Speed Racer (PG.)
Directed by The Wachowski Brothers.
Starring Emilie Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Roger Allam. 135 mins
After the various pastings handed out to The Matrix sequels The Wachowskis (Larry and Andy,) try to regain some of the credibility and clout by making a kids film, based on a Japanese cartoon series that was big in the States but never really made it over here. The result is The Jetson remaking Rollerball; an alternate reality of 50’s Americana optimism and primary colours hyped up into a restless kinetic blur.
It’s certainly ambitious and has a look all its own. Like the Star Wars prequels the actors are real but just about everything else is green screen yadda yadda high definition 360 degree motion capture blah blah. Expensive cartoon basically. The bright colours swirl around arrestingly before you but nothing captures your heart or mind. It’s a Lava lamp aesthetic.
The Wachowski have an odd visual device which is constantly to superimpose close ups of people faces and move them across the screen, in front of the action. I think this slide show is an attempt to add some human dimension to proceedings.
As in the Matrix sequels the brothers display a gift for taking something simple and straightforward and making it complex and mystifying. Ask them what 2+2 equals and they'll come back with algebra. This is a simple story about a boy who likes racing cars; a little guy up against a big corrupt corporation tale, but the film immediately throws you with an opening race sequence which plays out in a confusing blur of flashes forwards and back. It would also help if you could hear what anyone was saying. This is Deaf Race 2008.
Of course, none of this would matter if the spectacle thrilled the senses. It may not look quite like anything you’ve seen before, but it doesn’t feel cutting edge either. The film is so determined retro it’s like they’ve gone back and make the missing link between Tron and modern cinema.
The race sequences are the biggest disappointment. Phantom Menace may very well be a duff movie but that pod race is pretty damn exciting simply because it was fast. This doesn’t generate that simple thrill of speed because the racing cars don’t move like racing cars. It’s not the deliberately ridiculous Car Fu sequences where they fly through the air that deaden the believability; it’s the moments when they go round corners and wobble around like dodgems. The climatic race is like watching Scaletrix on a giant pinball machine.
Cloud Atlas Review
Jupiter Ascending review
Speed Racer (PG.)
Directed by The Wachowski Brothers.
Starring Emilie Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Roger Allam. 135 mins
After the various pastings handed out to The Matrix sequels The Wachowskis (Larry and Andy,) try to regain some of the credibility and clout by making a kids film, based on a Japanese cartoon series that was big in the States but never really made it over here. The result is The Jetson remaking Rollerball; an alternate reality of 50’s Americana optimism and primary colours hyped up into a restless kinetic blur.
It’s certainly ambitious and has a look all its own. Like the Star Wars prequels the actors are real but just about everything else is green screen yadda yadda high definition 360 degree motion capture blah blah. Expensive cartoon basically. The bright colours swirl around arrestingly before you but nothing captures your heart or mind. It’s a Lava lamp aesthetic.
The Wachowski have an odd visual device which is constantly to superimpose close ups of people faces and move them across the screen, in front of the action. I think this slide show is an attempt to add some human dimension to proceedings.
As in the Matrix sequels the brothers display a gift for taking something simple and straightforward and making it complex and mystifying. Ask them what 2+2 equals and they'll come back with algebra. This is a simple story about a boy who likes racing cars; a little guy up against a big corrupt corporation tale, but the film immediately throws you with an opening race sequence which plays out in a confusing blur of flashes forwards and back. It would also help if you could hear what anyone was saying. This is Deaf Race 2008.
Of course, none of this would matter if the spectacle thrilled the senses. It may not look quite like anything you’ve seen before, but it doesn’t feel cutting edge either. The film is so determined retro it’s like they’ve gone back and make the missing link between Tron and modern cinema.
The race sequences are the biggest disappointment. Phantom Menace may very well be a duff movie but that pod race is pretty damn exciting simply because it was fast. This doesn’t generate that simple thrill of speed because the racing cars don’t move like racing cars. It’s not the deliberately ridiculous Car Fu sequences where they fly through the air that deaden the believability; it’s the moments when they go round corners and wobble around like dodgems. The climatic race is like watching Scaletrix on a giant pinball machine.
Cloud Atlas Review
Jupiter Ascending review
