Uh oh. The Wachowski brothers, creators of The Matrix, spent $100 million making Speed Racer and it may be a bomb. Hollywood Reporter is estimating only a $25 or $30 million opening weekend, with Iron Man possibly keeping the top spot in its second weekend.
Rex Reed:
I can sit through just about anything, but I draw the line at two hours and 15 minutes of fuchsia vomit. To suffer through this kind of hell, movie critics deserve combat pay.Our local Josh Larsen gave it only 1 and a half stars! Ouch!
An overwritten, frantically stylized adaptation of the 1960s anime television series from Japan, "Speed Racer" may add a few colors to the rainbow, but it adds nothing to the movies. And revolutionary filmmaking is what we've come to expect from directing siblings Andy and Larry Wachowski, who redefined action cinema with their "Matrix" pictures.
Indeed, even though "Speed Racer" is built around auto races, that highway car chase in "The Matrix Reloaded" has more heart-in-your-throat thrills than all of this new film.
Variety, on the other hand, gave it a better prognosis:
Aimed squarely at family audiences, the Wachowski Brothers’ return behind the camera for the first time since “The Matrix” trilogy is a blur of video action painting and very loud sounds notable solely for its technical wizardry. Otherwise, it’s pure cotton candy -- entirely non-nutritious but too sweet and pretty for young people to resist. General audiences worldwide look to make this Warner Bros. release a substantial hit in all formats, from Imax to eventual homeview sales, with extra coin assured from moppets who require repeat viewings.
My own kids are lukewarm to this pic. I was more excited by the previews of my childhood cartoon brought to real life. They've seen the commercials on Cartoon Network non-stop, and don't seem that desperate to see it. Not like they were for Iron Man -- a story they didn't know about either.
No comments:
Post a Comment