Wednesday December 10, 2008

by Ari

I haven't exactly agreed with a lot of critics this year on a number of movies, but I have to say I'm pleasantly surprised to see Richard Corliss of Time Magazine name Speed Racer one of the year's ten best films.

Opening the week after Iron Man, the Wachowski brothers' race-car movie flopped at the box office. What can we say? Not every avant-garde FX masterpiece receives instant audience validation. This tale of a family of racers — Racer is the family name — exists simultaneously in the 1950s and today, in a live-action world and its own complementary alternate cyber-universe. Operating a pitch of delirious precision, the movie is a rich, cartoonish dream: non-stop Op art, and a triumph of virtual virtuosity. Maybe a lot of civilians didn't go see the picture, but you can bet it attracted the smart boys in Hollywood. They will pilfer its effects and, by next summer, produce a domesticated, more palatable version. My advice: Don't wait for the rip-offs; accept no substitutes. Speed Racer is the future of movies, on DVD now.

I don't think it's the future of movies, but I do think it's a landmark for CG escapism. "Virtual virtuosity", indeed. I'll have more to say about this in a couple weeks.