SF Universe » Speed Racer Movie

After Further Review, Racer Finishes Third

brian — Tue, 13 May 2008 03:08:42 +0000

If this were NASCAR, Team Racer might have earned a suspension for this weekend’s antics. Variety reports Warner Bros. big budget adaptation of Speed Racer got its widely publicized second-place finish by the studio fudging its numbers.

Racer actually pulled in $18.6 million, putting it in third place at the weekend box-office behind Ashton Kutcher and Cameron Diaz’s comedy What Happens in Vegas. Rival studios were very skeptical of the $20 million number when Warner released it. To pull $20 million, it would have needed strong viewership on Sunday, which was Mother’s Day. Did you take your mom to see Speed Racer Sunday? Didn’t think so.

Why do companies do this? To save a little bit of face. All the Monday morning stories (including mine) listed Racer as the second-place film over the weekend. Of course, even at the inflated number they all pointed out how big a disappointment the film was. The special effects spectacle cost an estimated $120 million to make and it’s rumored Warner Bros. spent another $100 million promoting it.

Taking in less than $20 million its opening weekend and drawing almost universally bad reviews, Racer will be lucky to pull $50 million during its run. Warner execs hope it will have legs as a family flick but it will have heavy competition in that market. The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian will likely be the destination film for families this weekend and after that, the new Indiana Jones sequel hits.

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Speed Racer Game Gets Good Reviews

brian — Mon, 12 May 2008 03:08:25 +0000

Video game movies are usually pretty bad, to put it mildly. Knowing that the license alone will sell it in most cases, companies just take the checks rolling in for the shovelware.

But in a reversal of usual trends, the Speed Racer game has earned positive reviews. The game has been better received than the movie, in fact, which will be lucky to break $50 million by most accounts. Game Rankings, a site that compiles video game reviews, says the Speed Racer game is tracking at an average of 70 percent. In contrast, last week’s Iron Man game has an average rating of 51 percent. That’s much closer to where movie-based games usually end up. Iron Man’s rating is especially disappointing as it’s done by Sega, who is also handling development chores for the Incredible Hulk movie game as well.

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Iron Man Laps Speed Racer

brian — Mon, 12 May 2008 01:55:15 +0000

According to numbers provided by Nielsen, Marvel Comics’ Iron Man has made $177 million in 10 days. It raked in $50 million this past weekend to remain atop the box office charts.

Warner Bros. Speed Racer, which at one time was thought a potential rival for Iron Man, stalled into second place with $20 million. Critics mostly panned this Wachowski Bros. adaptation of the popular anime. Its price tag is rumored to be well over $100 million with millions more spent on marketing. Warner can’t be happy with this abysmal opening, Racer just barely edging out romcom What Happens In Vegas. Warner execs are already confirming there’s not much chance they’ll recoup their money on this one.

Tony Stark will face some heavy hitters in the battle for his lofty perch the next two weeks. The Chronicles of Narnia:Prince Caspian opens May 16 while Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull is coming May 22.

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This Racer Needs a Tune-Up

brian — Sun, 11 May 2008 02:14:34 +0000

If the Wachowskis can’t make a convincing live-action anime, I don’t know who can. Their Matrix films were as close to that as any movies ever have been. There’s much of that style at work here, throwing a lot of colors, kung fu and car chases at the screen in the hopes some of it makes sense.

I realize that most of the people seeing this one won’t be looking for reviews. They’re either longtime fans of the anime or kids 10 and under. They’ll probably come away from this pleased. Those looking for a believable plot, any adherence to the laws of physics, or weighty acting performances know better than to look here for them.

In fairness, the plots of the anime weren’t all that well-developed. For some reason Speed Racer needs to win this race or the world will end. We don’t really need to know how or why. But in fairness to that show, an episode ran for 22 minutes. This racer clocks in at past the two hour mark, a span longer than its target audience can rightfully be expected to sit still.

The Wachowskis also haven’t developed a fine knack for leaving tidbits in the kid flick for adults that are still appropriate for children. Speed has profanity, flinging of monkey poop and a scene in which adorable little brother Spritle flips an adult the bird.

“That wasn’t in my cartoon as a kid,” I heard an adult say from the seat behind me. No sir, it wasn’t. It reminded me of the inappropriate moment in the off-target Grinch remake in which Jim Carrey’s Grinch hangs mistletoe on his butt. It’s a shame because otherwise Paulie Litt’s little brother and his obligatory monkey Chim-Chim are charming. They’re arguably the most well-developed characters in this one. As a side note, who names their children Spritle and Speed and expects them to turn out well? These children don’t idolize Rex Racer because of his racing skill, it’s because he’s the only one in the family with a normal name.

Emile Hirsch isn’t called on for any heavy lifting here, his character barely speaking for the first half of the movie. John Goodman is reliable though given wooden dialogue to work with. Christina Ricci is here mainly because with her round eyes and perky spirit she looks like an anime character. V for Vendetta cast member Roger Allam rechannels the wealthy, corrupt blowhard role from that movie as Racer’s villain Royalton. He is wonderfully slimy here. Lost’s Matthew Fox dons the black mask and tights of Racer X. I kept waiting for Sawyer to come out and begin laughing hysterically at Fox’s getup.

Susan Sarandon? She makes great pancakes for the family in this one.

Allam is saddled with much of the movie’s weighty exposition that will surely be lost on children. It doesn’t make enough sense for adults to follow either. But as I mentioned, nobody came to this one for the plot. You may believe a car can fly after this movie. The race scenes are more like something out of a Nintendo game than anything resembling real life. Though I will say if NASCAR had boiling lava, ice caves and spikes coming out of the tracks I would watch more.

The race sequences are wonderfully over the top but add to the overall length that I as mentioned is a bit too long. And I implore you not to sit too close to the screen.

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