Movie Reviews

Iron Man
Decent actors, decent plot, great special effects. It's just a shame that the Iron Man movie - cartoon version - is very similiar, if not identical, to the the live action movie. It took away a bit of the surprise of what was going to happen next. Hopefully, Marvel doesn't do the same thing with future superhero movies based on other comic books. I'm leery of the Hulk movie, as the Hulk's antagonist is a creature called Abomination; the same as it was in the animated Hulk movie put out by Marvel a couple of years ago.

Speed Racer
Perhaps I went into the movie with lower expectations than I had for Iron Man or it was due to the fact that I was huge Speed Racer fan as a child, but whatever the case I thought the Speed Racer movie was great. When I told a friend how much I liked it, he said from the previews it looked like the racing was confusing and hard to follow - all flash and bang. I agree, some of the editing could have been better, but the storyline, actors, making the movie so close to the cartoon series, and some great racing scenes, I was taken back to my childhood. The only part I didn't like, was that so much of the movie was done like a cartoon - the world, the cars, the fight scenes - that it really bugged me when they showed some guy getting beat while tied to a chair (busted lip, bloody nose, blood on shirt etc.).

Yes, I have kids, but I'm so damn sick of seeing torture in every goddamn movie I see - even one rated PG.

I don't know what's up with Hollywood always doing this. The point in the movie was to show how low the bad guys were, but either Hollywood has gotten lazy or just forgot how to make a bad guy seem really menacing without "showing" him or his henchmen beating someone into a bloody pulp. What ever happened to the good old threat of violence stand on it's own. It really made no sense showing the blood in a movie rated PG and obviously oriented towards children. Every other fight scene except for this was comical - in a good way.

My son after the beating scene said lets go, because he was scared. But then the racing took over for the next hour and a half he forgot about it. But the same thing happened in Iron Man- 10 seconds of rough treatment at the hands of the Afghanis. That's it, but completely unnecessary. And in Transformers - Bumblebee being tortured by the humans. Pirates of the Carribbean-a prisoner gets his eye plucked out by a bird. King Kong. Lord of the Rings - Smegal tortured by the orcs. The last Bond movie - beating him and breaking his nuts - there was no friggin' point for that. But John, you say, it shows our hero's strength. Or it show's the danger he's in. Besides it was an R rating. Dude, who enjoys watching someone's nuts get smashed? Only someone sick and demented. I think most people go to see a Bond movie to see the cool gadgets, awesome cars and fine women and how he gets out of his predicaments. - On a side note, what the hell is that all about when we take the women out of the Bond intro and put in fight scenes. Hollywood once again proves it perverse prudish logic that its better to show violence than the sensuality of a woman's body.

And so many more movies. I'm not saying this because I want all my movies rated G. I love action films and have no problem with appropriate movie violence. I just wonder why all these great movies devote thirty seconds to include a torture quotient. Especially, when the movie has nothing to do with horror. Maybe its the "24" phenomena of Jack Bauer where torture became a regular thing. Or Hostel. Or Abu Grab(?). But when people go to see these movies: Speed Racer, Transformers, Bond, etc : they go to escape and have a good time - not to feel their insides clench.

So if you're listening Hollywood and wondering why kids aren't flocking to see Speed Racer in droves, its because parents like me tell my neighbors with families: Speed Racer was great, except the one scene where someone gets their face beat up. But John, kids see violence everyday. True, I say. But then why in the rest of the entire movie, did you not show a single ounce of blood in any scene even when a monkey was bouncing a wrench on someone's head. See, no reason for it. New scene. Guy tied to chair. Bad guy says something threatening. Good guy scared. Bad guy shows example of what might happen. Then ...well I don't want to give away the movie for those of you who haven't seen it.

In conclusion, I liked Speed Racer better than Iron Man. My son came out of the movie running up and down the aisles pretending to be Speed Racer he liked it so much. And parents, the movie is great for most of kids. I don't mean to scare you away The great special effects and heart pumping racing scenes are something any kid who likes racing should miss out on.