rev1 (![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} rev1) wrote,@ 2008-05-20 06:47:00 |
|
Why does nobody like the Speed Racer movie?
Let me get this out of the way:
No, I'm not a big fan of the original cartoon. No, I'm not a fan of any of the reboots of the cartoon. No, I'm not a Wachowski fanboy. Yes, I love the Speed Racer movie. And no, I can't figure out why it's getting horrible reviews across the board.
Speed Racer (2008) is a movie for kids by the guys who brought us The Matrix (1999). Much like their explosion into movie biz relevance (after the minor impact of 1996's Bound), Speed Racer is a high-octane (or high Iodine Fuel Cell?) special effects bonanza. I would also argue that it contains similar themes, though, necessarily simplified, but more on that later. The Wachowski Brothers (Larry and Andy) dug deep in the crates and unearthed the 1960s cartoon Speed Racer, known in its country of origin (Japan) as Mahha GoGoGo, and for reasons only they are privy to, decided to turn a lame-ass cartoon into the new hotness. Make no mistake, the 1960s Speed Racer lacked the drama of other early anime import Star Blazers (Space Battleship/Cruiser Yamato), the scope of Robotech (the repackaged and retooled Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, along with Mospeda and Southern Cross), the 50s charm of Astroboy or Gigantor (Tetsujin 28). Speed Racer as a cartoon was pretty much on par with Scooby-Doo, without the guest appearances. It enjoyed several nostalgic revivals, including one in the early 90s (Fresh Prince/Will Smith was seen wearing a "retro before the term was coined" Speed Racer shirt in the video for Summertime) and the mid/late 90s (DJ Chilly Che was seen wearing a Speed Racer shirt in the video for We Can Rock Y'all, and Volkswagon featured Speed in a Jetta ad that I thought was rad). But even in the height of his comeback, nobody was fooled into actually thinking the show was particularly watchable.
Which brings us to 2008. The Wachowskis have brought us a gorgeous if not insane and candy-colored rendition of Speed Racer's world, one which recalls some of the 60s stylings of the source material while infusing it with a healthy dose of the Playstation's WipeOut XL. In addition to kitchy wallpaper, we have ubiquitous loglo (cities and racetracks are plastered in neon signs and product placements for largely fictional, or obscure products and companies, although Motorola enjoys a big fat moment on screen), rocket cars, hot pink helicopters, and digital kaleidescope of colors and patterns to bring us to edge of brain meltdown. Few live-action movies have created as stunning a landscape, nor integrated real human actors into a virtual world as entertainingly, though I should mention that Sin City, 300, The Fifth Element, and Dick Tracy all get shouts out for their sense of art direction and production design. Sin City, however, gets a big middle finger for coming across like a 14-year old boy's wetdream fantasy of overt and covert patriarchal reinforcement.
Speed Racer is, as the Wachowskis set out to create, a kids movie. As such, the story is fairly simple and sweet. Without giving away anything that isn't in the first couple of trailers, I can say that the story finds a tight-knit family (the Racer family) in conflict with Big Business and Corporate Sponsors. This is a film about the indies versus the major players. There are moments when this is explicit in the dialog, but its one of the themes from start to finish. This little subversion, contained in a major studio motion picture, is par for the Wachowskis' course, given the track record of The Matrix (and its loser sequels), and V for Vendetta (which they served as Producers on, handing directorial reigns to colleague, James McTeigue). In addition to its anti-corporate tinkering with the heart of something message, it's about family, which shouldn't be a surprise to a kids-film-savvy audience. But perhaps more surprising are some of the metaphoric undertones in the film. It could be said that I'm giving the Wachowskis too much credit, but after carefully considering their other films, I'm quite sure that there are some spiritual messages in Speed Racer, perhaps summed up by Rex Racer's line, early in the film, "Stop steering, and start driving." It sounds like some pseudo-mystic faux-deep mumbo jumbo when taken out of context. It might also sound like writers frantically trying to make driving cars seem more noble than just, well, driving cars. But when taken as part of the whole of the film, one understands this line as the analog of Bruce Lee's famous "Don't think, feel," or perhaps Obi-Wan Kenobi's disembodied voice echoing "Use the Force, Luke." Given the path Speed Racer goes on, and his eventual destination, I would suggest that driving and being driven and listening are not entirely superficial concepts in the context of this film.
