SPEED RACER sputters to the Finish

Every once and awhile a director takes a chance and dabbles outside the conventional practices of movie making. They re-invented the action genre and use of CGI in THE MATRIX, and cartoons mixed with live action genre in WHO FRAMED ROGER RABBIT? They pushed the limits of creativity and every movie thereafter evolved into something new and fresh.

SPEED RACER has this kind of feel. Meshing 3D animation, CGI, and live action in a seamless montage that is way ahead of it's time. The movie felt like a video game from green light to checkered flag. And that's exactly it's flaw.

SPEED RACER has a passable plot sugar-coated with so much action and bright flashing lights and explosions that you don't really mind. There's just enough plot to get you to the next race.
The race scenes are best viewed on the Big Screen or IMAX as I fear they won't translate as well on DVD or Blue Ray unless you have a system that is worthy of the spectacular colourful racing world of the future.

Based on the Japanime series of the same name that opened up mainstream North America to Robotech, Akira, and, eventually, Pokemon, SPEED RACER may be a pre-cursor to the future of high octane action flicks.

One guarantee is that there's no other movie quite like it and feels like watching the birth of something special and grand on the horizon in the movie making world. Too bad the story wasn't better.

9 Mach Five's out of 10 (for action)
5 Matt Fox sitings out of 10 (for plot)
7 karate-chopping monkeys out of 10 (overall)

INDIANA JONES 4 and the Mystery of the Miscast Script

Upon walking out of INDIANA JONES AND THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULLS, I had a odd taste in my mouth. Not a horrible taste. An out of place taste. One of those tastes where you take a sip out of a pop container thinking it's Coke but find out it's root beer. Expecting one thing but getting something else entirely that I can't classify as bad...just unexpected.

Indy was his usual Indy self cracking his whip (albeit done in such a way that it seemed like Spielberg put the movie together and realized "Aw crap! I forgot to have Indy use his whip! Let's just have him snap it a couple times and swing from something."). There were the usual creepy caves, snakes, insects, and half-decayed corpses. There were sequences of Indy going back for his hat when he should've just gotten the heck out of there. And there were the narrow escapes before he gets thrown off a cliff, killed by collapsing walls, giant red ants, and disappearing stairwells. All that is great and tasted perfectly well of Indiana Jones. And you know, as old as Harrison Ford is, he made Dr. Jones feel young again despite looking a little past his prime on the opening shot.

It's the Crystal Skulls part that ruined what could've been a great movie.

Steven Spielberg and George Lucas have said since the closing credits of THE LAST CRUSADE that they'd never do another Indiana Jones movie without the script being perfect. I should've realized then that with each of their track records (Spielberg with ET, CLOSE ENCOUNTERS OF THE THIRD KIND, AI, JURASSIC PARK; Lucas with STAR WARS) a perfect script usually meant sci-fi.

Liberties have been taken before in Indiana Jones. The 2000 year old sentry guarding the Holy Grail in THE LAST CRUSADE for example. But all of them fit (more or less) into the Indiana Jones mythology. THE KINGDOM OF THE CRYSTAL SKULLS does not.

The characters were fun. The action was great (with one glaring monkey swinging exception). And the cinematography was top notch. It was the script that was miscast.

It was a story better suited for the likes of Mulder and Scully (X-FILES 2 coming in August!) than it was for Indiana Jones. Not a bad story just not what you'd expect.

I went in expecting Coke and I got a mouth full of Root Beer. Now that you know it's Root Beer, it may not leave a funny taste in your mouth after you leave the theatre.

8 Crystal Skulls out of 10

The Man Behind the IRONMAN

He was rude, obnoxious, and inconsiderate. He was one of those people who you love to hate but secretly admire because he was so quick-witted and cool. You wish you were him because of his success and hate yourself for it. This man is Tony Stark. Tony Stark is Ironman.

Unlike every other superhero persona, Stark (Robert Downey Jr.) wants the world to know he's Ironman. To him, this is another cool feather in his cool cap. And like Batman, Tony Stark wasn't bitten by a radioactive spider or from another planet. He relies on technology to invent Ironman: a yellow and red chrome hero that couldn't have existed in any other time frame than now.

IRONMAN as a movie is the first truly "Summer" blockbuster. The kind you can sit back, strap in, and be taken away on a high-octane, explosive, CGI-laced ride that leaves you breathless at the end. This isn't a movie where the science has to be taken apart because, quite frankly, the science doesn't make a whole lot of sense. (I.E. Stark goes "A-Team" on us and builds the Ironman suit while being captive in a cave in Afghanistan.) But, quite frankly, if I can believe that a man came climb walls like a spider, if I can believe that robots can transform into cars, this plot isn't that bad. And that's one of the reasons why IRONMAN is so much fun.

IRONMAN has all the same playfulness and action of the first SPIDERMAN and the original Chris Reeves's SUPERMAN. Most of the movie involves the comedic failures and successes of creating and perfecting Ironman's suit. There's no true super-villain for him to battle as his mission is to destroy the high-tech weapons that he (as Tony Stark) created and sold (A high-tech weaponized suit of armour destroying high-tech weapons: Can I rename this flick IRONYMAN?). But a super-villain isn't necessary here and would've cramped up the story.

As the first blockbuster of the Summer season, spend some well deserved time with the cocky yet endearing Tony Stark. I look forward to the sequel when he can face off against someone truly worthy of Ironman.

8.5 mixed drinks out of 10