1. How about NOT making the film at all? Speedracer was an old niche cartoon series targeted for kids ...BACK IN THE LATE 60s. In other words, Speedracer is not contemporary to today's kids.

Posted at 11:46AM on May 12th 2008 by Sy

2. While I'm tired of voicing my minority opinion that I actually liked the film, I will say a couple criticizms: The movie didn't really know what their target audience was cuz it was too long and a lil dense for the kiddies. I would imagine it would be hard for a child to figure out who was out to get who in the story. It might've been good to have released this in March as well, seperating it from any other juggernauts. Ah well. I had fun with it. I didn't expect anything more than that so it delivered for me.

Posted at 11:56AM on May 12th 2008 by DAVID F

3. Sy is right. Not everything that was popular at one time makes sense to make a movie out of.

Posted at 11:59AM on May 12th 2008 by eppyjerk

4. Should have used a Black Sabbath song. And hints of boobs (they didn't actually have to be in the movie, a trick often employed in trailers). And, of course Sprit giving the bird.

In other words, this should've been marketed for teenage guys. And should've been made (more) in mind for teenage guys.

CULT CLASSIC 2008

Posted at 12:05PM on May 12th 2008 by tpo-yo!

5. Not being in the middle of Iron Man and Indy IV. Had it been in 3D I would have gone to see it. It looked perfect for 3D, they missed the boat in that one.

That and the whole idea and look is just weird. Cool, but weird, which probably scares people off in the summer movie season when they're looking for something predictable.

Posted at 12:06PM on May 12th 2008 by WillTheSecond

6. I was disappointed by the film. I was entertained, but disappointed. As a fan of the cartoon, I have been watching this in developmental hell for years, and was looking forward to the movie. What I was treated to was something visually exciting, but long, boring, and a bit cliched on story. And if they were planning on a franchise, why reveal Racer X is Rex?! That didn't happen to later in the cartoon series and what part of the fun, the guessing.
As for whether this is a kids film or an adult film, I don't buy it. Pixar has been doing kid-friendly adult films for years. Their were several kids in the audience, and it seems the only reaction from them was during the Spritle and Chim-Chim scenes; coincidentally the scenes I could have done without. The race scenes were headache-inducing, which most critics have mentioned. I think poor reviews confirmed what a lot of people thought after seing the trailers, that this was going to be a mess of a beloved favorite. So people just stayed away. No go, Speed Racer, no go!

Posted at 12:11PM on May 12th 2008 by mike

7. Dude, what the hell? Based on the box office its pretty clear that not everyone in the world has seen this movie. Why would you reveal a spoiler without any warning? Thanks a lot a-hole.

Posted at 12:49PM on May 12th 2008 by Kevin

8. How can you NOT know that Kevin?

Posted at 1:47PM on May 12th 2008 by cj

9. How can I not know it? I think I made it pretty clear...I haven't seen the movie. I did see the first seven minutes that were posted online though, so I know who Rex is. If its something that needs to be revealed for people to know then let it be revealed to them in the theater the way it was supposed to be.

Posted at 3:14PM on May 12th 2008 by Kevin

10. Kevin,
Sincerely sorry about that dude. But really, I guess that was my point. I didn't think this was much of a spoiler because in the first 5 minutes of the film they totally spelled it out who he was. There wasn't the anticipation or suspense like in the cartoon. That was the point I was trying to make and what made the film so blah. Again, sorry to all.

Posted at 3:28PM on May 12th 2008 by fuz

11. The identity of Racer X is well-known to almost anyone who is sort of familiar with the original cartoon. On the show itself, it wasn't even really a spoiler, and the narrator blabbed out his real identity repeatedly. (This was probably done for the non-English translations of the cartoon, in order to help the little kiddies understand the plot easier.)

Posted at 9:46PM on May 12th 2008 by Franklin

12. It should have bee it 3d. It would have at least drawn in the curious.
To be honest, a lot of people have less than fond memories of the tv show. I remember being particularly unimpressed with the animation when it came on as a kid and would join my siblings in an "Aaaww No. Speed Racer." chant every time (We also had a "no, Speed Racer" version of the theme song).

