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- First reviewMay 11, 2008
- Last reviewMay 11, 2008
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DesiredFX's Reviews
Overall rating
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5
Odd choice for the Wachowskis
PostedMay 11, 2008
DesiredFX
from Detroit, MI
I will admit up front that I had no interest in seeing this movie until I realized last week that it was being released in IMAX. My comment at the time was "I still expect it to suck, but at least it will suck BIG and FAST."
Well, as it turns out, it didn't really suck. Problem is, I don't know what it did. Someone asked me if I liked it and I had to think for a while before answering.
The best I can say is that, similar to The Matrix Revolutions, it was pretty clear that the Wachowskis knew what they wanted and pursued it for good or for bad.
The big question is why this?
I've seen people ask why the Wachowskis wanted to do a Speed Racer movie, and the only answer I can come up with is: because they wanted to make a movie that looked like this, felt like this, and thrummed with this particular pulse.
Frankly, there's not much reason to pay attention to the plot: it's standard Speed Racer fare. We get two track races (and hints of a third) and a cross-country race, all taking place in a world where the physics that apply fall somewhere between the tiny forces of slot car racing and the imaginary ones you find in fantasy video games.
The big question is whether you can endure the eye-candy, which is almost all there is to the movie, even to the point where the Wachowskis reinvent montage...which is the only way to make this movie work at all.
In fact, if it weren't for a couple slower scenes inserted to move the story forward, the whole thing would have been one long montage sequence.
One of the most interesting things to me was the use of iconography throughout the film: because it moves so quickly, it has to impart information in a hurry, so it uses iconic images, iconic editing, and even iconic cliches to get its points across in a hurry.
There's no question in my mind that this movie is very skillfully--perhaps even brilliantly--assembled.
But it all comes down to "why?" There just doesn't seem to be enough purpose. Even "summer blockbuster" doesn't seem to be enough to cover the sheer candy-coated approach to this film.
One last thing: much of the cast was clearly chosen to look the part, but Christina Ricci is actually captivating as Trixie. I don't know if they digitally altered her looks at all, but she's got perfect anime features: willow thin (when did she get THIS skinny?), clear, simple expressions, and big doe eyes. She looks like what the artists were thinking of when they started drawing.
No, I do not recommend this movie.
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