I called this as a flop since i saw the first trailer. Personally, I won't see it, won't rent it and have no desire to give 2 hours of my life when it hits TV. The previews are the most juvenile I have ever seen, and it made me look at it as geared towards ages 8 and under, not even sophisticated enough for older kids. Now the problem I see is that it runs at just over 2 hours, which is a big strike against it, considering it's apparent demographic. I'm sure it will still do low to mid 100's, but considering the budget, marketing and expectations, I would call that a disappointment. I am hoping to double up this weekend and finally catch Iron Man as well as Redbelt.

Redbelt, really? Go see that first (if you must). Then Iron Man can take the derivative taste out of your mouth. Redbelt has the intellectual magnitude of an apple from what I've seen in the trailers. If you've seen Cinderella Man, Rocky, (insert inspirational fight movie title here), you're not going to any brave new worlds with that one. The trailer alone bored me nearly to death. Has that been getting good reviews or something? Maybe I missed something. Iron Man on the other hand was frakkin' awesome.

D- at best. I just saw it, and like after eating a bag of skittles, it left my tastes buds numb and unsatisfied. I won't say it was terrible but it was really bad.<BR /><BR />The special effects were terrible for most of the movie with maybe the exception being the scene in the desert and the mountains. But that wasn't enough to help the movie out. The racing scenes on track were so fast and they were so busy with lights and colors and there was so much spinning that you can hardly tell what's going on and that's especially true in the end of the final race. It's like you were cheated out of seeing what should've been Speed's moment of glory. Sometimes the cars looked like toys, terrible.<BR /><BR />Speed's little brother is the most annoying, disgusting little fat bastard I've seen in a film in a while. The monkey stopped being funny almost right away. The film's true eye candy was C.Ricci (who looked fantastic) but we don't get enough of her anyway. The entire best scene of the whole movie was Racer X's fight scene in the hotel, which only lasts about a minute, if they had made that fight last 2 hours maybe the film might be worth seeing.<BR /><BR />I'm sure it will pull some green this weekend but as word of mouth gets around this is going to nose dive real quick IMO. I don't think I would've liked this film if I was 8 years old. My recommendation, like scy above, is get another serving of IronMan.<BR /><BR />I don't understand how this got a C and IronMan a B. By the way, that script the Wachowskis were working on for a sequel, they can flush it down a toilet. I smell major bust.

To quote the many times this line was said throughout the entire Star Wars Films "I have a bad feeling about this..." That sums up my view on SPEED RACER, I am not interested in seeing it, BUT I will be seeing it on Wednesday night with the MOVIE Club I run through my work. I love watching films with lots of people, and even though I had already seen IRONMAN 3 times before our Movie Club saw it, it was still a great thrill ride, and a B or even a B for IROMAN is silly. But I think a C might be just right for Speed Racer. The effects look great and I loved the ride that was The Matrix, but for me it just should have ended with the first one. What I am finding shocking though, and I look forward to seeing the MANIA review of, is the negative reviews being posted at AICN of INDY 4. I have a feeling that people were expecting one thing, and did not get what they expected, so now they crap on the film. The Box Office in the end will be the judge. And I say INDY will be the big hit of the summer, ahead of IRONMAN

scytheofluna... Redbelt is set with a backdrop of mma and more specifically Brazilian jiu-jitsu, so that alone piques my interest some. i also like David Mamet and he is a purple belt in bjj himself, so i am interested to see his takes and what other practitioners he uses in the fight scenes, etc. Most certainly, I am seeing the two for completely opposite reasons, lol.

"And I say INDY will be the big hit of the summer"-lazerman could not agree more. I am very surprised at the appeal it has to the kids of those of us that grew up with Indy and Raiders. this has appeal to just about everyone that goes to the movies, imo.

Yeah ok Not like the Cartoon? HAHA EXCUSE ME REVIEWER GUY BUT ITS TOTALLY THE CARTOON. You kidding right? Im 36 years old , grew up with watching the cartoon plus im a huge race fan overall and what i've seen of this movie is totally awesome. Yes the visuals are extreme but hello we know the characters already we want to see the huge crazy insane visuals. I mean it's what drives movies these days . It's creating that cartoonish fantasy world. God i hate the stupid people that review movies. Critics how on earth do you get your over paid and overrated jobs?

The problem with Speed Racer is that it is cool when a car flips up in the air, circles around, and lands on the other side perfectly the first time it happens. However, after about the 15th time, it does get repetitous and boring. The kid and the chimp got on my nerves after a while. The cast such as John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, and Christina Ricci try really hard to make their characters work. Speed Racer himself looks like and uncharismatic Tobey Maguire. Yes while you are watching the movie, the excitement may take you through the movie. However, the film will probably be forgotten after Chronicles of Narnia and Indiana Jones opens.

