the humor is way over a kids head. But Speed Racer looks like the textbook definition of a kids movie. Unfortunately my daughter is a little too young for the movies so I'll be going without her.
 
Greatness Gone said:
They definitely weren't expecting Speed Racer to be destroyed by Iron Man, though.

it wouldnt surprise me ironman stayed on top until Indiana Jones comes out.


man, i just read through some of the posts on this thread and there are a lot crazy people here. i they should be wishing for any movie to fail, they should be hoping the vegas movie fails.

the theater i went to was decently full (because the target audience of the movie didnt have school today) and walking out of the theater i heard a lot of people humming or singing the theme song.
 
Solo said:
Downey has starred in more than his fair share of turds. Thankfully, he balances that out by starring in fucking awesome movies like Wonder Boys and KKBB, but you're full of shit if you call his career choices unimpeachable.

Christian Bale played a bit voice-actor in Disney's Pocahontas.

I was referring more to their recent decisions and not career-long ones.
 
Greatness Gone said:
They definitely weren't expecting Speed Racer to be destroyed by Iron Man, though.
I did. From the first preview I though Speed would be a light show designed to cover up a lack of substance. I still haven't seen it (and wont until it hits DVD) but that is the impression I got. That, contrasted against the trailers for Iron Man which frankly focused on Stark more so than the suit really allowed Iron Man to get a lead. That and it feels more like Spider-Man or Batman with a more real world feel that probably would be perceived as familiar (and what average American doesn't like something familiar).
 
Solideliquid said:
Does anyone know the name of that techno song in the latest trailer?

If you're talking about the song that plays during the last half of the trailers it's called "Birthright" by Celldweller. I ended up looking for the song too after seeing the trailer numerous times.

Sad, because the trailers were easily better than the movie itself.
 
pxleyes said:
I did. From the first preview I though Speed would be a light show designed to cover up a lack of substance. I still haven't seen it (and wont until it hits DVD) but that is the impression I got. That, contrasted against the trailers for Iron Man which frankly focused on Stark more so than the suit really allowed Iron Man to get a lead. That and it feels more like Spider-Man or Batman with a more real world feel that probably would be perceived as familiar (and what average American doesn't like something familiar).

Let's not try and pretend Iron Man is somehow more substantive, more of a serious character study, somehow less Popcorn, than Speed Racer. One is more appealing than the other, but both are mindlessly fun blockbuster movies. Just with varying degrees of success.
 
pxleyes said:
I did. From the first preview I though Speed would be a light show designed to cover up a lack of substance. I still haven't seen it (and wont until it hits DVD) but that is the impression I got. That, contrasted against the trailers for Iron Man which frankly focused on Stark more so than the suit really allowed Iron Man to get a lead. That and it feels more like Spider-Man or Batman with a more real world feel that probably would be perceived as familiar (and what average American doesn't like something familiar).

Please, Iron Man couldn't be more shallow or simple-minded if it tried.
 
I just got back and have to say I loved it... It is one if my favorite films ever. It ranks up there with the original Willy Wonka as the best film adaptation of children's material ever.

As a 35 year old I was a fan of the cartoon as a kid. The movie is really the exact same as the cartoon. I completely understand not liking the film if you were never a fan of or never had seen the cartoon. If you are a fan of the toon go see this!!!
 
Wow, just got back from Speed Racer, and every kid in the theater was completely giddy over this movie. I have no idea why there are so many bad reviews...this film is greatly paced, edited, framed, etc. I can see a CARS-like hold if word of mouth kicks in.

It's great for any anime fan, too...I hope that dragonball-Z is someday done in this kind of over-the-top style...a 100% serious DBZ would never work.
 
I'm 25 years old. Never watched original anime. The movie version blown me off with its colour and fast pace scene edit. The song is great too. Not sure why many people say it's only kid who enjoy this movie. The deep down inside everyone , there is a kid heart. Just enjoy everything around you. I don't know why so many people want to claim themself as the adult and say , no i don't like kid movie. I feel bad for you guys.
 
Wow is all I really have to say! I took my 9 year old and my 6 year old and all of us loved it! The cinematography is amazing! The Wachowski's are gods with the camera!
 
gconsole said:
I'm 25 years old. Never watched original anime. The movie version blown me off with its colour and fast pace scene edit. The song is great too. Not sure why many people say it's only kid who enjoy this movie. The deep down inside everyone , there is a kid heart. Just enjoy everything around you. I don't know why so many people want to claim themself as the adult and say , no i don't like kid movie. I feel bad for you guys.

I enjoy a well-made youth oriented movie just as much as anyone else, but a Finding Nemo this isn't.
 
It's threads like this that occasionally make me want to leave GAF. I don't understand why people are so hateful toward something so inoffensive. It's a movie. A kid's movie. Is there really a need to get so riled up and be such jackasses about it?

Anyway, I'm heading to NYC in a couple weeks. I'm hoping it lasts long enough to still be playing in IMAX when I get there because I want to see it again in IMAX. :D
 
JzeroT1437 said:
Christian Bale played a bit voice-actor in Disney's Pocahontas.

I was referring more to their recent decisions and not career-long ones.

Bale has starred in Shaft and Reign of Fire in this decade, and Downey in The Shaggy Dog, lest we forget.
 
Decent movie, no complaints here. Im 24 and never got into the orginal cartoon but loved the moved. Good movie, good fun... If I have to name one complaint....it was kinda long. But thats a small complaint, right on the border.
 
