Why does Speed Racer get so much hate?

[Zontar]

I just don't get it. I've seen people criticise the movie because of it's overuse of CGI (though to be honest, it wasn't even the worst offender the year it came out, and prequel lovers don't seem to mind), being too colourful, cheesy dialogue and a plot which you would expect from a cartoon.

But the thing is, it's an adaptation of a 60s cartoon with a lot of colour, cheesy dialogue, nonsensical plots and a dub that's so bad it's good. So what exactly where people expecting? Half the reasons I've seen listed for why it's bad are what (in my eyes) make it work.

Am I just weird, or where the critics wrong?

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Critics are never right or wrong. Censorship and worship are sentimental operations that have nothing to do with criticism. Criticism should provide insight, not a QA stamp. But I digress. Just because something works in one medium doesn't mean it will translate well in another. The cheese and the color that worked in the cartoon may not work well in the movie.

 

[Zontar]

Critics are never right or wrong. Censorship and worship are sentimental operations that have nothing to do with criticism. Criticism should provide insight, not a QA stamp. But I digress. Just because something works in one medium doesn't mean it will translate well in another. The cheese and the color that worked in the cartoon may not work well in the movie.

You have a point, but I had no problem with it. Then again I like B movies so I guess I don't exactly care for many of the things most people enjoy in a movie. Case in point: I still don't get what people love about Lion King or Titanic.

 

[Johnny Novgorod]

Critics are never right or wrong. Censorship and worship are sentimental operations that have nothing to do with criticism. Criticism should provide insight, not a QA stamp. But I digress. Just because something works in one medium doesn't mean it will translate well in another. The cheese and the color that worked in the cartoon may not work well in the movie.

You have a point, but I had no problem with it. Then again I like B movies so I guess I don't exactly care for many of the things most people enjoy in a movie. Case in point: I still don't get what people love about Lion King or Titanic.

I too kinda liked Speed Racer. I think Hirsch was very good as Speed, and I love John Goodman/Susan Sarandon as the parents. I know Jim Emerson from Ebert's site didn't like it, but I have no idea whether anybody else did, or why they didn't. Sometimes you get the feeling a movie would do better if it had been released sooner or later. I guess the Speed Racer craze wasn't too hot back then.

 

[Queen Michael]

I can't tell you, since I'm a purist and only read the original manga. I didn't even watch the anime.

 

[Little Woodsman]

I think most people just didn't know what to make of it.
I didn't intend to watch it, but it was recommended to me by a friend- a friend who's actually a bit of an anime snob- so I gave it a try. I found it entertaining, and there was one scene between Hirsch and Goodman that just blew me away, bumping it from 'an entertaining watch' to 'really good' on my list.

 

[Elvis Starburst]

I watched a bit of the original anime and found it so cheesy that I rather liked it. This was a few years before the new movie release. Then, I saw the movie for my 14th birthday and loved it. Hell, I have it on DVD and STILL love it. I think they did everything right, honestly. The animation cut a few corners in some spots and I thought it was horribly glaring for the rather flashy and interesting spectacle that was the racing, but that's probably the biggest offense I can think of.

It sorta translated the old cheesy cartoony feel from the original show into our younger audience style of cartoons, and I think it did a decent job. The characters acted their parts well enough as well. Me? I don't get the hate. It's a silly, flashy, stupid fun movie for a PG crowd, and even at age 20, I find it a joy

 

[Ed130 The Vanguard]

Wasn't it done by the two brothers who created The Matrix series?

I remember a few people wanting to see is due to liking the trilogy but being put off by the 'colourful palate, cheesy dialogue and a plot which you would expect from a cartoon'.

 

[Anachronism]

It's one of the few films to have the dubious honour of making me feel physically unwell.

It's so ridiculously overdesigned, and the art style is so hideous, that by the end of it I had a migraine. I was honestly grateful for stepping outside and being presented with the monotone grey of the buildings around me, because it wasn't the pain-inducing sensory overload that the movie was.

 

[Scarim Coral]

Honestly I genuine liked the film despite it had cheesy dialogues. I did thought the race itself were pretty cool, kind of like hotwheel but live action.