Speed Racer

Starring: Emile Hirsch, Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, Richard Roundtree, Paulie Litt, Ariel Winter, Scott Porter, Kick Gurry, Christian Oliver, Rain, Hiroyuki Sanada
Directed by: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski
Rating: PG
Genre: Action, Sports
2008

Times Seen:
Tim: 4

Summary: Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a promising young racer whose career is threatened when he refuses to join a large, shady corporate racing team. This puts himself, his father (John Goodman), mother (Susan Sarandon), and girlfriend (Christina Ricci) in danger. The only help he gets is from the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox).

Review:

Tim: I was really, really disappointed that this film bombed at the box office. I very much enjoyed this movie. I have to disclose I was a huge fan of the cartoon series way back in the day, and I was so excited for this movie. The cast is excellent, and the Wachowski brothers give us a film that recalls the awesomeness of the first Matrix movie.

Let's start with the cast. Emile Hirsch is just perfect as Speed Racer. He's exactly what I envisioned, and gives a great performance. I've been increasingly impressed with his acting ability over the last few years. John Goodman and Susan Sarandon are both perfect as Mom and Pops Racer. Christina Ricci excellently embodies Trixie. Sadly, the actor playing Spritle, Paulie Litt is so incredibly annoying. He is actually very much like Spritle from the cartoon series, but it doesn't take away from the fact that he nearly ruins the movie by himself (well, he does get some help from Chim-Chim). Matthew Fox is one of the best casting choices- I absolutely love him as Racer X. He is perfect in the role, and I only wish he and Hirsch had more scenes together.

The Wachowski Brothers give us a movie that is almost difficult to take. The colors are so vivid, and they create a world unlike anything we've ever seen. Whereas The Matrix gave us a dark, deadly world, this film gives us a live action movie that feels like it should be a cartoon. It is amazing to see on screen.

The real attraction of this film are the races. The race scenes are unlike anything you've ever seen. The cars flips, turn, jump, and defy the laws of gravity. The cars almost fight each other, and it is amazing to see. Whether this is on a track course or a cross-country, you will barely believe your eyes. The races are simply breathtaking, and everyone needs to see them. They were astounding.

I also have to mention the film's climactic race. This is where the Wachowski brothers are at their best- they draw on the influence of The Matrix (you'll seem some obvious comparisons), but it just works so well. It is one of my favorite movie moments- it is amazing to see the Mach 5 and what it can do, especially when the stakes are the highest. Best of all, the film never sacrifices character development for glamorous car races- this is very much a film about an individual and his family. That is where the film works best.

While I really enjoyed Speed Racer, the film is far from perfect. There are so many scenes that are so absurd, so ridiculous, that they just detract from the film. Most of these involve Spritle and Chim-Chim. All you can do during these moments is laugh, shake your head, and suffer through them until the next great race scene starts. This comes because the Wachowskis really tried to channel the cartoon origins of the characters. I'd have preferred a little less cartoon focus- it would have made the movie much better. As is, Speed Racer still gives you some things you have never seen before. I liked this movie.

*Update- about 15 years later, I returned to Speed Racer, this time with my 9 year-old son and 6 year-old daughter. We'd just finished all 52 episodes of the original Speed Racer cartoon and I was beyond excited for them to see the movie. I had perhaps a little trepidation- would this box office failure hold up in my mind? Would I love it as much as I did in my younger days? The answer is yes. With time, it's even more shocking that this film did so poorly at the box office. The Wachowskis created something truly unique here. This is a live-action movie that fully channels the original Japanese cartoon series. It's big, bold, colorful in a way that no other movies are. The visuals have aged a bit in the last fifteen years, but they are still beautiful to behold. The film is a blast, exciting, engaging, silly, and memorable. After having just watched all the episodes, I was struck by how brilliantly the cartoon was adapted for the screen. Spritle and Chim-Chim still annoyed me, but I was easily able to laugh off their silliness.

What impressed me most upon my 4th viewing of this film is that beyond the stylistic car races, this is a story about one family. The script does a great job of establishing these characters and their relationships. The broken relationship between Pops and Rex is the heart of this film, and the echoing scene between Pops and Speed is a brilliant case study for character development. There's real love for these characters and how they are presented, and work was done to establish human connections. There's a surprising amount of depth to this story that you might not get from the trailers.

I thought some of the dialogue was exceptional as well. One of my favorite lines is the exchange Racer X has- when he's told that Speed is going to be "very good" he replies, "No, he's going to be the best." Matthew Fox delivers that line perfectly. Speed has a tremendous speech later in the film. The writing is sneaky with how good it is.

Of course, the most memorable part of the film are the insane car races. I absolutely loved these. They did a fantastic job of adapting the craziness of the cartoon to this live action film. The scene in the ice mountains, especially when Speed leaps from cliff-to-cliff is outstanding. The entire desert sequences is so beautiful that it almost hurts. And, of course, the Grand Prix is still my favorite sequence. From the moment Speed sits with his eyes closed, trying to understand how to get back into the race, to the conclusion- that's several minutes of the most exciting, thrilling film I've ever seen in my life.

No surprise, I'm a huge Speed Racer fan. This movie is outstanding and critics and audiences were morons not to see it. I said I liked the movie back then, but I recognized its greatness. I have no qualms being even clearer- I love this movie. Rating 1-10
Tim's Rating: 8



If You Enjoyed This Movie, We Recommend:
The Matrix trilogy, Vantage Point, Into the Wild