When turning cartoons into people goes bad

Well, Warner Bros.’ $160 million “Speed Racer” tanked this weekend, only making about $20 million for a third place box office finish. It didn’t get good reviews – the general consensus among critics was that the plot was dumb as hell and the visuals were cool for about five to ten minutes, but become overbearing after that.

Apparently all the 10-year-old boys that Warner Bros. was hoping to draw were out seeing “Iron Man” again and the nostalgia factor for people who watched the “Speed Racer” cartoon back in the day didn’t kick in either, because they were out seeing “Iron Man” too.

“Speed Racer” and “Iron Man” represent an interesting case study. They’re both based on sources that appeal mostly to comic book/cartoon geeks and they both have have big budgets. But the difference is ”Iron Man” got generally good reviews where as “Speed Racer” did not. And lo and behold, what happened? “Iron Man” brought out the masses (the majority of whom had never read an “Iron Man” comic in their life) and “Speed Racer” tanked.

So it goes to show you, producers. Sometimes you actually have to make the movie good. CGI effects can only do so much.