The big news circulating around the art community in Vancouver was the announcement of an FX studio being opened up by Digital Domain right here in town. (http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118009589.html?categoryid=1009&cs=1) Not too long ago, PIXAR also announced they were opening up shop here in Vancouver. Excellent news for the ever growing talent pool here in Vancouver.

I had a chance to visit Digital Domain a couple of years ago when I was in Los Angeles for the NFS ProStreet launch party. We were there for a casual meet up and the big project they were in the middle of working on was the movie, Speed Racer. They weren't the only ones working on shots for the film. From the sounds of it, there were many studios sharing in the workload.

Well after all this time, and with the recent announcement of Digital Domain opening in Vancouver, I thought it was about time to sit down and watch Speed Racer. 

My brains and eyesight are still recovering.

The first 20 minutes of the movie was a chaotic collection of flashbacks and the chaos didn't end there. The saturated color palette, extreme racing and terrible dialogue left me speechless. Perhaps that was the intent. My favorite line from the movie was when ninjas (yes ninjas) fail to take out Speed Racer and John Goodman's character says, "Ninjas? More like NON-jas." 

I kid you not.

And yet...I still watched. Perhaps mesmerized by the streaking lights and over the top action, I watched it to the end. And through it all, I grew to despise the youngest cast member. Does that make me an evil person?

I couldn't believe how annoying this kid was. I think he got that from his days on Hope and Faith which is a show only my wife enjoys. What? You've never heard of that show? I don't blame you. That's probably why Megan Fox can't act either.

Was it a complete waste of over 2 hours? Maybe not. There WERE some impressive race sequences and some great tricks were used to sell the breakneck speeds they were travelling at. I made some mental notes. I just hope my brain can recover from the painful plot, overdone colors and confusing transitions when it comes time to retrieve them.

Agree? Disagree? I'd love to hear your thoughts.