Speed Racer Screening

Last night, thanks to La Vera Pizza, I got to attend a screening for the Wachowski brothers' take on Speed Racer and I have to say I was pleasantly surprised.

Maybe it was latent disappointment with the Matrix finale or the way the trailers made it look like all the racing was going to be on cheesy-looking fake tracks (a la Tokyo Megaplex in SSX Tricky) or the fact that most of my knowledge of Speed Racer comes from parodies or the iffy record studios have turning old TV shows into movies, but I had no real expectations going into the film. In fact, I was halfway tempted to switch theaters and go see Iron Man instead.

Maybe no expectations is a good thing. I found myself very quickly caught up in the characters and plot, somewhat predictable as they may have been (it is a sports movie after all). The visuals were astounding; it really felt like I was watching live-action anime. Kids and adults alike laughed at Spritle and Chim Chim's antics, cheered as Speed and family overcame their obstacles, and thrilled to the racing scenes.

I see that critics aren't enjoying the film much. Rotten Tomatoes has it rated at 40%, with one reviewer saying that it's "...an eyesore, a shambles, with incoherent action and ear-buckling dialogue."

I'm no film critic. All I know is that I really enjoyed Speed Racer and judging from the large amount of applause it garnered at the screening, I wasn't the only one.