quote:

ORIGINAL: Mikey C

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314



And no, I won't disclose personal information over the internet, but I'll tell you that I'm old enough to hold a Ph.D, but not as old as Ebert. 

This is the best sentence max314 has come up with. It makes a simple statement of fact - Max is between the ages of 25 and 70 - into both a dig and a boast. But cleverly sort-of neither at the same time!

quote:

It must be framed for future generations to marvel at 200 years from now when we live in a utopian society inspired directly by the seminal works of the Wachowskis, like Bill and Ted only with cross dressing. You're like John the Baptist -sorry - Morpheous.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Olaf

Very nice review Max, really well-written 

But one quick question - were you really ever going to give it any less than 5? I mean, did your preconceptions reflect the final score in any way? You signature has read "Official: Speed Racer Rocks!" for at least two months now...perhaps you had made (at least in part) up your mind already?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Mopictures

Okay, good review. But if it's gonna split the audience like a pizza-cutter, which side are you on?

By the way, I loved it. It's firmly in the category of "acquired taste" and one thing that must be said: A film this specific, this micro-directed, can only be 100% intentional. Everything in it is deliberate. It's not a question of trying to make a "good" film and getting it wrong with mistakes. Speed Racer isn't a mistake, they did it on purpose!

Five stars for being different from anything I've ever seen.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Neth

Joel Silver has an ideology that every reel of an action-genre feature film should contain an explosion, a car chase, a fist fight or a shoot-out. It's a school of thought that is applied in spades to Speed Racer - you can set your watch by it, in fact. Unfortunately it does no favours to anyone, other than helping drive sales of Ritalin through the roof.

quote:

It's difficult to gauge who exactly Speed Racer is for. It's too talky and convuluted for pre-pubescent boys; it lacks any zing to attract teenagers; and adults will possibly find the hyperactive visuals a cause of headaches. The most likely answer is it's for the Wachowski Brothers themselves, as its self-indulgent streak is a mile wide.

quote:

The visuals themselves are certainly not the proclaimed "reinvention of cinema" that some (Silver included) would like you to believe - unless cinema is being reinvented as a bog-standard PS3 future-racer. The wide angle shots of the impressive tracks look clumsily rendered - that said, when the camera gets up close and personal with the cars, the adrenaline begins to spike and a real sense of excitement sneaks in. It's during these moments that Speed Racer really takes off - sadly, it's all too soon before the handbrake is applied and it grinds to a halt again.

quote:

Story-wise, the film tries to over-complicate a simple tale of corporate greed versus family values. It's slightly ironic that there's a tangent against limitless spending to produce the goods at work here, given the film's reported $185m budget and the alleged failed efforts of Warner Bros execs to try and rein in some of the excess. The performances are all distinctly flat, with Emile Hirsch making a bland lead (surprising, given how likeable he's been in movies like The Dangerous Lives of Altar Boys and Into the Wild) and Matthew Fox proving Seth Rogen's Knocked Up rant about him to be bang on the money. Elsewhere, Susan Sarandon has nothing to do  other than gasp and make sandwiches, whilst John Goodman tries hard to centre some humanity in this soulless mix. The horrendous on-the-nose dialogue of the script does little to help, and it's far too po-faced to possess a real sense of fun. Nobody appears to be enjoying themselves, save for the chimp.

quote:

Yet it's a hard movie to dislike, let alone hate. It's the filmic equivalent of a naughty puppy that's chewed your shoes to shreds after you've taught it to fetch them for you - you're pissed off with it, but it's intentions were good all the same. Despite any believeable warmth or convincing emotion, Speed Racer doesn't have a mean bone in its body. In its final moments, it even manages a half-way passable job of convincing you that you even kinda liked it. Some judacious pruning and a truckload of script doctoring would have all but confirmed that.  **

quote:

