who ran away from home years ago.
That's right, this is a Speed Racer post. And contrary to what</a>![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif)
Liza andKyla have written here, I do not approve of this movie.
First, some background. I don't like cars. I don't like car movies. So I'm not your stereotypical "guy" in that respect. But I do like me some anime (provided it is good quality - I won't watch something just because she's a witch (and she makes fire!) despite the fact that the story is crap.) If I have any vice, it is towards large robots that transform into jets (see Macross.) I am currently watching Macross Frontier, Bleach, Naruto Shippuden, and Gundam (the original, I've never actually watched the original.) And, for the record, I do enjoy Speed Racer, the anime/American cartoon adaption. I think mostly because of the over the top acting and excited conversational patterns, including the narrator reminding the audience for the 100th time that Racer X is really Rex Racer, when it is so freaking obvious that Speed consistently comments about it throughout the serious until finally in the 50th episode (out of 52) Speed confronts Racer X only to get punched in the stomach, then while Speed unconscious, Rex reveals himself. Classic.
Where was I? Ah, right, Speed Racer the Movie. First, this was a kids movie. I can't speak for the marketing blitz in the States (since I don't live there), but if this movie wasn't marketed as a kids movie (which I get the feeling it wasn't), then people should be angry. As a kids movie, I think this works. It definitely pushed the boundaries about what visuals a kids movie can provide. Unless of course you are prone to epileptic seizures. That's fine, if the film is able to appeal to adults at different levels. Unfortunately, I think that the movie failed in that regard. Sure, there was the adult-ish plot with racing being linked to corporate takeover and whatnot, but there really wasn't much to that. I never felt any tension in the movie. Good movies build tension. This one didn't. It was very, very predictable. It always felt like Speed was going to win. (Of course he is going to win, but the appeal of a good movie is that you aren't sure that he actually is going to win.)
I have another issue with set design. As much as I love nice computer graphics (see Iron Man), the graphics should fit into the movie. They should be seamlessly integrated, and not detract from the movie experience. For me, filming in front of a green screen then adding everything else together layer by layer is not my idea of a good movie. (For an even bigger offender in this regard, see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.) The world, though bright and cheery and whatnot, screamed fake to me. "But Kevin, it's a fucking real life anime. It's supposed to look something in between real and fake." True, but the colors and patterns were just too overwhelming for me. Maybe it was too much sixties. Instead of drawing me in, it make me want to look away (when I wasn't about to start having a seizure.)
A lot of the scenes, especially at Royalton Industries, reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, another movie that didn't really do it for me. That type of live action/animation integration was too much for me. I'm a believer that animation is best when it is kept to a minimum. The goal of special effects are to make something look real. If that illusion is broken, it ends up ruining the entire movie to me.
The movie remained true to the characters, almost too true. Again, this is the complaint about this being a kids movie. There are two groups of people who can relate to Speed Racer. There are the kids from the sixties who grew up watching this show, and there are the kids from the 80s who caught the show on reruns or on cartoon network (where I'm assuming most of you saw the show.) Perhaps they were trying too hard to maintain the 1960s feel. Because Chim-Chim and Spritle fucking pissed me off. I'm sure that if I was a kid, they would have been fucking hilarious.
Speaking of which, as a kids movie, this is really, really long. I normally don't have a long attention span, but this movie, coming in at over two hours, must of driven some of the kids insane. Unless of course the barrage of colors and lights was designed to keep them occupied. Which it very well might have been.
Lastly, we come to Rain. RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Liz mentioned that the actors for this movie were perfect. I have to disagree. Some of the actors were very much out of place (Christina Ricci fucking got on my nerves every time she spoke. The real Trixi was never that annoying. Thank god they covered up her massive forehead.) But my biggest problem came from the casting of Jung Ji Hoon (Rain), Yu Nan and Hiroyuki Sanada in three of the bigger supporting actor roles. Incidentally, these are three big actors in South Korea, China and Japan, respectively. Sanada has done some good movies before (anyone see Sunshine? He was great in that - the movie was great too for the first hour or so, until it devolved into a standard horror flick), and it is based on a Japanese anime, after all. So people from Japan will at least theoretically be interested in seeing this movie. But this was Rain's and Yu Nan's US movie debut. The Wachowskis specifically grabbed people in order to make this movie a bigger hit outside the US. After all, Japan and Korea and the 2nd and 3rd largest movie markets outside the US. .
