I thought it was great. The pacing wasn't as perfect as Iron Man. Some of the non-action scenes could get a little long-winded (and you could tell by the behavior of the children if you went to an afternoon show on a Sunday). But I thought it was a really good movie that held true to the cartoon.
There wasn't any angst darkening it up; trying to "update" it. They didn't try to make it for adults. I think I heard "ass" once and they bleeped out "shit" the one time it was used. Lots of "Gosh gollies" though. (Edit: Oh yeah, Spritle does give the bird to the villain once.)
Some people might say the movie is overly cartoonish, but I'd have to disagree. It's definitely cartoonish, but the only times I was shocked out of my suspension of disbelief was the exterior shots of the Racer home. The over-saturated colors and CG effects were a bit much there. Even the fly-through of the large city was fine. I believed that this city would exist in the movie's world.
After reading
![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
dvandom's review (just the front page stuff, so to not be spoiled) I feared the worst about the Spritle/Chim-Chim parts but his warning acted as a counter-weight because it wasn't any more silly and stupid than their actions in the cartoon. The candy scene was great. In fact, reading
this just made me like the movie more. I mean who doesn't want to beat up Chim-Chim (and bite Spritle for that matter).
Also, I actually liked a lot of the visual signatures lifted from the cartoon and enjoyed trying to identify them. The jumping jacks always were a little silly to me in the cartoon but their applications in this movie really made me rethink that. Two or three key moments really made me sit up and say "Holy Moley!" Once when Taejo Togokhan uses them in the road rally and once when Speed uses them in the final race. Other gadgets: The saw blades get some use, sadly chopping down trees as he drives over their stumps is only in the demonstration's simulation. The UAV/spycam bird gets mention, but no use. The bullet-proof bubble top also gets use.
Some more visual signatures? I think they got all the characters' fighting styles choreographed perfectly. I'm trying to remember if there is a scene in the cartoon that Pops engages in battle with people and they do a close up on his Judo/Wrestling Championship ring? I think there was.
Again criticism of the movie probably helped my enjoyment of it. Lots of reviewers have panned it citing "No plot" or "Incomprehensible plot". I'm fairly certain that the latter group have trouble figuring out how to open their newspaper. The former group most likely goes into every movie expecting Citizen Kane. I mean, come on, it's
Speed Racer. It's a movie based on a 40 year old anime about a race car driving teenager that foils the exploits of jewel smugglers and art thieves! What kind of plot are you expecting?
I do find the media's panning of the film humorous given the movie's stance on Big Corporations and their control of the media. Many review even mention the film's highly anti-capitalistic slant. It's also slightly ironic since the movie has huge merchandising tie-ins.
( Okay, one tiny spoiler... )Also, HEHEHE THAT'S NO NINJA, MORE LIKE A
NON-JA.
