I don’t know who it’s aimed at; I think idiots who read comic books and never grew up but who are (considered) adults. Older people aren’t going to like it.
I am referring to the movie that opened Friday night directed by the Wachowski Brothers. Speed Racer is bad in many ways.
A weird hyper-pigmented l/3 real people, l/3 cartoon and l/3 video gameish race scenes constitutes a flop.
The scenery is so bright with primary colors like red houses, orange shirts, etc. that it steals attention from the dialogue and storyline. The only person who holds his own is Roger Allam of V for Vendetta bad guy fame, who plays the heavy in this. This movie is definitely anti-corporate America. (Don’t worry, we’ll be Third World soon. Look at the caliber of high school and college graduates these days, not to mention the invasion and imports).
I walked out after about l l/2 hours. The nearest thing I can compare it to is the Johnny Depp / Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory and Fantasia by Disney of the l940s or ’50s.
There were many small children in the theater; this movie is definitely inappropriate because a small child “flips the bird,” which was uncalled for. Additionally, a Japanese driver is severely beaten, has a split lip and is dangled out of a window some 50 stories up with a man’s hand around his neck being his only life support. This was all filmed with actors, not cartoons or videos.
It is also way too long for small children at over 2 hours. I don’t know who it’s aimed at; I think idiots who read cartoon books and never grew up but who are adults. Older people aren’t going to like it. You know, Speedracer back in the ’60s and early ’70s was never good to start with. Human lips moving over cartoon images; give me a break.
That was back when Made in Japan (or China) had a shabby connotation.
-Lillie K.