Speed Racer (2008)
Director: The Wachowski Brothers
Writer: The Wachowski Brothers
Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman, Mathew Fox, Christina Ricci, Roger Allam, Susan Sarandon
Language: English
Runtime: 135 Minutes approx.
Age Rating: PG
Genre: Action
Reviewed by Ross Miller
There’s no doubting the sheer visual wonder that Speed Racer has to offer. It’s a kaleidoscope gone insane, from its opening frame of bright clothing and pin-sharp background to its colour-blur race sequences; it’s a candy store for the eyes and brain. And although it took me a fair amount of the film’s first half to get used to its overall mentality I must admit it eventually won me over.
Based on the original Japanese cartoon of the same name, Speed Racer tells the story of the titled character; a young man whose life is all about automobile racing. Fuelled in childhood by his older brother’s death in a racing accident he grows up wanting to win the race his brother died in and become the best racer he can possibly be.
As Speed Racer started and made its way through the first section of the runtime I kept thinking, “This is lame. This is so stupid”. The wacky visuals, the extremely cheesy dialogue and the way it takes itself so serious just seemed totally lame to me. However as the runtime came up on about the hour mark I must admit I submitted to the films way, it oozes a certain childish charm that I really quite took to.
The two main things which won me over about the film were the visuals and the race sequences. The films is absolutely gorgeous to look at, we see this amalgamation of colours swerving and swirling across the screen as the cars go in all directions, crashing and bashing into each other as they go. Although the race sequences do get a bit repetitive sometimes the adrenaline and visual flare is always present making it not really matter. The film is about as close to a video game as a movie is likely to get (and I’m sure a game will be on the shelves in no time) and I am sure some people will hold that against the film. The film could very well be lifted straight from a video game; the story is over-the-top, the characters and action even more so it isn’t all that much of a stretch to label it a video-game cut scene. Whether that’s a good or a bad thing I'll leave it up to you to decide for yourself.
“Are you ready to put away your toys and grow up,” spits Roger Allam’s power-hungry bad guy who seeks to foil Speed’s plans for victory in any way he can, the Wachowski brothers clearly aren't. He’s one of the film’s many over-the-top characters that provide for some cheesy encounters and confrontations. Speaking of that the film plays it safe all throughout in everything from the fights and shootouts to the confrontational dialogue between the characters. And even the relationship between Speed and Christina Ricci's Trixie is very PG friendly. You can’t blame the film as it’s obviously aimed at a younger audience for the most part but for anyone older than 10 you will be questioning every innocent front the film puts on.
I am not so sure that Speed Racer will please all of the audiences out there. Critics seem to have turned against it for the most part, younger audiences will be transfixed by the visuals and the action but a lot of the dialogue and storyline will fly straight over their heads and the older viewers may find its cutesy, innocent demeanour a bit silly. It’s clearly aiming for the younger ones out there and I am sure that it will draw both them and the big bucks. It has that “toy store” appeal that kids will no doubt drool over, begging their parents to take them out for a time at the movies.
By its advertising and trailers Speed Racer looked both good and bad. Good because of its eye-popping visuals and bad because of how cheesy and childish it all looked. I am both surprised and pleased to say that the film won me over and although it certainly has it’s weaknesses it had enough of the fun factor and visual beauty for me to give it a moderate thumbs up.
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