I thought it was enjoyable enough. The first haLf dragged too much with its too cartoonish candy-coLored styLe which just didn't work for me and Looked way over-the-top. There were severaL duLL moments Like with Speed's brother and that chimp and in the car factory, but its a kids movie so.. it aLso got boring in the middLe part with that taLky British guy from V for Vendetta. The second haLf though saved it from being a totaL dissapoinment because of better race scenes, if stiLL cartoony and the finaL race scene which Looked great, at times. To sum everything up, it was never great, but not horribLe either.

B

Your review sounds like a C, not a B

I'm getting a slightly Grindhouse feel to this so far.

Not much story. Great visuals. And just a fun time that will inflate your grade.

Ummm....take this as you will:

I fucking loved it.

Except the fat kid. But even he kinda grew on me by the end.

C LeveL for me is Like one of the worst fiLms of the year, and around what Munk·E said.

Isn't the worst film of the year supposed to be an F?

This is such a different movie from anything else that's out there. Its like the cartoon, EXACTLY like it, only with real actors. The campy lines are there, the predictable ending, the humor, the silly action...but it all works. You just have to go with the flow. If you go in thinking you'll get some high-tech action film ala Matrix then you're going to be seriously dissapointed. This is a pure family film, so I understand why some people don't like it. But for me it was just great. The visuals are incredibly surreal, colorful and non-realistic, but they are just a pleasure to look at. The racing sequences are some of craziest ever, and make other racing films look like child's play. The story had a lot more heart than I had expected. Not being a fan of the tv show (I just watched it occasionally) I never connected much with the Racer family, but here I found myself surprisingly involved with each member, rooting for them all the time and cheering when they succeeded. The entire cast does a solid job, Goodman is the standout as Pops. Some stuff doesn't work though. Some of the humor is completely unfunny (the kid/monkey jokes got annoying after a while, although that chimp is still adorable), and Rain does a horrible job in his first role. But if you just let go of all cynicism and watch it with an open mind, at least for me, it was a super-fun, candy-coated hell of an experience.

A-

A+
it delievered the laughs,thrills and especially the visual highs!
it's anime come to life.
i must download the new version of the theme song.

It's worth seeing for the editing alone. That sounds odd, but it's completely true.

Saw this at a Midnight Showing I didn't really have any high hopes going in but it was pretty enjoyable. The 1st half of the Movie lagged but when it got going it was pretty good right to the end.

B-

I don't buy it.

Oh, it's a great time. I basically dragged two of my friends along, and none of us, including me, expected to like it. We all had a blast.

Speed Racer is not about story, exactly, but about storytelling. The plot is insane, with confusing stock market machinations and Matthew Fox's hilarious vigilante masked fighter of corporate car race crimes. And ninjas. And John Goodman beating up said ninjas. And vikings, or something kinda like vikings. And gangsters right out of Beatty's Dick Tracy. It's the inventive, visually hallucinatory way the Wachowskis present all this that really makes it work. They really are pushing a few envelopes.

Not to imply that this is only valuable as style. The action beats and climaxes and jokes by-and-large really, truly work. The mainstream critical assessment of this movie makes my blood boil. It'll find an audience later.

I thought it was pretty awesome. It's actually a shame that more people aren't seeing it.

It is a shame. Im expecting to like it too. If only for the visuals and racing scenes.

A visual feast but an awful ride. I think that sums up my opinion of the film well. I liked the look and feel of the film but I did not like the story, the script, the acting, or anything else. Hirsch gives possibly the worst performance of the year so far with every word coming out of his mouth being the same note whether he is sad, angry, or happy. Ricci is so annoying with her voice that I wanted to put the film on mute whenever she talked. The fat kid and the monkey was simply horrible and there was not a single funny part about them. Goodman and Sarandon defiantly cashed in for the film. The only character I enjoyed was Racer X and that's more because I like Matthew Fox. The races were alright until every single car fight happened the same way with the Mach 5 jumping over or under or around them. For a PG film the story probably went over every 8 year olds head and by making it PG they cannabilized the older market. It easily should have been PG-13. The story was incredibly boring and most of the humor falls flat. Finally, the story was so predictable that u could see the ending in the first 10 minutes.

D

Sounds like anime fair to me. I'll go check it out, out of curiosity.

Did some of you watch this trash in drugs?

Words amongst Asian fans seems very positive..

Not me, but I can't wait to give it a try!

Seriously, I can't see what's not to love about it. Sure it's a bit hokey from time to time, but I actually found that kinda charming. And I found it amazing how well the Wachowski's trademark po-faced, overly dramatic and slightly pretentious dialogue works when it's part of a kids' film.

