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So I’ve seen both Iron Man and Speed racer, and I’m ashamed to admit that I enjoyed Speed Racer significantly more than Iron Man. If I were recommending one movie over the other, though, I would recommend Iron Man, which is just a far more competently made film. Even acknowledging that, though, Iron Man did not feel as intense or over the top as Speed Racer, nor was it as epic as Spiderman. Even the final battle in Iron Man felt rather small in scale; not that having some global event as a final climax is always the best way to end a movie. All in all, Iron Man was a much more low key super hero film, which was probably done to keep it a bit more on the realistic side of the scale, or as realistic as a guy in a robot suit that can break the sound barrier could be. Either way, I don’t really have anything particularly negative to say about this comic book movie, other than it didn’t really spark much of an emotional response from me… although all the robot suit stuff was rather awesome to behold.
On the totally opposite side of the spectrum, I have so many bad things to say about Speed Racer, and yet still enjoyed it more, what’s wrong with me? Firstly, it’s WAAAY too long, two hours and fifteen minutes?? If it had been a half an hour shorter it probably would’ve been a much better film all around. Secondly, the movie starts off with numerous drawn out flashbacks that slow down the much more intense race sequence they’re inter-spliced with. Thirdly, for a PG movie, there were several moments that seemed to easily dip into the PG 13 realm. They said ‘ass’ four times in the movie and Spritle, (Speed’s younger brother) flipped the main bad guy the bird! Not to mention one henchman got his finger eaten off by piranhas. I suppose nothing was terribly graphic, and since there was virtually no sexual content other than a lot of scantily clad girls, I’ll let it get away with its PG rating.
Still, it’s one of those confused movies that has no idea who it’s trying to please. Little kids, with its flash colors and monkey jokes? Adults with its complex narrative and emotional drama? Mostly just anime nerds like me who watch too many cartoons, I suppose. I suppose what I enjoyed most about this film was just its general over the top nature. It takes itself so seriously that it’s silly, and the racing scenes are so intense that it really got my adrenaline going more than any of the action scenes in Iron Man. And even though I left the film with a massive headache, I still loved all the crazy retro cinematography and flashy technicolor stuff. It was really really cool, in a totally campy sort of way. I ended up finding the supposedly serious parts of this movie more humorous than maybe the genuinely funny parts of Iron Man.
I know most people won’t share my opinions of these films, as RottenTomatoes.com has plainly indicated based on its review scores of both. You’ve all probably already scene Iron Man, but maybe it’s worth shelling out the 8 bucks to check out Speed Racer, especially if you like those so-bad-it’s-good movies as I do. Or maybe rent it on dvd so you don’t have to suffer through the seizure inducing colors on a giant screen.
A new comic sneak peak has been added as vote incentive. Like all good previews, I believe it raises more questions than answers.
New page is up! In case you missed the weekend post, The Comictron has been updated with 3 new backgrounds from Pascalle. More fan-made Comictrons will be uploaded soon.
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