ORIGINAL: O2PARISM

First off I have to point out that not everybody is going to approve of my review, Speed Racer is a movie that people will either love or loathe. If you loathe the film no doubt people will complain about the over the top acting, the cartoony look of the film, the campness, the cheesiness and loads of other things. No this is not the film everybody will go in expecting, but if you are like me you will be sucked into an incredible looking movie, with cool as hell race sequences, superb comedic timing and just a sense of fun unfortunately lacking in so many movies of late. I went into this movie with mixed feelings, sure the special effects looked great, but nothing else stood out, it all looked so force and just a but naff. And to be honest the movie is a bit naff, but its the naffness that makes it so brilliant. This is a living, breathing cartoon, nothing more nothing less. The Wachowski's (of Matrix fame) have given a cartoon background real actors. Surprisingly it works, sure some of the sets seem taken straight out of Cat in the Hat, but unlike that awful movie this works. Yet where the film really, really works is in the absolutely incredible race sequences. Words cannot express just how brilliant they are, the special effects in the trailer are a mere hint of what you see in the movie, the bright colours assault your eyeballs as the cars crash, jump, fight and practically dance all over the screen. The three major race sequences are incredible and the major reason why people should see this movie.

quote:

ORIGINAL: sam89

I loved it.

An absolutely exhilarating film. To address the criticisms: I thought the plot was decent (what more could you expect in a Speed Racer film?), the film was never confusing and the human/family element of the story was excellent.

And then there's the action and style. It's not an overstatement to say the Wachowskis are ahead of their time. The action, visuals and editing style in this film are like nothing you've ever seen before. The end of the Grand Prix was just incredible.

It's a great shame this film isn't doing well at the box office (there were only 9 people in my screening). It's one of the most fun films I've seen in ages.

5 stars.

quote:

ORIGINAL: krudler



with those box office numbers? not.a.chance.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Stewie_Griffin

Max allthough i appauld your enthusiasm, I suspect you might actually be Joel Silver.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Wilbert

I just got back from New York where I saw this on opening day (first showing) for no other reason than it was raining.

I have to say....... it wasn't as bad as I had been lead to believe.

I kept waiting for the bit where it would become really, really shit but it never came.


Don't get me wrong, there were problems. The youngest brother was the most annoying child I've ever seen on film and I know he was supposed to be annoying but an annoying child is an annoying child, regardless of the motives. Also, using a monkey for laughs is surely one of the cheapest ways to get laughs. Maybe there was a monkey in the original but it was not needed here.

quote:

The world is brilliantly realised and once you understand the anime roots of the series and the campy acting and story it works very well under its own terms.

The overlong explanation of the stock-market manipulation scam behind the races is out of place in a kids movie and feels like The Phantom Menace and it's trade dispute starting point (yeah, George, kids love stories about trade disputes!).

quote:

A big problem I had was that the races were all pretty much as good as each other. The last race wasn't that much better than the first one and the film didn't really build to a satisfying ending.

quote:

Also, Hirsch barely has anything to say in the film. He's the lead character but we don't really get a lot from him when he's not driving.

quote:

Another thing I learned from this film is that Susan Sarandon has still got it!

I don't ever want to see Speed Racer again and I think a sequel would be creatively pointless but I thought it was an ok way to get out of the driving New York rain for a couple of hours.

Did I mention I've just gotten back from New York?

quote:

Also, Max, come on! There is no way this is a 5 star film!

quote:

You're running the risk of losing that last bit of credibility you have if you stand by that rating!

quote:

quote:

Also, Max, come on! There is no way this is a 5 star film!

Sure it is.

no it isnt, its 3 at the most, it wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be but at no point during it did i find myself thinking "wow!" in the same way as say 300 or The Matrix or Sin City did at the visual aspect of it, the beginning of the Crucible race did look gorgeous though when the woman with the long scarf fired the starting pistol

quote:

no it isnt, its 3 at the most, it wasnt as bad as i thought it was going to be but at no point during it did i find myself thinking "wow!" in the same way as say 300 or The Matrix or Sin City did at the visual aspect of it, the beginning of the Crucible race did look gorgeous though when the woman with the long scarf fired the starting pistol

quote:

ORIGINAL: Wilbert

You say it's a divisive film, Max and you are right, it is. I think that you think it is a 50-50 split between people who love it and people who hate it. From the reviews I've seen, it's more like 90-10 in the favour of those that didn't like it and of the 10% of the people who do like it, very few are as ardent as you are.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Wilbert

The biggest problem I had with the film was that there was nothing at stake in the races for anyone. I mean insofar as the races weren't dangerous. Everytime there was a crash you'd see a ball of gel with the driver in it bounce away to safety.

