Speed Racer (2008)

What a blast …

I enjoyed this movie for a number of reasons that will be explained as we go along, the basic plot is that there is a kid; surname of Racer, forename of Speed, hence the name of the movie.

For our American cousins surname = last name, forename = first name.

Anyway, he is Speed Racer (played by Emile Hirsch) who is a race car driver like his brother (the brother is is dead), dad runs the garage (played by an aging John Goodman) and mum is the ever hot Susan Sarandon. The love interest is the equally hot Christina Ricci (although she looks like she is in a real cartoon).

This was a cartoon …

I know that this is based on an old cartoon but I have never seen it, from all accounts the quality was somewhat suspect and the stories a bit weak. That cannot be said for this movie (well the graphics anyway), the story is standard fare, the Speed Racer is good and he believes in racing as a sport. He comes down to earth with a bump when the evil business man Royalton (played by Roger Allam) tries to get him to race for him. It comes down to good vs. evil again.

The graphics …

This is probably the main reason to watch the movie, and I suggest that it is at the cinema (that’s the movie theater for you Americans). The colours are bold and brash, the colour pallet is mainly primary which adds to the cartoon feel of the movie as a whole. The directors and the set designers (the term set is probably wrong for this type of movie) must have made this a priority on the movie to give it an out of this world touch, in fact it looks somewhat 60’s style to me.

The races [ not to Formula 1 standards ] …

The real reason for watching the movie is to participate in the experience of the races throughout the movie, the Wachowski brothers have choreographed these to a tee. The track races are so divorced from reality that it is sometimes very hard to know what is going on but it does not matter. There are cars that jump over other cars, make wild turns that are physically impossible, they crash into each other and the only thing that happens to the car is a slight scuff on the paintwork, the drivers never get hurt because there is a system in place that protects them in a ball of bubbles.

On top of that each car has a secret weapon; technically illegal as per the WRL rule book (World Racing League) but it does not stop the teams and the drivers from being devious and creative. Some have rockets, saws, snakes and the like, each weapon matches the drivers personality, a very cool concept, a bit like The Wacky Races but much more violent; I like this :->

The back story …

The races are punctuated with the back story of the dead brother, a law enforcement officer and back stabbing between friends. The younger brother Spritle (played by Paulie Litt) and his chimp add the comic relief to the (sometimes) too serious story for this type of movie.

The Wachowski brother are on the money again …

Andy and Larry are the dudes that gave us the Matrix trilogy, let’s be honest the first one was very very cool, the second was OK and the third was somewhere in the middle. They have a knack of going the whole hog and they have really embraced computer generated movie making. Even the simplest scenes have computer generated effects, that’s why this gets a 10/10 for special effects.

Don’t expect to see photo realism in this movie, obviously the characters are real but the rest of it is probably real only in the computer. It looks like they wanted to make it look like a cartoon, if they did then they succeeded.

Something I didn’t expect …

One that I did not expect was to see so many British actors in the movie, it’s good to see that the Brits are still in demand even for an obviously Hollywood movie, the Wachowski’s know a good thing when they see it (that’s my opinion and I’m sticking to it).

Bottom line …

This is a good fantasy movie for all the family, me and my son thoroughly enjoyed it, good use of a couple of hours). It has something for everyone, the comedy of the younger brother, the computer effects for the for the geeks, the cars and the racing for the boy racers and the heart warming back story for the mums.

There is one final problem to consider, you may find yourself driving a bit faster and taking more chances on the road after watching the movie. In our case we got home 5 minutes quicker than we normally do, time well spent

Ratings
Overall rating:	9/10 For Special Effects
Special effects:	10/10 (the best in a while)
Acting:	6/10 (OK I suppose)
Music:	6/10 (fine for this type of movie)
Where seen:	Movie Theater
Perceived length:	Short

Alvin and the Chipmunks (2007)

Well, what can I say about this movie that will shock you? Not much really you will be shocked enough when you see the movie.

The studios way of thinking …

One way of looking at the movie is that it is a cute fun loving account of some very funny (and furry) chipmunks that make it big in the music industry causing much hilarity along the way.

My way of thinking …

<rant mode on>

Another way of looking at it is that it shows how the commercialization of Christmas leads to habitat destruction (Christmas trees) causing rodents (the Chipmunks) to find refuge in human surroundings. It also shows how the music industry exploits their stars and in this case leads to child labor (the Chipmunks are kids). It also shows how children are fed with media to get them to want more material things rather than the simple things in life.

<rant mode off>

Cute to the extreme …

Apart from that the movie was fine, standard fare for this type of movie, you know that everything will be alright in the end it’s just what happens in between that makes it entertaining (or boring). The animation of the characters is very good indeed, we come to expect a lot more from the animation studios these days and this one does not disappoint. The only thing that I can think of that was a problem (till about a third into the movie) was that the chipmunks all looked the same, it wasn’t until Simon got glasses and Alvin got a shirt with a big A on the front did I get to know one from the other.

The good guy is just OK …

The main human character is played by Jason Lee of My Name is Earl fame, he plays a musician who is down on his luck until he finds the guys. He is a pathetic shell of a man who is pushed around by the excellent David Cross who plays the hard nosed (and a bit creepy) music executive. He also has an (ex) love interest Cameron Richardson who thinks he is mad when he says that he is being haunted by talking chipmunks. She changes her tune very quickly to accept them when she gets the contract to take photos of the little stars, and she thought that Jason Lee was weird.

I liked the bad guy …

I first came saw David Cross in Small Soldiers where he played a kind hearted geek but he is much better in this movie. Evil to Jason Lee from the outset which is just the beginning, he then proceeds to take advantage of the chipmunks by working them to exhaustion. One of the funniest scenes in the movie was the chipmunks being given coffee during a recording session and they start (literally) bouncing off the walls, seeing one of them slide down the window in a caffeine induced stupor is classic.

The music (if that is what you call it) …

This is where the younger kids will enjoy the movie but the adults will just squirm. Bad is an understatement to the extreme, how these tracks make money is a mystery to me. You have no idea what they are singing about and the high pitch is just painful.

Bottom Line …

Not a waste of an hour and a half but having a few drinks before seeing the movie would make the experience a lot better (and if you pass out it will be even better).

Ratings
Overall rating:	5/10
Special effects:	5/10
Acting:	3/10
Music:	2/10
Where seen:	Movie Theater and DVD at home
Perceived length:	Medium

//*Eggbox