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Show 'Iron Man' alchemy mssm translates to S93.6M Fictional LOS ANGELES billionaire Tony Stark has made a fortune in Hollywood as the superhero adventure "Iron Man" pulled in $98.6 million domestically in its first weekend. That's about $2 million less than distributor Paramount estimated Sunday, but still good enough to put "Iron Man" in second-plac- e behind the origion the list of nal "Spider-Man- " best debuts among nonsequels. Counting overseas receipts, "Iron Man" already has taken i CVJ.' Warner Bros. Pictures Speed Racer Emile Hirsch and Trixie Christina Ricci in "Speed Racer." Slow lane Car-drivi- Robert THE W. KANSAS Butler CITY STAR Racer" runs 6 Qpeed 2 hours and 19 minutes. Epi-- P sodes of the TV cartoon that inspired it ran for only 22 minutes. And that was too long. The movie version, the first film to be directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski since "The Matrix Revolutions," is an underpopulated, uncompel-lin- g and grotesquely overlong piece of eye candy geared to a world view. In the film's opening moments, we are treated to a back story that describes childhood the of young Speed, who worships older brother Rex (Scott Porter), flirts with classmate Trixie and has a wholesome relationship with his Pops (John Goodman) and doting Mom (Susan Saran-don- ). I J sixth-grader- The childhood stuff is actually effective, particularly when little Speed (he appears to have ADD) uses his classroom time to imagine he's driving in the Grand Prix. Our involvement in the story idles, however, when the films shifts gears to the grown-u- p Speed (Emile Hirsch), a reckless determined to drive fast and win big for the sake of dear departed Rex, who broke with the family and died after plowing into a mountain during a innards of a gigantic pinball machine the film offers the sort of overblown visual distraction today's kids revel in. But "Speed Racer" doesn't even realty get that right, sacrificing action for long passages of momentum-killin- g Review fljIV Speed Racer Directors: Andy and Larry Wachowski Cast: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, exposition. v Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon About the only area in which "Speed Racer" excels is Running time: 2 hrs., 9 min. in its look, a visual cacophony Rated: PG for sequences of of day-glrace. colors, '60s retro some violence, language action, There are other plot threads: kitsch and computer-rendere- d and hrief smoking Automotive magnate Royalton cars whose gleaming bodies (Roger Allam) is impressed by reflect their surroundings. Location: Opens Friday The competitions are more Speed's style, but Royalton's at theaters everywhere like bumper car rides or democrass commercialism goes lition derbies, with participants against everything the Racer family stands ramming each other, or nudgfor. Speed is covertly recruitLitt) and his pet chimpanzee. ing other drivers off cliffs. ed by a government agent The vehicles are outfitted with The monkey, frankly, gives the film's best performance. improbably named Inspector presumably illegal grappling Detector (Benno Furmann). blades At least it exhibits more life hooks, "Lost" star Matthew Fox and pumps that spew oil in and better comic timing than the path of pursuing drivers. the narcoleptic Goodman, the escapes from the island long cast of villains or Speed's machine can spring enough to make an appearance as the masked and mysvertically into the air to avoid the generic Hirsch. collisions. terious Racer X, and someChristina Ricci is largely how ninja assassins become The Wachowskis provide wasted as the grownup Trixie. The only suspense in the film involved, along with Japanese neither structure nor attitude, car builders and various uncomes from us wondering and they miss numerous opscrupulous drivers. portunities for humor, relying when she and Speed will actuWhen it's moving when mostly on the unremarkable ally lock lips. When they fig Speed is zapping his car hijinks of Speed's nally do, we get a cootie joke. around a track resembling the kid brother Spritle (Paulie Har. cross-countr- "Iron Man" stars Robert Downey Jr. as Stark, a wealthy weapons designer metal who builds a high-tec- h suit to battle bad guys. The Associated Press adventure has gleaming body, but nothing under the hood ng in $200 million worldwide. Marvel Studios announced Monday that it will have "Iron Man 2" in theaters April 30, 2010. Its slate of other comicbook adaptations includes next month's "The Incredible Hulk," plus "Thor" in summer 2010 and "The First Avenger: Captain America" and "The Avengers" in summer 2011. y o Box Office Compiled by Exhibitor Relations Co. and Nielsen EDI Inc. for last 1. "Iron Man," Paramount, $98,618,668, 4,105 locations, $24,024 average, $102,1 18,668, one week. 2. "Made of Honor," Sony, $14,756,850, 2,729 locations, $5,407 average, $14,756,850, one week. 3. "Baby Mama," Universal, $10,065,010, 2,548 locations, $3,950 average, $32,062,480, two weeks. 4. "Harold & Kumar Escape From Guantanamo Bay," Warner Bros., $6,114,373, 2,545 locations, $2,403 average, $25,369,337, two weeks. 5. "Forgetting Sarah Marshall," Universal, $6,059,920, 2,872 locations, $2,1 10 average, $44,732,340, three weeks. te over-the-to- p . candy-scarfin- 6. "The Forbidden Kingdom," Lionsgate, $4,187,897, 2,960 locations, $1,415 average, $45,112,303, three weeks. 7. "Nim's Island," Fox, $2,677,543, 2,478 locations, $1,081 average, $42,471,660, five weeks. 8. "Prom Night," Sony Screen Gems, $2,403,313, 2,434 locations, $987 average, $41,350,731, four weeks. 9. "21," Sony, $2,002,471, 2,242 locations, $893 average, $78,959,237, six weeks. 10. "88 Minutes," Sony, $1,545,084, 1,765 locations, $875 average, $15,368,925, three weeks. |