This stripped the races of tension for me. If they were going to survive the race no matter what, whats the point. All of the stunts are rendered meaningless as there is no risk.

I'm sure Max will have a reason as to why making the races perfectly safe made the film better but it didn't work for me.

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314

Are you really that lacking in confidence that you know you're wrong before I've even replied?

Hehe...no, the bubble thing doesn't make the film better or worse.  It's simply a design choice given the audience the film was aiming for.

With regards to tension, I don't think the threat of death needs to be the only source of tension in a film.  There are emotional stakes in each race, which is actually even more important than physical ones.  That's not to say that the characters don't brush up against the threat of death (e.g. the ninja attack, the menace of the locker room before the final race, etc), but I think it would be foolish to assume that the only source of tension in a scene comes from the threat of death.

The emotional stakes in the first race are all to do with Speed's brother.  What really caught me off guard about that race was how emotional it was.  I wasn't expecting that at all.  An "emotional action scene".  The emotional stakes during the Crucible are to take down Royalton before he has a chance to harm Speed's family, and he'll do this by ensuring that Taejo wins.  The final race is about Speed being dogged by stories of fixed races and seemingly perpetual betrayal.  His burning need to prove that he can win a race and that the Grand Prix really does mean something...even when it's been fixed so that every racer on the track is out to take him down to get their cash prizes from Royalton.

So no, I don't think the crash bubble gag means that there is no tension.  It's merely a design choice regarding the tone and audience of the film, and the real source of tension comes from the excellent writing of the Wachowski Brothers.

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314
real source of tension comes from the excellent writing of the Wachowski Brothers.

quote:

ORIGINAL: Wilbert

No Max, I'm not lacking in confidence.

I just think that the bubble thing means that there is no real doubt that the racers will survive the race. I'm not saying that racers should have been killed either. I just think by removing the image of the bubble bouncing away, you leave the possibility in the viewers mind that these are dangerous races. As it stands, the races are not dangerous and they should be.

quote:

I agree with you that the public has been kinder on the film than the critics. I liked the film a lot more than I thought I would. Like I say there was nothing truly awful in it (apart from the younger brother but I can see how kids would get a big kick out of him) but there was nothing truly great in it.

The critics have been way too harsh but I think you have been way too generous but each to their own and all that!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Wilbert

Well, they are "damn fine scribes".

quote:

Sorry, Max, I can't resist quoting that line whenever the opportunity arises!

quote:

ORIGINAL: simonmckergan1

Max the child is the worst thing in that film.  Mugging to the camera does not make him a child Brando.Funny?  I kept wishing the fat annoying little shit would die! 

quote:

ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq


After the lively debate here on Empireonline, my mind was changed from one of reluctant ambivalence about this, going simply because my son went mad when he saw the trailer, to one of quiet interest to see what the the fuss (both negative and positive) was all about. I was going in aware of the sort of psychedelic all-out experience much talked about; the 'live anime' style the Wachowskis were going for. The racing scenes are, quite simply, outstanding. They put you right into the action, above the action, below it, inside it - you are in the race. This film really deserves a 3D treatment. There are four major race scenes, and they're all exhilarating. The style of the film suits the racing scenes perfectly.

Sadly, that's pretty much all that the film has going for it. Here's a quote from lil Homer (aged 5) 20 minutes or so into the film. "Can we go home now?" Yup, he was bored stiff. The story itself is really quite simple. Simplistic almost. Yet even such a simple story is handled in a such a hamfisted way that it appears overly complex. One begins to wonder if perhaps The Matrix is victim to this simple-disguised-as-complex style of direction. The opening race scene, visually stunning as it is, purpotedly shot through with emotion, is a muddled mess of a race. The flicking between Speed racing as an adult, and Speed as a child watching his brother race is messy. If ever a film appeared to be like a video game, it is here, as the ghost of his brother is ahead of him. I was unsure whether it was in Speed's imagination, or whether it was a real holographic projection so the crowds could see how close Speed was to breaking the record, which happened to be won by Rex, his brother. And that's just one small example of the unintentional confusion.

