Paynemanor Reviews

Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008)

Silly people...it's a cartoon

[7/10 · 20 August 2008]

Yes, the opening intro without JW's music or the crawl was a HUGE mistake. (The voice over did make me cringe..ugh!) Yes, the human characters looked freakin bizarre (Kenobi's beard looked like a wood carving) and they should have gone with a more realistic look instead of the pointless style they used.

And yes, the story was pretty childish for a feature film aimed at adults...But that's the thing. This is an opener for a TV cartoon. It was not intended to blend right into the live action franchise. My kids liked it just fine, and I was not offended at all by it. In fact the action scenes were quite impressive. We finally get to see enough clone/droid mayhem to make people complain that it's too much (meaning almost enough clone/droid mayhem for me:) You guys are like a bunch of spoiled kids. Luke, Han, & Co. are NEVER coming back! Some day someone will probably do a series of re-makes or spin-offs that will have a more serious tone, and I agree that the franchise really needs that. But it won't happen while George is at the wheel. So if your going to get suicidal every time George cranks out one of his Disney-phase projects...Just stay away from it. It's not worth the stress.

Speed Racer (2008)

Who are these people?

[9/10 · 8 May 2008]

I can't help noticing that EVERY single extremely negative review for this film (so far) was posted well before it came out! One can only assume that there is a group of people that get their jollies by trying to shoot down every new movie that comes out before they even see it...Or there are some folks out there that really should not be attending early previews because they are far too jaded to be given a voice when it comes to movie reviews.

As someone who grew up with the knowledge that Speed Racer was by far the greatest cartoon on TV at the time (I mean come on, what else was there, an endless stream of pathetic Hanna Barbera schlock?), I can honestly say that viewing the old show on DVD as an adult was a different experience indeed. The dialog is silly, and the character names!...But for it's time, the animation was way beyond what they were doing for television here in the states. And ultimately, it had some good messages for kids as far as doing the right thing in moments of crisis and striving to be the best at what you choose to do in life. Oh course there was the sweet car too...

But that's just it... Speed Racer was a kid's cartoon. This movie is simply trying to update show's concept for today's child. To expect anything else strikes me as incredibly foolish. And to dismiss the film as pointless visual fluff before you have even seen it...well I just feel bad for anyone who is that bitter. This is the same crowd that dismissed the first Star Wars as "childish" while the rest of us were having the time of our life.

Go see this movie (or don't) with the rather obvious knowledge that it is called "Speed Racer". How serious could it possibly be? I mean, there's a monkey in it for crying out loud!