It's not the best film I've ever seen, to be sure. The characters, though likable, tend to be at the service of the plot, rather than the other way around. There are a young kid and his monkey companion, which are surprisingly far less annoying than you might expect. This is definitely the best monkey-related kids film I've ever seen, which of course is not saying much of anything, if you've ever had the (mis)fortune of seeing MVP: Most Valuable Primate. But, oddly, I found that Spritle and Chim-Chim just added to the overall charm of the whole. Their obsession with Candy, and the momentary sugar high sequence felt completely appropriate in a film which most certainly has tasted the rainbow. In any other context, I would have been embarrassed to even see such a thing.
But what about the Speed Racing? Look. If you've ever played a game in the WipeOut franchise, then you know what the racing is about. It's fast as hell, the tracks are insane, curvy, loopy, filled with obstacles, and the music is pulse-pounding. That's what's going on in Speed Racer. And the camera does things that leave me believing that the entire film must have been storyboarded inside the Holodeck on the USS Enterprise. I have never, outside of animation, particularly Macross-related animation, seen a camera move through space as unconcerned with gravity and acceleration as it does in Speed Racer. It takes a fraction of a second for the camera to truck between a close-up of Racer X and a close up of Speed, several cars apart, winding around icy hills, driving at something short of Ludicrous Speed. If the camera needs to wrap underneath a track and pull a 180 to get from Speed's eye, to his skidding tire two seconds later, it will. If the martial arts choreography impressed you in The Matrix (which it, admit it, it did. It impressed me, and I'd been watching wire-fu movies for at least a decade before that bad boy came out), then the camera choreography here will have you bowing and calling the DP and the FX team Sifu.
At 135 minutes, the film may seem long for a children's movie. But I applaud the Wachowskis for taking their time to accomplish what they set out to accomplish. I've read at least one review that criticizes the film for being over two hours, suggesting that no child could endure such a venture. Simply because children's films have been short in recent history does not mean that they have to be. Children sat through the original Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars ran at 121 minutes, Empire at 125 minutes, and Jedi -- the most kid friendly -- at 134 minutes), the Indiana Jones trilogy (with all films landing right around the 120 minutes mark), the original Superman (which is a whopping 143 mintues, that, upon rewatching, seems like 2 million minutes), and so much more. Plus, The Wizard of Oz, which I believe is actually a short movie, when shown on TV every stupid year, is like a 4 hour event. It takes all night. God I hate that movie. But, as a kid, I loved Superman, I loved Star Wars. Is my attention span shorter or longer than an 8-year old today? Is it shorter or longer than another 31-year old today? I don't know the answer to those questions, but I do know that while you may need to take a pee-break if you didn't go before you step into the theater, the film is by no means too long. I would have felt short changed if they had cut a major race, a corporate double-deal, or an enchanting flashback to Speed's childhood (some of my favorite material).
Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that this movie is awesome. Literally. When I left the theater (after the first viewing, fairly close to the screen) my eyes were streaming with water. Was I crying? The last ten to fifteen minutes of the film are so intense, it might melt your face if you're not taking your vitamins. Seriously. It may be possible that the Wachowskis have hacked our brains and implanted some sort of patterned code into the film that will cause a global awakening, or, it may just be that the film was totally blowing my mind. It's not Fight Club and it's not Citizen Kane. It's not Chinatown or Annie Hall or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It's not There Will Be Blood, for crying out loud. But it's awesome. If you enjoy seeing moving pictures -- I mean, images that move in front of your eyes, not just movies -- then you should probably see this movie, because there is nothing else like it. That's legal, at least.