Between the excellent race scenes are some poorly-handled, badly-scripted, atrociously-acted dialogue-led scenes. I can excuse poorly-directed scenes, dodgy scripts, and questionable acting if the overall effect of the scene in question is to transmit to the audience some sense of fun. Or at least the primary emotion intended for the scene. In Transformers we have similarly poorly-directed scenes with poor scripts and acting, but the overall effect works - it's fun. This ends up being soulless and vapid. It's like the Wachowskis took a perfectly good idea and sucked all the fun out of it.

Speaking of 'fun', one might argue that Speed's younger brother and his pet chimp are there for comic relief. (Why else include a chimp, I wonder?) Not so. As has been commented on, Spinkle, or whatever the hell the kid's name was even more annoying as a child actor than Jake Lloyd. Yes, I can forgive a 'yippee' before I can forgive the screwed-up 'attitude' this kid had perma-fixed on his face. "Oh, but he's there for the children" the supporters retort. Not so. I asked my son if the kid and the chimp were funny or annoying. He (who let me remind you all is 5, and at the height of finding anthropormophised animals amusing) said they were annoying. He even gave an example - when they were raiding the fridge of sweets.

The acting in general was pretty poor. Even if the style of film was meant to have poor acting, the soullessness of it all made it a lot worse. I'm going to go out on a limb and blame it on the direction. Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Christina Ricci - these are all good actors. Yet here, the Wachowskis manage to show their worst features. Sarandon seems to spend the whole thing screaming, crying, laughing, or making PB&J sandwiches. Ricci seems to be there for a bit of eye candy (which, I'll admit, I'm not complaining about). Hirsch gets little to do, and the edits are so short any sense of continuous acting is lost. Goodman gets the most to do, and probably comes off the best. The rest of the cast are pretty atrocious. Sparks looks like some relative of Ron Howard (looks a bit like Clint Howard, and maybe is for all I know). Royalton is possibly the worst villain, coming off all pantomimey (no doubt 'intentional'), and not in a good way because, above all else, pantomimes are fun. There's that word again, and it's something that is lacking throughout this film.

The whole film just seems to have horridly missed the mark. The scenes with Sprinkle, or whoever, and his pet chimp are some of the worst (and not to mention unnecessary) scenes I've sat through. The second time my son asked to leave I was sorely tempted to acquiesce to his demand, except for the fact that I wanted to have a fully informed valid opinion, and anyway - something mind-blowing might have happened later. (Spoiler: It didn't.)

I could go in this manner, but I won't. Needless to say, I am doubly disappointed with this film. First of all, I dislike being disappointed in films - I love cinema, in all its mad diversity, and such a new style could have been wonderful if it had had a soul.  Secondly, it was the first time my son has come away disappointed in a film. When Pix asked him how it was when we got home, he simply said, "fine". On the plus side, at least he has some level of taste!

The Acting - 1/10: The one is for John Goodman.
The Sound - 5/10: The sound was pretty good. The music was fairly forgettable, but the racing effects were good.
The Directing - 2/10: Really, the dullness of the dialogue-led scenes more than damaged the effect of the racing scenes. So much so that even with the promise of more racing scenes, the dialogue scenes were enough to make a 5 yr old want to leave. That speaks volumes.
The Story - 3/10: An interesting enough story ruined by a poor execution.
Success of Intent - 2/10: If it fails to grab adult and child alike, a film is failing on a very basic level.
Overall - 13/50, or:

26%

quote:

ORIGINAL: cdjwfan

I already went to the Speed Racer post and Max hadn't replied for two days so don't lock me just yet for doubling up.

I was completely wrong about Speed Racer. I was thoroughly entertained from start to finish. I have been cynical about Speed Racer in that it looked like it might give someone epilepsy, and have even gone so far as to ask Max314 whether he was being paid by Warner to advertise for the film. I did say, however that I would see the film and would apologize openly on the forum if it was good.
So here it is: I was totally wrong and I'm sorry. There. It was brilliant in my opinion, and evoked exactly the childhood memories that it was designed to, I'm sure. Surely better than Iron Man.

Source

quote:

ORIGINAL: Groovy Mule

I must admit that I hadn't planned to see this film but the lively debate on here tempted me to see it yesterday.  It's difficult to know where to start when trying to sum up a film like this.  Oridnarily, I would start with the acting but clearly in this film acting, plot and dialogue are secondary to visual spectacle so it's there that I should start.

