Discuss: 'Speed Racer' -- Hot or Not?
Filed under: Fandom, Movie Marketing, Polls
While I'm personally much more excited about Iron Man and Indy 4, there's certainly been lots of buzzing amongst the internet bees about the Wachowski's adaptation of Speed Racer. In case you haven't seen the millions of trailers, the film looks ... well, it looks pretty damn trippy. Like they took the old cartoon and dosed it up with acid. It looks visually intense, with lots of brought, swirly colors, speedy-fast cars, and fairly simplistic dialog. Jeff Wells over at Hollywood Elsewhere put up a post noting that the tracking for Speed Racer looks a bit concerning, with not as many people as the studio might like saying they plan to see it opening weekend.
As commenters on Hollywood Elsewhere have noted, Speed Racer's target demographic looks to be A) fanboys who will pay to see anything about the cartoon they loved in their youth, especially if it's made with groovy CGI and shiny, pretty colors; and B) four-year-old boys. I can't really see a lot of chicks begging their boyfriends to see Speed Racer on date night, though there may be more than a few guys bargaining and sitting through Baby Mama or Made of Honor in exchange for a Speed Racer date.
Cinematical's James Rocchi caught Speed Racer last night at a sneak screening. I caught him on his cell at the Speed Racer junket this morning to ask his initial impressions of the film; here's what he had to say about it: "It's pure, pop family fun, a bold, bright kids' movie that's visually exciting and keeps the tone right." James noted that his overall impression of the film was "generally very favorable -- as a kids' movie." If any Cinematical readers have been to a preview screening of Speed Racer, let us know what you think of how the full movie plays. And the rest of you movie fans -- does Speed Racer look hot, or not? And are you planning to see it in the theater?
Ron Weaseley Has Swine Flu
Quick List: Romance for Boys
Christian Bale's Rollercoaster Career_thumbnail.jpg)
Michael Bay Trashes Megan Fox, Talks 'Transformers 3' and 3D_thumbnail.jpg)
First Look: Stewart, Fanning and More Are 'The Runaways'
_thumbnail.jpg){kind=spacer}
_thumbnail.jpg)
_thumbnail.jpg){kind=spacer}
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
4-18-2008 @ 9:38PM
Jim Dorey said...
I would agree with James on this based on the trailers. I felt the same way about "Transformers". I will still see it, but there is no way that this genre of movie will be better than Iron Man for example - for me anyway.
Reply
4-18-2008 @ 9:39PM
Drew said...
The marketing needs to switch gears fast. Where is the "Alvin and the Chipmunks" type trailer? They need to stop marketing this film to teens and start marketing it to the sub-10yr olds and their families. Right now, they're pitching it totally as a Matrixy Teen Action trip. That is totally wrong headed.
Families are dying to return to the theaters again, and Speed Racer could be that movie. Play down the frenetic action and play up the chimp, the comedy, and the family bonding angles.
Reply
4-18-2008 @ 10:14PM
paul said...
After the Matrix trilogy I'll always be interested in what the Wachowski's are up to, but I'm ambivalent about seeing this movie. Having said that tho I'm still looking forward to the Wachowski's career.
Reply
4-19-2008 @ 2:54AM
AJ Wiley said...
Not.
Seriously, am I the only one who thinks the visuals look ridiculously cheesy and not at all impressive?
Reply
4-19-2008 @ 7:14AM
The Addict said...
Yes.
Well....no, but I think that's what they were going for - the film looks exactly what I'd imagine a cartoon would look like in real life.
4-19-2008 @ 8:22AM
Maria Stahl said...
We shall see it, absolutely, simply because my husband loved Speed Racer when he was little. I'm actually encouraged that James' impression was "kid movie." I get tired of former kid shows made into movies with ratings that keep the kids out of the theater.
Reply
4-19-2008 @ 9:14AM
sam said...
When I first heard about the project I was a little skeptical, and I felt the same after I'd seen the first trailer. It seems now though that the trailers have really found their niche and instead of being skeptical I'm more excited. It seems that this movie is undoubtedly being marketed to fanboys and teens, but I think that something that most people aren't including is the Wachowski fans.
After the Matrix and V For Vendetta it seems that the Wachowski brothers have a big enough following that they could sell tickets to basically anything (que Speed Racer). I was never a big fan of the cartoon series but the movie looks like the over the top excitement I need a week after the release of Iron Man, Son of Rambow, and Mister Lonely.
Reply