Normally, I don't have a problem with that. If the actor is a good actor, and the movie is good, then so be it. (However, when the movie is bad, like Memories of a Geisha, there is going to be a backlash when the vast majority of the actors in the movie aren't Japanese.) But when a movie has this whole anti-corporate greed message, then does something underhanded like pandering to foreign audiences in order to gain more views than they would have before. For example, check out this picture of Rain:
* Update - Here is the conclusion of my thoughts. I had to finish meet up with a friend last night (and kick some ass in Wii Tennis!) so I wasn't able to properly finish this post like a good little boy. Just be thankful that I am posting more than once a month. Also, the post was cleaned up a bit, some stuff added, so you might want to read again.*
That's right, this is a Speed Racer post. And contrary to what</a>
Liza andKyla have written here, I do not approve of this movie.First, some background. I don't like cars. I don't like car movies. So I'm not your stereotypical "guy" in that respect. But I do like me some anime (provided it is good quality - I won't watch something just because she's a witch (and she makes fire!) despite the fact that the story is crap.) If I have any vice, it is towards large robots that transform into jets (see Macross.) I am currently watching Macross Frontier, Bleach, Naruto Shippuden, and Gundam (the original, I've never actually watched the original.) And, for the record, I do enjoy Speed Racer, the anime/American cartoon adaption. I think mostly because of the over the top acting and excited conversational patterns, including the narrator reminding the audience for the 100th time that Racer X is really Rex Racer, when it is so freaking obvious that Speed consistently comments about it throughout the serious until finally in the 50th episode (out of 52) Speed confronts Racer X only to get punched in the stomach, then while Speed unconscious, Rex reveals himself. Classic.
Where was I? Ah, right, Speed Racer the Movie. First, this was a kids movie. I can't speak for the marketing blitz in the States (since I don't live there), but if this movie wasn't marketed as a kids movie (which I get the feeling it wasn't), then people should be angry. As a kids movie, I think this works. It definitely pushed the boundaries about what visuals a kids movie can provide. Unless of course you are prone to epileptic seizures. That's fine, if the film is able to appeal to adults at different levels. Unfortunately, I think that the movie failed in that regard. Sure, there was the adult-ish plot with racing being linked to corporate takeover and whatnot, but there really wasn't much to that. I never felt any tension in the movie. Good movies build tension. This one didn't. It was very, very predictable. It always felt like Speed was going to win. (Of course he is going to win, but the appeal of a good movie is that you aren't sure that he actually is going to win.)
I have another issue with set design. As much as I love nice computer graphics (see Iron Man), the graphics should fit into the movie. They should be seamlessly integrated, and not detract from the movie experience. For me, filming in front of a green screen then adding everything else together layer by layer is not my idea of a good movie. (For an even bigger offender in this regard, see Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow.) The world, though bright and cheery and whatnot, screamed fake to me. "But Kevin, it's a fucking real life anime. It's supposed to look something in between real and fake." True, but the colors and patterns were just too overwhelming for me. Maybe it was too much sixties. Instead of drawing me in, it make me want to look away (when I wasn't about to start having a seizure.)
A lot of the scenes, especially at Royalton Industries, reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, another movie that didn't really do it for me. That type of live action/animation integration was too much for me. I'm a believer that animation is best when it is kept to a minimum. The goal of special effects are to make something look real. If that illusion is broken, it ends up ruining the entire movie to me.
Computer-graphic Neo = Not Cool
Compare Matrix: Reloaded to Jurassic Park, made much earlier. God damn, do those dinosaurs look real. (Not that this screen shot does them any justice.)
The movie remained true to the characters, almost too true. Again, this is the complaint about this being a kids movie. There are two groups of people who can relate to Speed Racer. There are the kids from the sixties who grew up watching this show, and there are the kids from the 80s who caught the show on reruns or on cartoon network (where I'm assuming most of you saw the show.) Perhaps they were trying too hard to maintain the 1960s feel. Because Chim-Chim and Spritle fucking pissed me off. I'm sure that if I was a kid, they would have been fucking hilarious.
Speaking of which, as a kids movie, this is really, really long. I normally don't have a long attention span, but this movie, coming in at over two hours, must of driven some of the kids insane. Unless of course the barrage of colors and lights was designed to keep them occupied. Which it very well might have been.
