Speed Racer (2008)

17 out of 17 people found the following review helpful:

wipeout the movie...

badsibot from from Glasgow, 7th May, 2008

first things first...I had no expectations for this movie. The trailer made it look like a confusing, cheesy mess and the waskowski's runied the originality of the matrix with it's dire,dull sequels. So it was with a nagging 'what am i doing here?' that i walked into the imax early this morning to see it. Some really hammy acting made that nagging grow louder but then the racing started and the pure visual assault of color and speed, especially on the imax screen,won me over...a little bit anyway. You just can't ignore it, the racing is exhilirating and for the most part not totally confusing which is what i expected to be, there's also some fight sequences which are fun, exciting and original. It's a kids movie, like whacky races on acid, with caricature charactes painted with a very unsubtle brush, but adults will like the way the tracks all look like wipeout courses and all the references to eighties manga and anime. If you go expecting rubbish I think you'll be pleasantly surprised, and try to see it at imax if u can...you won't have time to question it if you do.

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10 out of 10 people found the following review helpful:

Speed Racer

Wynter from , 8th September, 2008

A lot of bad things have been said about Speed Racer. Complaints have been made that the characters are two-dimensional, that the narrative is pure bobbins and the script not much better. Whilst these accusations are true (it would be hard to pretend otherwise) they also represent a massive tide of criticism that seems to generally miss the point. Speed Racer is a live action remake of a Japanese cartoon about a boy who races a car. It is aimed squarely at eight year olds who have ingested too much sugar and, on those terms, it is a 100% successful piece of entertainment. I doubt the target audience really care about nuance and character. They want cars, they want colours and they want fun - and that is exactly what they get for two hours. Obviously I am not an eight-year old child, so what exactly does it have to offer me? Three things; colour, speed and sheer inventive energy (check out the opening day dreaming scenes). Speed Racer might not be film that requires much response from the viewer but who really needs to respond when you can just sit there and let it’s neon goodness wash over you. Put simply, this film is an utter joy to behold. The colours are fantastic, the racing is involving and I’ll be damned if you don’t feel like cheering come the end. This is a film that, like The Wachowski Brothers’ last good one The Matrix, feels like something new. When you walk out of the cinema, you’ve had a fantastic time, you’ve seen a film that might not be a classic itself but makes you damn excited about what the future holds.

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7 out of 8 people found the following review helpful:

feel the need....for speed

MJL from , 10th November, 2008

After all the box office mauling this film got......it aint half bad....if you get over the annoying bits in the movie....The film is kinda an original style than most in movies - very cartoony and admit a little bit too aimed at the younger market, as its not very in depth and the story is basically basic. I think abit more added realsim would of added wonders to the movie, but heh - what you expect from a film based on Japanese Animation Series. I agree the computer special effects is probably over done to a degree where becomes confusing and cluttered. But if you like something bit different to the norm - give it a watch.

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4 out of 4 people found the following review helpful:

One of the worst films I have ever seen

Caribou48 from , 7th April, 2009

To say that this movie is bad, is an understatement. The script is weak. The characters are hammy. This is entertainment a la Teletubbies. Visually very interesting at first. But after about 15 mins it starts to give you a headache. The wachowski siblings (are they still brothers?) took what they did with the matrix as far as stunning visuals then did a gigantic bubble gum dump on it. And it looked like they had been eating skittles all week. This movie is a car wreck covered in candyfloss. The only stand out performance in this movie was the monkey. I really belived that the monkey was a monkey. Rubbish film.

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Unexpected Gem

OptixAz from , 2nd August, 2010

I went into this movie not expecting to much, how wrong i was as this film is great. The special effects are amazing and the idea of the film was fun, fast paced and different. A few little things, i thought the film was a little slow at the start and a few 'cheesy' moments during a fight scene but apart from that great. Also the trailer does not do this film justice.

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Something a little different for a Manga fan.

H0LLIE from , 22nd July, 2010

I'm a huge fan of Japanese cinema and graphic novels but have never actually read the Speed Racer comic books. I was aware from the start that this wasn't going to be anything like I'm used to from the genre and was expecting an overly-americanised adaption with none of the usual quirky weirdness you get from Japan. As such I didn't go to the pictures to see this and waited for the DVD. I loved it. Yes, it's all special effects, but so what? The special effects are incredible so who cares if they dominate the movie when the whole film relies on them anyway. The characters and sets are all bright colours with old fashioned 'futuristic' styles (reminiscent of The Jetsons). And (as someone who thinks The Matrix is extremely over rated) I was pleasantly surprised to find a directorial style that not only captivates you, but drags you into the film. All that was left was for me to regret not going to the pictures to see it. Fortunately my local cinema then showed the film again and I was afforded the opertunity of correcting that mistake. And I loved it twice as much on the big screen. Of course, as with every film, there are negative aspects - It's over long and drags a bit in the middle, all the race fixing gets a little dull when described in far too much detail. And there are no stand out performances when it comes to the actors. But over all, a very enjoyable and somewhat insane movie that I would recommend to all fans of the Chocobo Races!

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Made for Blu Ray

Craggle from , 22nd April, 2010

This is the sort of film Blu Ray was made for. If this film does not induce a seizure then nothing will. Absolutely stunning with such vivid colours. The story is expectedly shallow but its worth a rent, even if only to test the potential of your system.

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Rare that a movie is better than then the trailer

A Customer from Evesham, 16th March, 2010

After seeing the trailer for this film I had no intent to watch it. I really got the film for my son who had a model car from the film. I was really surprised how good the film was (although not everyones cup of tea) and the visuals were superb in Hi-Def. A really surprise to see a film better than its trailer. My son was in stitches at the ninja scene, proving it a good family movie. Get it, it may surprise you.

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