Let me get this out of the way:
No, I'm not a big fan of the original cartoon. No, I'm not a fan of any of the reboots of the cartoon. No, I'm not a Wachowski fanboy. Yes, I love the Speed Racer movie. And no, I can't figure out why it's getting horrible reviews across the board.
Speed Racer (2008) is a movie for kids by the guys who brought us The Matrix (1999). Much like their explosion into movie biz relevance (after the minor impact of 1996's Bound), Speed Racer is a high-octane (or high Iodine Fuel Cell?) special effects bonanza. I would also argue that it contains similar themes, though, necessarily simplified, but more on that later. The Wachowski Brothers (Larry and Andy) dug deep in the crates and unearthed the 1960s cartoon Speed Racer, known in its country of origin (Japan) as Mahha GoGoGo, and for reasons only they are privy to, decided to turn a lame-ass cartoon into the new hotness. Make no mistake, the 1960s Speed Racer lacked the drama of other early anime import Star Blazers (Space Battleship/Cruiser Yamato), the scope of Robotech (the repackaged and retooled Super Dimensional Fortress Macross, along with Mospeda and Southern Cross), the 50s charm of Astroboy or Gigantor (Tetsujin 28). Speed Racer as a cartoon was pretty much on par with Scooby-Doo, without the guest appearances. It enjoyed several nostalgic revivals, including one in the early 90s (Fresh Prince/Will Smith was seen wearing a "retro before the term was coined" Speed Racer shirt in the video for Summertime) and the mid/late 90s (DJ Chilly Che was seen wearing a Speed Racer shirt in the video for We Can Rock Y'all, and Volkswagon featured Speed in a Jetta ad that I thought was rad). But even in the height of his comeback, nobody was fooled into actually thinking the show was particularly watchable.
Which brings us to 2008. The Wachowskis have brought us a gorgeous if not insane and candy-colored rendition of Speed Racer's world, one which recalls some of the 60s stylings of the source material while infusing it with a healthy dose of the Playstation's WipeOut XL. In addition to kitchy wallpaper, we have ubiquitous loglo (cities and racetracks are plastered in neon signs and product placements for largely fictional, or obscure products and companies, although Motorola enjoys a big fat moment on screen), rocket cars, hot pink helicopters, and digital kaleidescope of colors and patterns to bring us to edge of brain meltdown. Few live-action movies have created as stunning a landscape, nor integrated real human actors into a virtual world as entertainingly, though I should mention that Sin City, 300, The Fifth Element, and Dick Tracy all get shouts out for their sense of art direction and production design. Sin City, however, gets a big middle finger for coming across like a 14-year old boy's wetdream fantasy of overt and covert patriarchal reinforcement.
Speed Racer is, as the Wachowskis set out to create, a kids movie. As such, the story is fairly simple and sweet. Without giving away anything that isn't in the first couple of trailers, I can say that the story finds a tight-knit family (the Racer family) in conflict with Big Business and Corporate Sponsors. This is a film about the indies versus the major players. There are moments when this is explicit in the dialog, but its one of the themes from start to finish. This little subversion, contained in a major studio motion picture, is par for the Wachowskis' course, given the track record of The Matrix (and its loser sequels), and V for Vendetta (which they served as Producers on, handing directorial reigns to colleague, James McTeigue). In addition to its anti-corporate tinkering with the heart of something message, it's about family, which shouldn't be a surprise to a kids-film-savvy audience. But perhaps more surprising are some of the metaphoric undertones in the film. It could be said that I'm giving the Wachowskis too much credit, but after carefully considering their other films, I'm quite sure that there are some spiritual messages in Speed Racer, perhaps summed up by Rex Racer's line, early in the film, "Stop steering, and start driving." It sounds like some pseudo-mystic faux-deep mumbo jumbo when taken out of context. It might also sound like writers frantically trying to make driving cars seem more noble than just, well, driving cars. But when taken as part of the whole of the film, one understands this line as the analog of Bruce Lee's famous "Don't think, feel," or perhaps Obi-Wan Kenobi's disembodied voice echoing "Use the Force, Luke." Given the path Speed Racer goes on, and his eventual destination, I would suggest that driving and being driven and listening are not entirely superficial concepts in the context of this film.