Speed Racer does have a rich story...one with great depth, but I am talking about the animated series. As the show started, there was a hidden mystery within the Racer family...an older brother with deep emotional conflicts with his overbearing father. Rex, who ran away from home, is seemingly killed in a auto crash, emotionally devastating the family. Later, Speed followed in his brother's foot steps, suffering from a sense of survivor's remorse and dealing with a reluctant over proctective father afraid to lose yet another son to auto racing...and eventual death.<BR /><BR />Meanwhile, Pops Racer, a successful auto engineer presence a revolutionary auto design to his superiors dubbed the Mach 5 but is undermined by an unscrupulous rival, more corporate criminal than anything else, who engages in corporate esbionage to advance his position. He wants the Mach 5's plans...and is willing to kill to get it. With theb henchmen of the villian desperate to steal the Mach 5 or its plans, the family is the victim of threats and a series of violent attacks...prompting Pops to hide the plans for the Mach 5 optically in the car's windshield.<BR /><BR />Entering the world of auto racer against his father's wishes, Speed steals the Mach 5 in order to enter it in a race which his father had forbad him to enter. Unable to seize the plans, the villains target Speed during the race. Unware that he carries the plans for the Mach 5, Speed must evade the murderous thugs while attempting to win the race. There are not booby trapped cars here, just ruthless rival drivers and a team of henchmen out to get Speed by any means necessary...leaving Sopead in a fight for his very life...and putting Trixie, Sprittle and Chim Chim in mortal danger through no fault of their own.<BR /><BR />It was a cool pilot episode, but instead of remaking it, the Wachowskis choose to do a alternative world version of that premise...one partly influenced by the upcoming remake of Death Race 2000, turning the movie into something almost unrecognizable...as compared to the original anime. And if it couldn't get any more degraded, they decided to dumb it down for kids. This movie should have been made for a general audience...not children. As a result we got Spy Kids, not Speed Racer which was a ultra violent cartoon with deep emotional story arcs were people get killed in every race and the racing world is infultrated by international conspiracies...oens that draw in a mysterious driver know as Racer X who is secretly Speed's older brother Rex Racer, who has now become a deadly and skilled spy/assassin. His younger brother, often in the way of many of these conspiracies, if only as an innocent bystander, Racer X must come to his aid to protect his brother.<BR /><BR />In the last episode, akin to the Darth Vader-Luke I am your Father sequence in Empire Strikes Back...begins to suspect that Racer X is his brother. As he approaches him and asks, desperately, emotionally demanding answers, Racer X turns and punches him, knocking Speed out. Racer X leaves as Speed's loved ones find him on unconscious on the side of the road. Speed is left wondering, is Rex still alive...is he Racer X. There is a sad truth which he comes to realize--he may never know. He's eyes in tears he calls out to Rex as the others look on.<BR /><BR />The End<BR /><BR />That is the real Speed Racer that the Wachowskis and Joel Silver raped in order to get more money over story authorship issues and merchandizing, hence the reason we got the Mach 6 (toy sales), uneccessary costume changes, character alterations, and story alterations, etc. This story had impact, but the Wachowskis robbed the story of its rich grounding James Bond like tone, violence, emotional core, and viciousness and replaced it with something that is pure science fiction fantasy with absolutely no real threat or logical rules within the realm of physics. This movie is an abortion of the original series!!! Now you know why JK Rowling is so protective of her Harry Potter books when it comes to Hollywood involvement in the making of the Potter movies!!!<BR /><BR />The film's main problems??? The kid cast as the young Speed can't act. Next Emile Hirsh doesn't work here. Zac Efron should have played Speed Racer. And Susan Sarandon's own daughter actually looks exactly like Trixie--she should have played her. And what is with a 45 year old Aussie playing Sparkie??? Sparkie is a teenage kid just like Speed and Trixie??? This, these changes, and strange casting decisions make no sense???

You know, I like this site, I really do. But I have to say, in the 4 years I've been reading this site (back when it was cinescape), the movie reviews you guys give really do miss the mark completely. Now I agree that speed racer sucks for the most part, it's a fast food movie (looks good but you get the shits afterwards). HOWEVER, Iron Man was great, and deserving an A, not a freaking B. I can't remember the last movie you guys even gave an A and for the life of me can't decipher your movie ranking method. I appreciate everything else this site offers, but just stop with the reviews because they don't make sense, they didn't 4 years ago and they still don't now.