I Have Seen: Speed Racer
Speed Racer has gotten a bad rap. Sure, it’s not for everyone, but if you go into the movie with certain expectations, then you might find, as I did, a very satisfying experience. With that, here are my top four reasons why you should watch Speed Racer.
1. Speed Racer is like a 2 hour acid trip about a video game.
If you ever wanted to know what LSD was like but don’t want to run the risk of a bad trip, then Speed Racer will substitute nicely. From the random swirling colors to the manic action to the surreal world, your brain will feel like it’s about to explode.
2. Speed Racer is a homage to the original.
Compare:
3. Speed Racer is Willy Wonka meets F-Zero.
Remember all the weird stuff in Willy Wonka’s factory that probably didn’t meet industry or labor standards? Well when you see the Big Corporation’s car factory/racer training school, you’ll understand why I thought of it. The racing then reminded me of F-Zero/Pod Racer/Mario Kart with its gravity-defying, environment-spanning racetracks and video-game persona drivers with cars and weaponry fitting each person (e.g. vikings with ball-and-chains attached to their cars).
Just combine these two:
4. Trixie!
I followed one of the automatically generated links (Movie Review: SPEED RACER (PG) 0 Stars) and he panned the movie and just walked out halfway through. I think that some movies have a specific crowd. He said “I do understand the disciplines of the Japanese style.” and that right there seems to show that maybe he isn’t as much of an expert in “Japanese style” as he believes.
I think my feelings toward this movie would be much more in line with yours than the population at large. I haven’t seen it yet, but plan to sometime.
$1 theater or Blu-ray. Bring it over :)
Well like I said, if you watch it for the style, then you’ll like it. If you’re expecting much beyond cool visuals (like plot), then you probably won’t.