Not to mention the action set-pieces are brilliantly put together. The last stretch of the final race was a proper heart-in-throat, arse-on-the-edge-of-your-seat moment, the likes of which it's rare to see in a lot of movies these days.

This is a criticism I've seen a lot in the reviews, and I don't particularly buy it. Yes it's obvious who the villain is, yes you can see the ending coming a mile away (in fact, you can probably tell from the trailer. Hell, I had an inkling the film was going to end with Speed winning the big race the moment I read they were making a Speed Racer movie). Am I ruining it for you if I tell you Indiana Jones will probably defeat the Russians in a couple of weeks, aided in no small part by their own lust for power and the very MacGuffin they seek to exploit?

Colour me interested in seeing this now.

I went into this with a mild case of indeference, I didn't really want to see it but nothing about it made me say to myself stay away. So from about the 2 minute mark of the movie onward I absolutely HATED this film. I'm not talking about a strong dislike or finding it just annoying, but an all encompassing homicidal rage inducing pure unadulterated hatred. I wanted to literally go out and kill someone (I didn't) while watching this. I don't know what exactly induced this feeling in me, maybe it was the the over-saturated kaleidescope of neon colors, the severly annoying lazy-mans over indulgence of the use of wipe edits. I swear if I never see another wipe edit again it will be to soon, I now wish death upon george lucas because he over uses the wipe edit and made it popular. Maybe it was the total lack of story, plot development, acting ability, the annoying character names, the utter pointlessness of the film? But what really put me over the top was that damn 80yr old looking douchebag brat that played spritle and his horrendously unneeded monkey chimp-chimp. I have never seen a more annoying child actor in my entire life, ever. I was imagining chimp-chimp tearing spritles arms off and beating him to death with them, and then leaving monkey cookies all over the bloody body. After watching that horrible annoying little brat on screen, I for the first time in my life actually want serious bodily harm to be inflicted upon a child. I have sat through countless numbers of horrendously bad films but none have put me in such an angry, hateful mood as did this gem. I was a fan of the Wachowskis until this point, but now I'm no longer sure. Needless to say I'll be staying away from repeat viewings of this.

Grade F--

Truth be told, this movie is headache-inducing. The visuals are cool for a while, but soon it becomes way too much and almost hard to take. This isn't helped by the horrible and annoying technique used in any scene involving character interaction. It's unnecessary and began to drive me crazy. Another thing that I couldn't stand in this film was the atrocious character of Spritle and the pet monkey - both of whom were ridiculous and contributed to some of the most idiotic film sequences in recent memory. Roger Allam also made a terrible villain, and basically played the same character he did in V For Vendetta. The film works best when it focuses on the adult characters. I really liked the character of Racer X and thought that he was easily the most interesting part of the film. Matthew Fox delivered a strong performance and I wish he got more screentime. The performances from John Goodman and Susan Sarandon were also really good. Christina Ricci was solid, but didn't get nearly enough screentime. And Emile Hirsch was mediocre in the lead, which was disappointing especially after his fantastic performance in Into The Wild. Overall, this had the potential to be great, but it disappoints due to the addition of various "kid-friendly" aspects and some distracting direction. I'd pass on this one. C

Loved it! An absolutely delightful film. Every action-filled, colorful frame is overflowing with creativity and the plot is, for summer family fare, complex and intelligent (without becoming obtrusive to the fun). As they did with their MATRIX trilogy, the Wachowski Brothers have pushed the envelope by blending the staples of the action, adventure, fantasy, and science fiction genres with their own never-before-seen flourishes. The CG sets in which the actors play are fantastic, as if they were poured directly from the directors' dreams onto the screen. A splash of color here, a rush of movement there - I want to watch this film multiple times just to absorb the epic visuals. I also loved the clever editing (information is introduced without ceasing the flow of the action - for example, during the elaborate race sequences, the commentators are showing moving from one side of the screen to the other with the speeding cars behind them) and detailed, zany score. Emile Hirsch is a charming, youthful lead. And he is lended unblemished aid by a fine ensemble. Deserving of especial praise are Matthew Fox, intense and cool as the mysterious Racer X, and Roger Allam, creepy and despicable as the villianous corporate titan Royalton (ever subversive, the Wachowskis have laced their mega-budget studio film with a potent beware-capitalism theme).

This is a film everyone should enjoy. Children and adults will both be enthralled - the former by the comic relief provided by Speed's brother Spritle (played with genuine charm by Paulie Litt) and his chimp companion, the latter by the twisty plot and A-list cast, and everyone by the intense action and more intense still display of color and movement. Recommended!

A