Posted at 12:21PM on May 12th 2008 by Chef Reinhold

13. I actually really enjoyed the trailers and was planning on going to see the film last weekend (I'm a sucker for brightly colored eye candy), but the horrific reviews scared me into seeing Iron Man instead, which I hadn't seen yet (and was excellent). So I guess that means what would've helped in my case is if the movie had been better and thus garnered better reviews? :)

I still might go see Speed Racer this week, though.

Posted at 12:29PM on May 12th 2008 by Jandy

14. I enjoyed the movie but I completely get that people wouldn't want to endure the visual assault. However, I don't think anything would have made it a legitimate hit besides making something more conventional with less visual data to absorb in short periods of time.

I think the big thing is that it LOOKS like that movie we've been dreading, the ultimate eye candy that's got the same quality of plot as Ass: The Movie. The one that we can say is, without a doubt, the death of good filmmaking... but that movie was already made last year by Michael Bay.

In no conceivable universe would a movie with a scene where a kid and a chimpanzee go on a Fear and Loathing-esque candy bender set to the guitar solo from Freebird ever be a hit. It was intended to be a sensory overload; either you're going to go with it or you won't.

I can't say it's ahead of its time or that it was released at the wrong time of the year. It's really just a $200 million cult film and I bet that, barring their careers being damaged as a result of the low grosses, the Wachowskis wouldn't want it any other way.

Posted at 12:36PM on May 12th 2008 by Alex

15. "Iron Man" not existing or not coming out the weekend before probably would have helped since it raised the bar so high for movies this summer. The fact that the movie looks like it's either made to kill epileptics or be shown in a rave probably doesn't help with mass appeal... and let's be honest, do very many young people have the slightest idea who Speed Racer is?

Posted at 12:40PM on May 12th 2008 by Nacho

16. How about not making the movie look like a Sonic the Hedgehog game?

Posted at 12:44PM on May 12th 2008 by Rich

17. I just saw nothing in the trailers that made it appealing to me. It was trying too hard to be something it so obviously wasn't. The whole idea for the film was too dated, yet they somehow felt this could might be ignored if they added enough colour to distract the audience from the awfulness of the film. The whole thing instantly screamed 'rubbish' to me. And i'm not suprised it failed miserably.

Posted at 1:00PM on May 12th 2008 by jewelz

18. I enjoyed the movie, I agree it could have been cut tighter, and it should have been advertised more towards teens as it's really not a kids movie at all.

Posted at 1:16PM on May 12th 2008 by Travis Tidmore

19. I personally loved the film, but was quite bored throughout the first hour. I figured out later that it was because I was watching the film as the 21 year old female that I am. About an hour through the film, I suspended all logical thinking and just let my inner 5 year old child embrace the film.

It was badly made in that it requires adult thinking for the confusing plot, and yet a child-like embrace for the camp (and not to mention Spritle and Chim-Chim, with whom even my inner 5 year old was annoyed with). I love the film, but it will most certainly be a cult classic in which only a few will embrace and enjoy.

Posted at 1:22PM on May 12th 2008 by Ashley

20. I am a big fan of the cartoon series. When I read the reviews, though, I stayed away from the movie.

My half-ass guess: Too much exposition. Look at Star Wars 1/4, it was all action with the dialogue serving as a bridge between action scenes. In the trailers and reviews of Speed Racer, the race scenes serves as bridges to scenes of exposition. Except for Stars Wars 1/4, and 2/5, the remaining films in the series suffer from the same problem.

The directors were/are the right choice. However, they should have used the movie, Grand Prix, as the source material. In essence, if they have retold the story of Grad Prix through the Speed Racer characters, then they have would have made a great movie.

The plot points in Grand Prix resonate with most race fans including NASCAR, and American open wheel and fit within the context and rules of the Speed Racer universe.

Posted at 1:38PM on May 12th 2008 by bevo