# "Speed Racer" was awesome; critics who panned it had their heads up their asses **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [November 17, 2008, 2:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070 "2008-11-17T02:02:23Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![diggleblop](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/ac91a4/32.png) [@diggleblop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/diggleblop)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070/21 "2008-11-17T16:48:14Z")
I’ve almost rented this On Demand like 4 times. Every time I put my finger on the “Buy” button and every time I hit “Exit” and don’t buy it. I don’t know why, I just can’t bring myself to do it. ---
**Author:** ![Justin\_Credible](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/a8b319/32.png) [@Justin\_Credible](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Justin_Credible)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 6:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070/22 "2008-11-17T18:34:48Z")
> [@astro](#): > > It was a joke - Please forget it - There is no mammoth car. Damn you for getting my hopes up! ---
**Author:** ![NAF1138](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/naf1138/32/3245_2.png) [@NAF1138](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NAF1138)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070/23 "2008-11-17T18:46:07Z")
> [@What\_Exit](#): > > So if I thought Speed Racer was really dumb when I was a kid, is there any reason for me to see the movie? The previews looked terrible and as I said, I never like the cartoon. Reasons to see the movie. 1)If you have a Blu-Ray player it really shows off what Blu-Ray can do. (It’s not as amazing as Planet Earth, but it’s very impressive). 2)It’s totally silly but inoffensive. If you are looking for a popcorn flick this is a good one. 3)If you are interested in what the technology of film can do, they do some REALLY cool stuff. 4)If you think Christina Ricci is hot…well she’s really hot in this one. 5)If you like monkies. (Chimps really) If you can’t appreciate stylized acting I would stay away. For me the biggest downfall of the move was that Emil Hersh wasn’t able to lock into the style with everyone else. The movie was better than it had any right to be. Really, it was a lot of fun, and smarter than most people gave it credit for being. It made me laugh several times with silly but unexpected gags that were \*somewhat \*subtle (chim chim wearing Paul Frank pajamas with little boy heads on them struck me as really really funny for some reason.) It is a tiny bit long, and it was totally lightweight and predictable, but I think it succeded in what it was trying to do which was to make a lightweight movie that was a love note to a cartoon the directors loved. It worked. ETA: I didn’t grow up with Speed Racer, but am fairly familiar with it because of my background in animation. So it doesn’t have any nostalgia for me, but I was able to get a lot of the visual jokes based on iconic scenes from the original. That might have helped me like it. ---
**Author:** ![What\_Exit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/what_exit/32/10652_2.png) [@What\_Exit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/What_Exit)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070/24 "2008-11-17T18:57:13Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Reasons to see the movie. > > 1)If you have a Blu-Ray player it really shows off what Blu-Ray can do. (It’s not as amazing as Planet Earth, but it’s very impressive). > 2)It’s totally silly but inoffensive. If you are looking for a popcorn flick this is a good one. > 3)If you are interested in what the technology of film can do, they do some REALLY cool stuff. > 4)If you think Christina Ricci is hot…well she’s really hot in this one. > 5)If you like monkies. (Chimps really) 1. Nope and don’t plan to upgrade any time soon. 2. Well I actually liked this years Journey to the Center of the Earth and that was silly but inoffensive. Of course the 3-D effects were the best I’ve ever seen. 3. Not a big deal for me. Story telling and writing is more important. 4. Noted and a big plus. 5. Not especially, usually I dislike monkeys and chimps in movies. I think I’ll pass, thanks for the detail heads up. ---
**Author:** ![Kythereia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e8c25b/32.png) [@Kythereia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kythereia)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 7:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070/25 "2008-11-17T19:25:13Z")
Eh, I liked it (but I have a crush on Matthew Fox, so I’m probably biased). I agree with **NAF1138** : it was silly, fun, and completely inoffensive. ---
**Author:** ![kushiel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/bbce88/32.png) [@kushiel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kushiel)\ **Post date:** [November 17, 2008, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070/26 "2008-11-17T19:30:17Z")
> [@NAF1138](#): > > Reasons to see the movie. > > 1)If you have a Blu-Ray player it really shows off what Blu-Ray can do. (It’s not as amazing as Planet Earth, but it’s very impressive). > 2)It’s totally silly but inoffensive. If you are looking for a popcorn flick this is a good one. > 3)If you are interested in what the technology of film can do, they do some REALLY cool stuff. > 4)If you think Christina Ricci is hot…well she’s really hot in this one. > 5)If you like monkies. (Chimps really) More importantly, Matthew Fox. In black leather. Aw yeah, giggity giggity! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/speed-racer-was-awesome-critics-who-panned-it-had-their-heads-up-their-asses/473070.md?page=1)