Okay, for the first time in a very long time, I’ve been to the movies on two consecutive weekends. On May 3rd, I went to see “Iron Man.” On May 10th, it was “Speed Racer.” If my luck holds out, I’m hoping to see “Prince Caspian” this weekend, and then “Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull” over Memorial Day weekend. You have to love the start of the summer blockbuster season.
“Iron Man” was much better than I expected. I’m not a huge Robert Downey Jr. fan, so I was skeptical as to whether or not he could pull off a superhero role. Turns out my skepticism was a bit misplaced. Not only did he pull it off, but he made the character almost believable. I was never a big reader of the “Iron Man” comic as a kid, but I knew enough of the back-story to understand the characters. It was one of those rare superhero movies that succeeded in character development as well as making you stop and think about what was happening in the movie – in between the big explosions and amazing special effects, that is. I think the best part of any superhero movie is when, even as you suspend belief for a while, you still think that what you’re watching may be possible. This one pulled it off.
On the other hand, “Speed Racer” made absolutely no attempt to portray any sense of realism, and that was just fine by me. I had heard about the bad reviews, and I purposely stayed away from reading them. I wanted to form my own opinion. So here it is: If you ever watched the cartoon as a kid – I mean seriously watched it – that you will enjoy this movie. The Wachowski Brothers pulled out all the stops to make this movie look like a live-action cartoon. All the characters were there – Speed, Pops, Racer X, Trixie, Sparky, Spritle, Chim-Chim, and even Inspector Detector. They had it down to every last detail – the Mach 5, complete with sound effects. Speed Racer’s Blue polo with the red scarf. Trixie’s pink helicopter. Pops with this red shirt and bushy mustache. The Casa Cristo Road Rally, with its start in the catacombs and archways of the city, which seemed to appear in every other episode of the cartoon. It was all there. And the action was just as cartoonish – the races, where the cars would slam into each other and never seem to scratch. The fight scenes where everyone seems to know martial arts. Even the patented move where Speed finishes a race, screeches to a halt mere feet after the finish line, and hops out of the car, all in one motion. But the best part of the movie was the kid who played Spritle. He stole every scene he was in. And the Wachowski’s knew it, and played it to their advantage, giving him a great scene at the end of the movie which made me laugh out loud in the theater. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but it was perfect.
All things considered, if you have to choose between the two, I’d suggest going to see “Iron Man” first – it’s definitely the better all-around movie. But if you want to have some fun and completely escape the real world for two hours, head for “Speed Racer.”
“Iron Man” was much better than I expected. I’m not a huge Robert Downey Jr. fan, so I was skeptical as to whether or not he could pull off a superhero role. Turns out my skepticism was a bit misplaced. Not only did he pull it off, but he made the character almost believable. I was never a big reader of the “Iron Man” comic as a kid, but I knew enough of the back-story to understand the characters. It was one of those rare superhero movies that succeeded in character development as well as making you stop and think about what was happening in the movie – in between the big explosions and amazing special effects, that is. I think the best part of any superhero movie is when, even as you suspend belief for a while, you still think that what you’re watching may be possible. This one pulled it off.
On the other hand, “Speed Racer” made absolutely no attempt to portray any sense of realism, and that was just fine by me. I had heard about the bad reviews, and I purposely stayed away from reading them. I wanted to form my own opinion. So here it is: If you ever watched the cartoon as a kid – I mean seriously watched it – that you will enjoy this movie. The Wachowski Brothers pulled out all the stops to make this movie look like a live-action cartoon. All the characters were there – Speed, Pops, Racer X, Trixie, Sparky, Spritle, Chim-Chim, and even Inspector Detector. They had it down to every last detail – the Mach 5, complete with sound effects. Speed Racer’s Blue polo with the red scarf. Trixie’s pink helicopter. Pops with this red shirt and bushy mustache. The Casa Cristo Road Rally, with its start in the catacombs and archways of the city, which seemed to appear in every other episode of the cartoon. It was all there. And the action was just as cartoonish – the races, where the cars would slam into each other and never seem to scratch. The fight scenes where everyone seems to know martial arts. Even the patented move where Speed finishes a race, screeches to a halt mere feet after the finish line, and hops out of the car, all in one motion. But the best part of the movie was the kid who played Spritle. He stole every scene he was in. And the Wachowski’s knew it, and played it to their advantage, giving him a great scene at the end of the movie which made me laugh out loud in the theater. I don’t want to ruin it for you, but it was perfect.
All things considered, if you have to choose between the two, I’d suggest going to see “Iron Man” first – it’s definitely the better all-around movie. But if you want to have some fun and completely escape the real world for two hours, head for “Speed Racer.”
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