Visually, this film is, for the most part, impressive.  The opening race is particularly spectacular with Speed racing the Ghost of Rex.  However, I do think that this is visually the movie's best moment and the other races don't quite live up to this.  Whilst the style works for the races, I don't think that the same style translates well to this non-race sequences.  The costume design of everyone dressed in large blocks of primary colour is jarring and the set design and style reminded me of a Hanna Barbera or Nickelodeon cartoon but that style of delivery didn't match the content and therefore, it felt wrong, almost anachronistic.

quote:

However, whilst the race visuals carry the film, the main problem this film has is that it falls into the trap of not knowing whether it wants to be for adults and for kids and ends up falling between two stools.  Often this manifests itself in what I would refer to as "Spiderman 3 Syndrome".  Both in Speed Racer and Spiderman 3, the audience is left with a see-saw effect as the filmmakers seek to balance out the competing interests of the young and the more mature - in Spiderman 3 this manifested itself in 20 mins of emotional storytelling followed by 20 mins of Emo Pete to appease the younger members, in Speed Racer this is typified by 20 mins of chat about race fixing and corporate spiel followed by Spritel and the chimp (more of which later) running across the screen and joyriding a mini-train.  This makes the film feel extremely uneven and the tone of the film feels undeveloped as a result.    This also has an effect on pace as the "kid-friendly" moments take place at a significantly faster pace than the exposition and as a result the audience is dropped with a massive clunk in the second act as the pace becomes glacial as the storytelling tries to take hold.  Is it for kids or for adults?  The result, in my opinion, is that it never satisfies either.

quote:

As for the plot, I can't say that I found it particularly easy to follow and this is from someone whose job involves corporate and financial transactions and should, therefore, have a handle on the concepts put forward but frankly, there was far too much exposition and clunky dialogue.  Frankly, I have no idea how an 8-10 year old is supposed to get anything at all from these scenes.  It is also far too long and feels its length and I can't help but feel that if Speed Racer had gone totally down either the kid movie route or the adult route, this would have cut 20-30 mins from the run time which the film would have benefitted greatly from.  However, the biggest let-down of this film is the dialogue which at times sounds like it has been cribbed from a motivational self-help book but with comedy last seen 20 years ago down the end of a Blackpool pier.  I felt truly sorry for the actors having to spout the babble put in front of them.

quote:

* breaks for an unnecessary anime sequence with a chimp and a fat kid attempting karate before descending into poo-flinging *

quote:

To the acting, which despite the awful dialogue, is not bad.  I have a lot of time for Emile Hirsch as a developing young actor.  He has the potential to be the next Tom Cruise and this film could be his Days of Thunder.  He does the earnest young racer well and copes with the physicality the role requires.  Susan Sarandon and John Goodman coast somewhat but handle the emotional stuff well and Roger Alam (who was also very good in a similarly evil role in V For Vendetta and who, as I have seen on stage, is a very competent comedic performer) chews up the CGI scenery well as the baddie of the piece.  However, words cannot describe how much I hated the kid and chimp routine.  Hideously annoying and overacted by the kid, whilst even PG Tips have realised that a chimp interacting with humans (or acting human-like) is a cheap way to get a laugh and has had its day.  Similarly, Christina Ricci annoyed me as she appeared to be a void without nothing to do but say "cool beans" in a Tourettes-like manner (think almost the "Timmeh" character is South Park without the strength of delivery).

quote:

So, all in all, not a positive experience for me 5/10 (or 2/5 - it was a low 5 and I can't justify giving this 3 stars) mostly for the visuals in the race sequences but frankly, I'd have rather watched 2 and a quarter hours of Wacky Races cartoons - more fun, better dialogue and less predictable finale.

quote:

ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq

After the lively debate here on Empireonline, my mind was changed from one of reluctant ambivalence about this, going simply because my son went mad when he saw the trailer, to one of quiet interest to see what the the fuss (both negative and positive) was all about. I was going in aware of the sort of psychedelic all-out experience much talked about; the 'live anime' style the Wachowskis were going for. The racing scenes are, quite simply, outstanding. They put you right into the action, above the action, below it, inside it - you are in the race. This film really deserves a 3D treatment. There are four major race scenes, and they're all exhilarating. The style of the film suits the racing scenes perfectly.