It's not the best film I've ever seen, to be sure. The characters, though likable, tend to be at the service of the plot, rather than the other way around. There are a young kid and his monkey companion, which are surprisingly far less annoying than you might expect. This is definitely the best monkey-related kids film I've ever seen, which of course is not saying much of anything, if you've ever had the (mis)fortune of seeing MVP: Most Valuable Primate. But, oddly, I found that Spritle and Chim-Chim just added to the overall charm of the whole. Their obsession with Candy, and the momentary sugar high sequence felt completely appropriate in a film which most certainly has tasted the rainbow. In any other context, I would have been embarrassed to even see such a thing.
But what about the Speed Racing? Look. If you've ever played a game in the WipeOut franchise, then you know what the racing is about. It's fast as hell, the tracks are insane, curvy, loopy, filled with obstacles, and the music is pulse-pounding. That's what's going on in Speed Racer. And the camera does things that leave me believing that the entire film must have been storyboarded inside the Holodeck on the USS Enterprise. I have never, outside of animation, particularly Macross-related animation, seen a camera move through space as unconcerned with gravity and acceleration as it does in Speed Racer. It takes a fraction of a second for the camera to truck between a close-up of Racer X and a close up of Speed, several cars apart, winding around icy hills, driving at something short of Ludicrous Speed. If the camera needs to wrap underneath a track and pull a 180 to get from Speed's eye, to his skidding tire two seconds later, it will. If the martial arts choreography impressed you in The Matrix (which it, admit it, it did. It impressed me, and I'd been watching wire-fu movies for at least a decade before that bad boy came out), then the camera choreography here will have you bowing and calling the DP and the FX team Sifu.
At 135 minutes, the film may seem long for a children's movie. But I applaud the Wachowskis for taking their time to accomplish what they set out to accomplish. I've read at least one review that criticizes the film for being over two hours, suggesting that no child could endure such a venture. Simply because children's films have been short in recent history does not mean that they have to be. Children sat through the original Star Wars trilogy (Star Wars ran at 121 minutes, Empire at 125 minutes, and Jedi -- the most kid friendly -- at 134 minutes), the Indiana Jones trilogy (with all films landing right around the 120 minutes mark), the original Superman (which is a whopping 143 mintues, that, upon rewatching, seems like 2 million minutes), and so much more. Plus, The Wizard of Oz, which I believe is actually a short movie, when shown on TV every stupid year, is like a 4 hour event. It takes all night. God I hate that movie. But, as a kid, I loved Superman, I loved Star Wars. Is my attention span shorter or longer than an 8-year old today? Is it shorter or longer than another 31-year old today? I don't know the answer to those questions, but I do know that while you may need to take a pee-break if you didn't go before you step into the theater, the film is by no means too long. I would have felt short changed if they had cut a major race, a corporate double-deal, or an enchanting flashback to Speed's childhood (some of my favorite material).
Basically, what I'm trying to say, is that this movie is awesome. Literally. When I left the theater (after the first viewing, fairly close to the screen) my eyes were streaming with water. Was I crying? The last ten to fifteen minutes of the film are so intense, it might melt your face if you're not taking your vitamins. Seriously. It may be possible that the Wachowskis have hacked our brains and implanted some sort of patterned code into the film that will cause a global awakening, or, it may just be that the film was totally blowing my mind. It's not Fight Club and it's not Citizen Kane. It's not Chinatown or Annie Hall or Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It's not There Will Be Blood, for crying out loud. But it's awesome. If you enjoy seeing moving pictures -- I mean, images that move in front of your eyes, not just movies -- then you should probably see this movie, because there is nothing else like it. That's legal, at least.
