#Speed racer 2008 driver
#Speed racer 2008 series

The transitional wipes were a particularly sore point for Stevens, and in her defense, the film does go back to them often. In her review for Slate, Dana Stevens declared the film to be a вЂњhigh-tech failure.вЂќ Stevens wasnвЂ™t a fan of the filmвЂ™s nonlinear storytelling and editing choices. вЂњItвЂ™s a sugar cereal served for six meals straight.

Robert Davis of Paste Magazine joined in, saying the film was targeting a younger audience but felt the long run-time would be a hindrance, writing that its вЂњslow middle may lose the seven-year-olds that it clearly covets.вЂќ A short version of the film вЂњmight have been a retro-futuristic hoot, but at 129 it requires five times too much hooting,вЂќ Davis wrote. The visuals, however, werenвЂ™t enough in CharityвЂ™s eyes to make up for the filmвЂ™s lack of laughs and suspense and characters that are вЂњas synthetic as everything else in this virtual entertainment.вЂќ вЂњTwelve-year-old boys should be wowed,вЂќ Charity wrote, вЂњbut for the rest of us, it will depend on your appetite for eye candy.вЂќ Charity was impressed by the filmвЂ™s вЂњvisual panache,вЂќ crediting the Wachowskis for translating the вЂњsplashy, wide-eyed innocence of the anime universeвЂќ to the big screen. Much like Bradshaw, CNNвЂ™s Tom Charity felt the film would only appeal to a younger audience. The filmвЂ™s unique visuals didnвЂ™t work for Bradshaw, who compared them to вЂњan old-fashioned television with the contrast dial turned up too high.вЂќ Bradshaw did credit the film for being вЂњoccasionally intriguing in an exotic and bizarre way,вЂќ but that wasnвЂ™t enough to overcome the вЂњdeafeningly loud and stroboscopically flashyвЂќ aspects. вЂњYou have to be twelve to like it,вЂќ Peter Bradshaw wrote in his review for The Guardian. Michael Compton of the Bowling Green Daily News described the film as вЂњan overbearing mix of candy-coated visuals and an incoherent plot.вЂќ ItвЂ™s the type of film, Compton wrote, вЂњthat makes you question the sanity of the people involved.вЂќ Despite a capable cast, Compton blamed the filmвЂ™s screenplay for trying too hard вЂњto play to the five-and-under crowd.вЂќ And apparently, that didnвЂ™t work because ComptonвЂ™s son was disinterested in seeing the film, saying, вЂњ Speed Racer stinks.вЂќ

Rather than impressed by the WachowskisвЂ™ efforts to expand the boundaries of cinema, many critics wrote it off as merely a kids movie, too reliant on flashy effects and lacking any real substance. This peculiar style caught critics of the day off guard, leaving them turned off by the filmвЂ™s assault on the senses.

#Speed racer 2008 series

To do so the directors ditched the rather bland and muted color palette of the original series and replaced it with a world of loud, lucid colors all strung together by a rapid succession of quick edits.

#Speed racer 2008 driver

How did critics feel about it at the time, and do we see it differently now? In this entry, Chris Coffel explores the original critical reception of the WachowskisвЂ™ Speed Racer.ДЇive years after wrapping up their groundbreaking Matrix trilogy, Lana Wachowski and Lilly Wachowski traded in their sunglasses and trench coats for fast cars and driving scarves as they sped to the raceway to adapt the popular 1960s anime series Speed Racer.ДЄrmed with a budget of $120 million, the directors set out to do something ambitious: take a story about a young race car driver, named Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), with aspirations of becoming the best driver in the world, and make it something uniquely their own. They Said What?! is a biweekly column in which we explore the highs and lows of film criticism through history.