quote:

Sadly, that's pretty much all that the film has going for it. Here's a quote from lil Homer (aged 5) 20 minutes or so into the film. "Can we go home now?" Yup, he was bored stiff. The story itself is really quite simple. Simplistic almost. Yet even such a simple story is handled in a such a hamfisted way that it appears overly complex. One begins to wonder if perhaps The Matrix is victim to this simple-disguised-as-complex style of direction. The opening race scene, visually stunning as it is, purpotedly shot through with emotion, is a muddled mess of a race. The flicking between Speed racing as an adult, and Speed as a child watching his brother race is messy. If ever a film appeared to be like a video game, it is here, as the ghost of his brother is ahead of him. I was unsure whether it was in Speed's imagination, or whether it was a real holographic projection so the crowds could see how close Speed was to breaking the record, which happened to be won by Rex, his brother. And that's just one small example of the unintentional confusion.

quote:

Between the excellent race scenes are some poorly-handled, badly-scripted, atrociously-acted dialogue-led scenes. I can excuse poorly-directed scenes, dodgy scripts, and questionable acting if the overall effect of the scene in question is to transmit to the audience some sense of fun. Or at least the primary emotion intended for the scene. In Transformers we have similarly poorly-directed scenes with poor scripts and acting, but the overall effect works - it's fun. This ends up being soulless and vapid. It's like the Wachowskis took a perfectly good idea and sucked all the fun out of it.

quote:

Speaking of 'fun', one might argue that Speed's younger brother and his pet chimp are there for comic relief. (Why else include a chimp, I wonder?) Not so. As has been commented on, Spinkle, or whatever the hell the kid's name was even more annoying as a child actor than Jake Lloyd. Yes, I can forgive a 'yippee' before I can forgive the screwed-up 'attitude' this kid had perma-fixed on his face. "Oh, but he's there for the children" the supporters retort. Not so. I asked my son if the kid and the chimp were funny or annoying. He (who let me remind you all is 5, and at the height of finding anthropormophised animals amusing) said they were annoying. He even gave an example - when they were raiding the fridge of sweets.

quote:

The acting in general was pretty poor. Even if the style of film was meant to have poor acting, the soullessness of it all made it a lot worse. I'm going to go out on a limb and blame it on the direction. Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Christina Ricci - these are all good actors. Yet here, the Wachowskis manage to show their worst features. Sarandon seems to spend the whole thing screaming, crying, laughing, or making PB&J sandwiches. Ricci seems to be there for a bit of eye candy (which, I'll admit, I'm not complaining about). Hirsch gets little to do, and the edits are so short any sense of continuous acting is lost. Goodman gets the most to do, and probably comes off the best. The rest of the cast are pretty atrocious. Sparks looks like some relative of Ron Howard (looks a bit like Clint Howard, and maybe is for all I know). Royalton is possibly the worst villain, coming off all pantomimey (no doubt 'intentional'), and not in a good way because, above all else, pantomimes are fun. There's that word again, and it's something that is lacking throughout this film.

quote:

The whole film just seems to have horridly missed the mark. The scenes with Sprinkle, or whoever, and his pet chimp are some of the worst (and not to mention unnecessary) scenes I've sat through. The second time my son asked to leave I was sorely tempted to acquiesce to his demand, except for the fact that I wanted to have a fully informed valid opinion, and anyway - something mind-blowing might have happened later. (Spoiler: It didn't.)

I could go in this manner, but I won't. Needless to say, I am doubly disappointed with this film. First of all, I dislike being disappointed in films - I love cinema, in all its mad diversity, and such a new style could have been wonderful if it had had a soul.  Secondly, it was the first time my son has come away disappointed in a film. When Pix asked him how it was when we got home, he simply said, "fine". On the plus side, at least he has some level of taste!

quote:

The Acting - 1/10: The one is for John Goodman.

quote:

The Sound - 5/10: The sound was pretty good. The music was fairly forgettable, but the racing effects were good.

quote:

The Directing - 2/10: Really, the dullness of the dialogue-led scenes more than damaged the effect of the racing scenes. So much so that even with the promise of more racing scenes, the dialogue scenes were enough to make a 5 yr old want to leave. That speaks volumes.

quote:

The Story - 3/10: An interesting enough story ruined by a poor execution.

quote:

Success of Intent - 2/10: If it fails to grab adult and child alike, a film is failing on a very basic level.

quote:

Overall - 13/50, or:
26%

quote:

Enough to make your five year old want to leave

quote:

Chim Chim and Spritle actually made me laugh, and there were people laughing around me as well.

