Yes, but when you came out, you encountered believable plots, good dialogue, and three-dimensional people you actually care about. Advantage: outside.

Trixie: Oh my god, was that a ninja?
Pops Racer: More like a "non"-ja.

Advantage: Inside!

I really liked Speed Racer, too. I thought it did a very interesting job of bringing a cartoon into the "real" without loosing the cartooniness of the original. Also, visually speaking, this is the weirdest thing I've seen come down the pike in a really long time. I love the fact that the real world is never referenced anywhere in the film. I doubt very much that a straight take on the subject ala Iron Man would have worked.

I don't understand why the critics hated it so much when it's such cheesy fun and looks so new.

Normally they spend all their time slagging off Hollywood for producing endless sequels and repetitions and being unoriginal.

But as soon as Hollywood produces a movie that looks like nothing you've ever seen in a cinema before, they slag that off like crazy too...

I don't understand why the critics hated it so much when it's such cheesy fun and looks so new.

Well, speaking as someone who reviewed it negatively, I was looking for cheesy fun when I went in, but I didn't get it. The races were of course the whole point, everything just one flimsy setup for the next race, and I'm cool with that, except the races weren't particularly interesting. They were impressive from an effects perspective, but there was no drama or suspense or real tension to them, and often you couldn't even make sense of what was going on on the screen. Often there'd just be a big messy pileup, fifteen cuts a second, and then magically Speed erupts safely out of it with a back tire ninja kick. I'd just sort of shrug and think "Okay, he got out of that one however."

That and the fact that I just didn't care about Speed at all, he was just sort of Generic Guy with a Cool Car. Don't get me wrong, this is probably the best-made Wachowski film ever, but that's sort of like saying Moe was the smartest Stooge.

(Not to poop on your enjoyment, of course, just by way of asplainin'.)

First of all, it's a kid's movie. I thought it was a heck of a lot of fun. For all the people who hated it, I think their inner child is dead.

their inner child is dead

Stop it. You're scaring my inner child.

Is it still possible to have a difference of opinion without resorting to calling each other names? Or are the folks who didn't like Speed Racer supposed to come back with "your inner child needs to grow up"?

I don't have a dog in this particular fight. I haven't seen the movie and have no desire to do so. (I really don't have much time for movies that are predominately CGI, and I always disliked the original cartoon. Which is all by the wayside.) But can't y'all play nice?

How is that name calling? Speculation, yes, name calling, not so much.

Split hairs much? You jumped into an otherwise civil discussion and started flinging insults.

I also do not see how claiming that ones inner child is no long present within their fleshy body "name calling". Hyperbole, of course, since those who dislike the movie may in fact find great glee in building towers made of Lego and knocking them down while shouting "RARARARARARARARARAAAAAAAR", or in digging tunnels in sandboxes and then putting little plastic army men in those tunnels and then dragging the hose across the yard to flood the tunnels while the little plastic army men scream in their little plastic army men voices "OH GOD SARGE, THE WATER IS ALMOST UP TO MY NECK" and then maybe going inside for a sandwich before mom sees what you did to the yard, but not really name calling.

I will defer in this matter to my esteemed colleague, Senator Monkey.

I do all those things cmonkey described, in fact had a baby so I could do them without society's judgment, and I still didn't care for the movie that much, and yet no one else's opinion is invalidated. This is why Baskin Robbins has used to have 31 flavors.

They don't have 31 flavors any more? This is the biggest goddamn fraud in human history.

I have no opinion on Speed Racer, but I'm now going to spend part of the evening growling ""RARARARARARARARARAAAAAAAR" and "OH GOD SARGE, THE WATER IS ALMOST UP TO MY NECK*," so thank you!

*This will be the funnest bubble bath ever.

I may stand corrected here. It was my understanding, whence it came I know not, that they were no longer offering the full 31, but had scaled back a bit. However, the internet does not seem to know what I'm talking about.

If I weren't in fact on baby duty today, I'd drive down to Rodney Parham and check it out.

Goddamn it, now I want ice cream. Where's that "Turkey in the Straw"-blasting van when I need it?