Lastly, we come to Rain. RRRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Liz mentioned that the actors for this movie were perfect. I have to disagree. Some of the actors were very much out of place (Christina Ricci fucking got on my nerves every time she spoke. The real Trixi was never that annoying. Thank god they covered up her massive forehead.) But my biggest problem came from the casting of Jung Ji Hoon (Rain), Yu Nan and Hiroyuki Sanada in three of the bigger supporting actor roles. Incidentally, these are three big actors in South Korea, China and Japan, respectively. Sanada has done some good movies before (anyone see Sunshine? He was great in that - the movie was great too for the first hour or so, until it devolved into a standard horror flick), and it is based on a Japanese anime, after all. So people from Japan will at least theoretically be interested in seeing this movie. But this was Rain's and Yu Nan's US movie debut. The Wachowskis specifically grabbed people in order to make this movie a bigger hit outside the US. After all, Japan and Korea and the 2nd and 3rd largest movie markets outside the US. .
Normally, I don't have a problem with that. If the actor is a good actor, and the movie is good, then so be it. (However, when the movie is bad, like Memories of a Geisha, there is going to be a backlash when the vast majority of the actors in the movie aren't Japanese.) But when a movie has this whole anti-corporate greed message, then does something underhanded like pandering to foreign audiences in order to gain more views than they would have before. For example, check out this picture of Rain:
Photo taken from here courtesy of Koreanmovie.com
Notice Rain's left arm? That's the Korean alphabet (한글 Hangeul to be exact). It reads Tokokhan, the ㅡJapanese motor company from the movie. Granted, almost none of the Western-viewing audience will catch that, but is it really necessary to spell a Japanese company name using Korean letters? To me, that is blatantly pandering to the Korean audience to come see this movie. Once again, in the article here it says:
As an actor representing Korea, Jeong has tried to think of ways to reveal his nationality in the film. The production team agreed to support his patriotism, and chose the name of Jeong’s character carefully. They came up with Taejo Togokhan — Taejo referring to Taejo Wang Geon, the founder of the Goryeo Dynasty.
Jeong’s scenes also feature many Hangul letters, which indirectly introduce Korea and its culture. “I asked the production crew to portray Hangul characters in the scenes,” Jeong said. “As you will see in the film, Togokhan is written in Hangul. Many Westerners who saw the film said the letters were pretty.”
Jeong’s scenes also feature many Hangul letters, which indirectly introduce Korea and its culture. “I asked the production crew to portray Hangul characters in the scenes,” Jeong said. “As you will see in the film, Togokhan is written in Hangul. Many Westerners who saw the film said the letters were pretty.”
That's fine and good that Rain wants to be patriotic. Hell, I try to say something positive about the States every now and again while I'm in Korea, especially with all the anti-US / Mad Cow press recently. But when the character you are portraying is Japanese, is it really necessary to shove it down everyone's throat that the actor is Korean? (And what's the point of having a Chinese girl and Korean guy portraying Japanese people anyway? I know Americans think they all look the same, but still, there are plenty of us who know the difference.) Perhaps I've been in Korea too long, or perhaps it was the massive marketing campaign that promoted 비(Rain) for this movie, but it really annoys me that the directors pandered to the Korean audience in such a way. (BTW, the funniest thing in the movie, for me, was that the first time Rain appeared on the screen, I heard a quick squeal of "Rain!" from some random girl sitting behind me.) If memory serves me right, (and like the chairman of Iron Chef fame, it usually does) Japanese pop culture was only legally allowed to be imported into South Korea in 1988. I think that it is safe to say that Speed Racer (or Mach GoGoGo as is the Japanese name of the series) was never seen by a wide range of Korean audiences. Therefore, the only reason that people will go to see this film is if they like Rain. I know for a fact that these people aren't expecting to see a kids movie.
Still, I could overlook that if Rain was good. Maybe it was all coincidental. Maybe I'm over-reacting. But oh my goodness, did Rain's English suck. The reason why the Rain/Colbert Dance Off (see below) was done "after hours" was because Rain's English ability is simply not good enough to conduct an interview.