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.


TREK WARS

quote:

ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq
ine heart'. It would seem that, in the lead up to the new Indiana Jones film, Mola Ram is about, plucking out hearts from other films willy nilly!

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314

quote:

Overall - 13/50, or:
26%

Harsh.  Wrong.  Preposterous.

But I respect your opinion, and respect the fact you took the time out to write a detailed review

quote:

ORIGINAL: Olaf

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314

quote:

Overall - 13/50, or:
26%

Harsh.  Wrong.  Preposterous.

But I respect your opinion, and respect the fact you took the time out to write a detailed review

Dude, how can you call his score "wrong" and "preposterous" and say you respect his opinion?

quote:

quote:

at least he has some level of taste!

Or maybe he's just inherited dad's

That deep-browed Homer ruled as his demesne.


TREK WARS

quote:

ORIGINAL: Manchurian candidate

quote:

ORIGINAL: Olaf

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314

quote:

Overall - 13/50, or:
26%

Harsh.  Wrong.  Preposterous.

But I respect your opinion, and respect the fact you took the time out to write a detailed review

Dude, how can you call his score "wrong" and "preposterous" and say you respect his opinion?

Arrogant. Pretentious. Condecending.

Grow some balls Olaf.

You're fast becoming the James Purnell of the Empire forums.

(Low blow I know).

quote:

ORIGINAL: Olaf

quote:

ORIGINAL: max314

quote:

Overall - 13/50, or:
26%

Harsh.  Wrong.  Preposterous.

But I respect your opinion, and respect the fact you took the time out to write a detailed review

Dude, how can you call his score "wrong" and "preposterous" and say you respect his opinion?

quote:

ORIGINAL: Manchurian candidate

It's just the first name that comes to mind when the sequence of words "Arrogant. Pretentious. Condecending. " come up.

quote:

ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq

They can keep their form of storytelling then.

quote:

If you respect my opinion, why do you say it is 'wrong'.

quote:

I agree it is harsh - it needed to be.

quote:

Preposterous? Well, that's your opinion.

quote:

But neither of us are 'right' or 'wrong'. We just disagree on a very, very basic level. Using 'video game language' is all well and good for video-gamers, but hey! We're in a cinema! Let's use cinematic language that, wait a sec, cinema-goers will understand as a second language! My son (I don't own any baby goats...) wasn't bored by the opening race. He was bored by the meaningless crap that followed it. This is a child who watches Power Rangers for crying out loud! In fact, hell - I find Power Rangers more exciting and believable than this! And I hate the Power Rangers.

quote:

Well, that's being silly. I can make the exact same counter-argument to your arguments.
Yes, the people around you were laughing....

See? Exact same 'argument' that proves nothing.

quote:

And re accusing me of leading my son's questioning, I thought you might say that, so I specifically (not that you can prove it of course) asked the question in as neutral a voice as possible. I didn't say, "were they fun or annoying?", I levelled my voice so he couldn't tell what I thought.

quote:

The one thing you say was present is the one thing that I found missing. 'Genuine heart'. It would seem that, in the lead up to the new Indiana Jones film, Mola Ram is about, plucking out hearts from other films willy nilly!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Wilbert

You're wasting your time Homer. Max is incapable of being objective about his beloved Wachowskis.

The fact that he referred to the positive reviews on RT without saying that those positive reviews are massively outnumbered by bad reviews is proof of that.

Speed Racer could have driven those races in the 3-wheeled van from Only Fools and Horses and Max would have declared it genius!

quote:

ORIGINAL: Olaf

Dude, how can you call his score "wrong" and "preposterous" and say you respect his opinion?

quote:

ORIGINAL: homersimpson_esq

That's what I said... he has taste.

quote:

ORIGINAL: sanchia

It is indeed an oxymoron.