It was my time finally to see "Speed Racer" on screen. Gf and I saw it last week @ the Logan. LOgan was showing four films - Speed, Hulk, Iron M, and someother superhero film. Four for four.Speed Racer was a total icon of my youth. We all loved it, and along with Spiderman and the Beatles cartoons was one of the only cartoons I watched growing up (no Saturday Morning tv watching for me -sleep -and never got into the after school stuff. To this day I am sure I have never seen more than 2-3m of a Scooby Doo show. Not claiming pride here- just wasn't ever my thing. Get lost when people start to talkmnof that stuff. Lets talk of Hogans instead)
But Ch. 44 - WSNS- used to bring us Speed in the Seventies (just like 44 brought us HArry Carrey in the 70's). I forget what time it was on, but it was my -and all of ours -show.
Then -just like Harry - Speed disappeared off Ch 44. It went from being part of our everyday ;lives to ... myth. Just like Harry. Icons of our youth forever taken away from us. There were isolated sitings. Moho or lazers w/ a copy of the "Mammoth Train" episode. The Chicago Cubs showing proper deference to the White Sox by creating a statue of the old Sox announcer.
But still...
However, the myth of the enternal return* would have its say. Just like in October 2005, when Harry came alive again w/ the Sox push to the Series and thoughts of " Shit if my Dad and brother and Harrey were alive for this nite ", speed also came back to us -and in a very perfectway - in a movie directed by the Warchoski brothers - the makers of the Matrix.
MAtrix was one of the most powerful wallops I've ever cinematicall recieved. Coming back to the States after 2m of being good in Europe (well...), I hit the Reggie JAckson rite one nite after I got back and was blown away by the movie(Matrix). Really responding to the Christian and left ideas of the movie, the Warchoviskies became favoured sons (or, rather a favourite son and daughter...rite??).
So- how was Speed?
Pretty good. It started ff slow for me -it eas only about 30m in where I realized that I liked the film a lot. It was very Tron like -those lites and Speed helmut? Sheesh, Tron. But there was also Trixie. Some exciting women she is. Amidt it, we were all ga ga for Trixie in , say, 1976- and I find myself red in the face thinking about 2008's Trixie.
She, uh, had a real nice bob and the outfits................. um um.
And back to the movie. Loved the harkening back to the old days. I'd rrealised that I haven't seen the show in so long that I'd forgotten a lot of how it worked - Spridel and chim chim always hitching in Mach 5's boot (MAch SIX ??) Going nuts for candy. Pops being a bad ass. The silly poses when Speed jumps outta the car.
But the best - and it hit me hard** when they finally pulled it out - was the gliorious EH EH EH EH EH EH EH when Speed hit the jump button when he needed it. Sorta like in ther first "Mission Imposible" when they pulled out the iconic theme music at exactly the rite moment - I could only think of the grandeur of life when that sound entered my soul through my eardrums.
EH EH EH EH EH EH EH
And there was the Matrix moment -the satisfying ending -akkin to Neo's "No." moment in Matrix.
I won't say the movie was anywhere near The Matrix. I'm not sure I can recommend Speed to someone else. But -both my 1970's and my 2000's self were certainly glad that the spark of life was given to me by.......Sparky?
..............................................
*=sure it doesn'y fit, but I always loved that frase
What did Dylan write about that? "The past was always close behind" or waht from "Tangeled"
*=sure it doesn'y fit, but I always loved that frase
What did Dylan write about that? "The past was always close behind" or waht from "Tangeled"
1 comment:
I wrote the following a few days after seeing the movie on its first day at the theaters:
Speed Racer is one of my all-time favorite TV shows. Plans to make a movie version have been floating around for ages. Finally, the project reached a “go” stage, with the Wachowski brothers slated to direct. Although I was pumped, a part of me also realized that there was no way they could possibly make a movie that would satisfy me. My expectations generally were low. I went to see it this past Friday, after work.
The movie started slowly for me. There are flashbacks to when Speed was young and worshipping his older brother, Rex. Then present day, where Speed is being wooed by corporate sponsorship in a colorful and animated world (I couldn’t help but think Pee Wee Herman had something to do with designing the look of the movie). The first race we see (a Prix race) was chaotic- it was hard to see detail in what was happening. My early viewpoint was “blah”.
The movie then hits the pivotal scenes that swayed me in the direction of my final thoughts. Those scenes involve a dangerous road rally called the Crucible (the race in which Rex died years earlier). The race was started by the queen, who fired the starter’s pistol upon first seeing the sunrise. Drivers then raced through some ruins towards the open road. It was the first point at which I thought: “This is very Speed Racer-ish.” From that point on, my love for the movie only grew.
I can’t see a non-Speed Racer fan enjoying the movie. I think it will work only for fans of the show. The pros are many: I thought Matthew Fox was great as Racer X (it was his voice work); there were a many great references and homage to the TV show; as I mentioned, the Crucible was great; I loved the group of rogue henchmen put together for Cruncher Block (as well as some of the rogue racers in the Crucible and climatic Grand Prix); Christina Ricci was hot as Trixie (Ricci is under-rated as a babe!); the Mach 5 looked good (although I could have done without the tire shields).
There were some decisions that I disagreed with, too: I hated how Snake Oiler was depicted; and many elements that should have been there were missing- where were the rest of the Car Acrobatic Team? Where was one of Trixie’s jealous “hmmpf” sounds? Where was the unique and wonderful sound of the Shooting Star? Where was Spridle’s landmark cry for “caaaaandy”? Why was there that much of Mom Racer?
Despite it’s flaws, I loved this movie (giving it 3 ½ stars). I’m very curious to see how it does at the box office (I’ve seen a lot of very negative reviews. The Sun-Times’ Jim Emerson is obviously not a fan of the show). Even if it does well, I lean towards thinking that sequels aren’t planned. Of course, I thought the same about the Wachowski’s “Matrix”, which spawned two sequels.
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