I saw the film with Yuni (she's doing well, by the way.) The entire time, when Rain appeared on the screen, Yuni kept saying, "Shhh, don't talk. Just look pretty." And it's true, he's got the pretty-boy with the awesome hair look down. His lines sounded awful though. With time, that will improve. Hopefully. Also what was the deal with his character? He was bad, then good, then bad, then good again, cheering for Speed to win the Grand Prix, and only giving up Royalton after his family had sold the company, getting tons of money in the process. Had Royalton's driver won the race, then he wouldn't have given him up? I don't understand.
Thankfully, Korean viewers tended to agree with me about the movie, as Speed Racer did not reach number one status last week [held instead by Iron Man, for the second week in a row. (Stats taken from here.)]
You know what disappointed me the most though? The movie wasn't cheesy enough. I think the greatest appeal of the original Speed Racer series was the horrible voice acting, the out of sync voices, and memorable voice-overs about Racer X. Honestly, if they had parodied this even once during the movie, I think I would have appreciated it a lot more.
To answer Liz's question, I did like the cross country race, where Speed was able to use the Mock 5's special abilities. Those scenes were amazing. That felt like the original show. Unfortunately, it was only for that race. If all the races were like that, the movie would have been infinitely better. And Speed, Racer X (Liked him much better than his role as a Catalan terrorist from Vantage Point), Pops and others were very well cast. Overall, the movie just didn't do it for me. Would I eventually show it to my six year old kid? Maybe. As long as he or she is not prone to getting epileptic seizures.
Still, I could overlook that if Rain was good. Maybe it was all coincidental. Maybe I'm over-reacting. But oh my goodness, did Rain's English suck. The reason why the Rain/Colbert Dance Off (see below) was done "after hours" was because Rain's English ability is simply not good enough to conduct an interview.
I saw the film with Yuni (she's doing well, by the way.) The entire time, when Rain appeared on the screen, Yuni kept saying, "Shhh, don't talk. Just look pretty." And it's true, he's got the pretty-boy with the awesome hair look down. His lines sounded awful though. With time, that will improve. Hopefully. Also what was the deal with his character? He was bad, then good, then bad, then good again, cheering for Speed to win the Grand Prix, and only giving up Royalton after his family had sold the company, getting tons of money in the process. Had Royalton's driver won the race, then he wouldn't have given him up? I don't understand.
Thankfully, Korean viewers tended to agree with me about the movie, as Speed Racer did not reach number one status last week [held instead by Iron Man, for the second week in a row. (Stats taken from here.)]
| This Week | Title................................... | Release Date | Screens Nationwide | Weekend Revenue (bil. won) | Total Revenue (bil. won) |
| 1. | Iron Man | 4.30 | 617 | 4.85 | 18.02 |
| 2. | Speed Racer | 5.08 | 485 | 2.41 | 2.74 |
| 3. | Taken | 4.09 | 303 | 0.99 | 13.54 |
| 4. | Forbidden Kingdom | 4.24 | 300 | 0.62 | 7.22 |
| 5. | Horton | 4.30 | 344 | 0.52 | 3.16 |
| 6. | Beastie Boys (Korean) | 4.30 | 306 | 0.60 | 4.07 |
| 7. | Priceless | 5.08 | 124 | 0.36 | 0.41 |
| 8. | Tale of the Legendary Libido (Garujigi - Korean) | 4.30 | 309 | 0.19 | 1.62 |
| 9. | Seouli Boinya (Korean) | 5.08 | 165 | 0.14 | 0.17 |
| 10. | Detective Conan: Phantom of Baker Street | 5.01 | 41 | 0.13 | 0.53 |
You know what disappointed me the most though? The movie wasn't cheesy enough. I think the greatest appeal of the original Speed Racer series was the horrible voice acting, the out of sync voices, and memorable voice-overs about Racer X. Honestly, if they had parodied this even once during the movie, I think I would have appreciated it a lot more. To answer Liz's question, I did like the cross country race, where Speed was able to use the Mock 5's special abilities. Those scenes were amazing. That felt like the original show. Unfortunately, it was only for that race. If all the races were like that, the movie would have been infinitely better. And Speed, Racer X (Liked him much better than his role as a Catalan terrorist from Vantage Point), Pops and others were very well cast. Overall, the movie just didn't do it for me. Would I eventually show it to my six year old kid? Maybe. As long as he or she is not prone to getting epileptic seizures.
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