Tortfeasor said:
I just got back and have to say I loved it... It is one if my favorite films ever. It ranks up there with the original Willy Wonka as the best film adaptation of children's material ever.

As a 35 year old I was a fan of the cartoon as a kid. The movie is really the exact same as the cartoon. I completely understand not liking the film if you were never a fan of or never had seen the cartoon. If you are a fan of the toon go see this!!!


Ditto I when did a double feature today where I saw Speed Racer and Iron Man. I found Speed Racer to be extremely enjoyable. It had the same flavor as it did when I was a kid. IMO this show was like matrix for kids. The fight scenes were good, the race scenes were good, Sprittle and Chim Chim were good. I loved it. RT can suck my left nut.

The race scenes were better than anything that I've seen in the first SW trilogy (yeah I said it!).
 
Solo said:
Bale has starred in Shaft and Reign of Fire in this decade, and Downey in The Shaggy Dog, lest we forget.
People always ignore their favorite actors worst movies and only think the best ones exist, nothing new here.
 
CajoleJuice said:
Whatever, he was an awesome racist in Shaft.

That movie was so stupid. At the end, (do I really need to spoiler tag this shit?)
some old woman shoots and kills Bale, then everyone is just like "LET HER GO! LET HER GO!".

Oh, and Speed Racer itself wasnt bad, but it wasnt anything great. I hated the chubby kid and the only appealing aspect of him was that back scene the monkey most likely put feces in his food. Racer X was cool and Rain was pretty lame. The kid from that fake porn movie that played Speed wasn't that great, it felt like he came in one day, read all these lines, made an angry face infront of a green screen before leaving and that wa all he did. For some reason, Trixie wanted Speed's balls in her mouth so much in this movie, I don't remember her being so forward in the cartoon...then again, I remember Speed containing emotions. Everyone else (exception of John Goodman) was also not that great. Races were awesome, so awesome. Basically, instead of the Matrix brothers making movies, they should get hired to make these races on a weekly bases and have them air on TV. Sometimes the neon was overkill to the ponit where someone turned to me and asked "what the fuck am I looking at?", but for the most part it was good. It did feel like the old cartoon because everything (exception of a few slow scenes) went really fast.
 
I saw it last night and I thought it was alright. I really enjoyed the casting, acting and story. I even liked the kid who played Spritle, but going in there I thought I was going to hate him. However, I really didn't like all the futuristic CG outdoors settings. It was really distracting and took me out of the experience. I didn't really like the races either, which is strange considering I was able to enjoy a "Speed Racer" movie without enjoying the races.

It kind of sucks about the box office though since this movie was supposed to "test the waters" for future anime adaptations. Which I don't think would be true. I think that the overall perception of "Speed Racer" is something that has been changed from the original source material to something else. I believe that when people think of "Speed Racer" they don't think of the anime the anime genre that starting popping up around the late 80's/early 90's. They think of the aspects of the dub which have been transformed into a little piece of Americana.

Don't get me wrong though. Maybe it is better that studios aren't going to be picking up dozens of anime/manga licenses all willy-nilly now. But we still have some more to go with Akira, Robotech and GITS, which I think will be a better indication if anime/manga adaptations will be accepted by the mainstream American audience.
 
GekigangerV said:
I saw it last night and I thought it was alright. I really enjoyed the casting, acting and story. I even liked the kid who played Spritle, but going in there I thought I was going to hate him. However, I really didn't like all the futuristic CG outdoors settings. It was really distracting and took me out of the experience. I didn't really like the races either, which is strange considering I was able to enjoy a "Speed Racer" movie without enjoying the races.

It kind of sucks about the box office though since this movie was supposed to "test the waters" for future anime adaptations. Which I don't think would be true. I think that the overall perception of "Speed Racer" is something that has been changed from the original source material to something else. I believe that when people think of "Speed Racer" they don't think of the anime the anime genre that starting popping up around the late 80's/early 90's. They think of the aspects of the dub which have been transformed into a little piece of Americana.

Don't get me wrong though. Maybe it is better that studios aren't going to be picking up dozens of anime/manga licenses all willy-nilly now. But we still have some more to go with Akira, Robotech and GITS, which I think will be a better indication if anime/manga adaptations will be accepted by the mainstream American audience.

They'll be accepted by American audiences when Cameron's Battle Angel comes out.
 
Speed Racer is kind of like laying on your back while someone pours skittles all over your face for nearly two and a half hours. But in a good way.

It was a bit long, though. They probably could have cut some things out and still been okay.
 
Saw it today, I think it could have done without all the fricken sob storry shit. Keep in all the Racer X and Rex stuff and put in more racing but chop everything else. I guess now that we're past the origins we'll be seeing more action if they come out with a Part II.

Visually, this movie was fantastic. Maybe a little over the top but thats where the charm came from. If it wasn't for the visuals, this movie would have been absolutely horrible.

Oh and I would totally bang a dolled up Susan Sarandon. One shot where Speed was talking to her, she was clearly out of the frame and yet her boob still snuck its way in on the bottom Left. It was hilarious and awesome.
 
Solo said:
Bale has starred in Shaft and Reign of Fire in this decade, and Downey in The Shaggy Dog, lest we forget.

What?! Reign of Fire was the shit!!!!
 
Scullibundo said:
They'll be accepted by American audiences when Cameron's Battle Angel comes out.
I keep imagining the motorball stuff shot like the races in Speed Racer, just without all the color, minus the wiping faces, and with graphic violence.
 
Narnia and Indiana Jones will kill any legs this movie MIGHT have had in the family market films. Not to mention Ironman is already beating it.
 
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