Speed Racer...

Hey guys! Just thought I would drop in with my review of Speed Racer. Is it truly the so bad it's good movie we have been hoping for??

Not at all. Speed Racer is the live action adaptation of the anime cartoon and comic book of the same name. It is a story about a young kid, Speed Racer, who, after the death of his brother Rex, begins to drive cars. Ever since birth, this kid has done nothing but eat, sleep and breath racing, and when he gets behind the wheel, it's magical. Now, after a race that he wins, he is asked to join Royalton Industries and their championship caliber team. When he declines, and stays with his family run company, his life is flipped on its head. To clear his already controversial families name, he must win the race that his brother failed to, the Grand Prix. Now, that sounds like a lot, maybe to much, but was it worth it for the film?

It really depends on your mindset. This film is over the top in every sense of that description. The biggest thing for this film is that it looks absolutly gorgeous. But in that kind of Spy Kids/Sin City kind of way. To me it seems like if one were to throw Sin City, Spy Kids, Driven, and three gallons of mescaline into a blender and then smoked that in a bong. The racing scenes alone are like watching the fight scenes in Transformers on a Skittles induced high. But you know what, I loved every second of it. The performances also really shine in this movie. The chemistry between Trixie (Christina Ricci, who in a really kind of weird way looks hot as hell), and Speed (Emile Hirsh who is pretty solid here), is really something that took me by suprise. The villian played by Roger Allam is great, the only real lacking performance here was Matthew Fox as Racer X, but that even worked because it was such an over the top, campy performace that it fit right in. Susan Surandon and John Goodman are even great here as Mom and Pops Racer. Every thing really just kind of works. I had a smile on my face the entire time, so that has to account for something.

This movie is campy, funny, action packed, and not for everyone. It has a 35% rating on Rottentomatoes.com, so I am in the minority here, but this is a solid movie. If you are going to look at this movie as a commentary on something or can't handle your movies a little bit on the kiddie side, than you will hate this movie. The only thing this movie could be talking about is steroids in sports, as all of the cars are equipped with special features, which even happened in the cartoon, so thats really out of the question. This movie is a pure blodded effects movie, and if you can just sit back and have fun with it, you will get a real kick out of it. Is this a good movie, not really. Is it one hell of a good time, most definitley. The only really big problem is the Fox performance and it seems to pile in almost to much plot into this mostly action orriented story. Also, the opening ten minutes kid of dragged, but the style was so interesting to look at, and often times really well done, that it didn't really bother me. This is one hell of a good time, and if you can zone out to it, you will get a real big kick out of it. We'll get our big time dramas in a few months, so go get a super sized, 15$ popcorn from the Star and go with some freinds and give this a shot. The two people I went with loved it more than I did, so that counts for something, one of them liking it even more than Iron Man. However, I know this is not for everyone, so if you comment, tell me why you didn't like it.

Okay, so with summer comes these huge blockbusters. So, I thought that you all may like to know what is on deck for the next few weeks of reviews. Now this does not include DVD reviews, which I am trying to do more of, if I can find the time...

Weekend Of...
May 16th- Prince Caspian/something out right now
May 23rd- Indy 4
May 30th- The Strangers
June 6th- Kung Fu Panda/Zohan
June 13th- The Incredible Hulk and The Happening
June 20th- Get Smart
June 27th- Wall-E and Wanted
July 4th- Hancock
July 11th- Hellboy 2
July 18th- The Dark Knight
July 25th- X Files 2


Now, those are just the big time movies, and if any smaller films get release dates, or anything major gets moved up or back, than that all could change, but that is what it will look like for my reviews for the next few weeks.

Alright guys, thats about it for this post...go see something good!