Speed Racher versus Indiana Jones

Somehow or other the critical lambasting of Speed Racer continues, as the bulk of the critical community comes to praise last week’s number one film Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull. Speed Racer is an imaginative and fun romp that utilizes CGI to its maximum potential, while remaining faithful to its source material and creating one of the most purely enjoyable and creative films I have seen in some time. Indiana Jones and the Crystal Skull is the opposite of this. It is merely nostalgia for three much better films. Its use of CGI is not only out of place, but plain stupid. Ending one of the coolest fight scenes I can recall from recent history with a Donkey Kong like sequence is one of the more stupid scenes I can recall from the film. But it doesn’t end there. There is not a part of this film that is really all that fun or interesting; with the noted exception of a fight scene that involves a sword fight from trucks. It may be pretty absurd, like the rest of the movie, but at least it’s still “cool.”

Steven Spielberg is a great filmmaker. A filmmaker who has in the past directed some of the highlights of American cinema, (e.g. E.T.) but who now can’t seem direct anything that doesn’t annoy me. Worry not, the film is fun and superior to Spielberg’s War of the Worlds and of course a million times more compelling than the insipid The Color Purple, but it’s simply not that damn good, and really really not as fun Speed Racer.

I hope that when the dust clears critics and fans will come to realize what a gem Speed Racer really is. So far, and I am pretty positive that this will change soon as more films fill our cinemas, Speed Racer is my hands down favorite film of the year. But, then again Cloverfield and Iron Man are both still on that list. I need to be seeing more films. I am full of excuses for why this is the case, but I spare you all. Sorry once more for the delay in posting.