Review - Speed Racer

Speed Racer
dir(s). The Wachowski Bros.
2008

Here he comes,
Here comes Speed Racer,
He's a demon on wheels!

The classic anime Speed Racer makes it to the big screen with the help of those Matrix-famous Wachowski brothers. The anime that the film is based on premiered in 1967 in America and was the first successful animated shows to make it over from Japan. The film is in most ways very faithful to the anime, taking both characters and images from the show. This isn't just a film based on an anime or cartoon but one that is brazenly, and for the most part succeeds, in being a live-action cartoon.

The world of the film is one in which racing is the dominant world sport and with advanced technology the internal combustion engine has been replaced by something far more powerful that allows for speeds far higher than in our world. The film follows young Speed Racer as he starts to win acclaim for his driving on the WRL circuit. His family has lost a son, Rex Racer, already to the sport and Speed idolizes his older brother and sees himself as continuing on in his brother's footsteps. Speed is tempted to join the racing team of Royalton Industries, but when he decides to stick with his family and stay independent he is threatened by Mr. Royalton and shown that racing has always been fixed and is a sport not for the driver or the fan, but a sport dominated by money. With the help of the mysterious Racer X, his girlfriend Trixie, and his family Speed tries to take down Royalton and save the heart of racing itself. The story, both for those who have experience with the anime and for those who do not, is simple and basically follows the beats of the underdog sport genre of films. What makes Speed Racer different is the style of the film.

Filmed with a new HD technique that allows all images on the screen to be shown in focus Speed Racer is a beautiful piece of movie making. Following in the steps of Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow and Sin City, most of the world of Speed Racer was created in a computer with filming happening in front of a green screen. The whole world inhabited by Speed Racer and his family is hyper-colorful and pops from the screen. The races are a filmed frenetic chaos and definitely are the films main draws.

The acting is largely serviceable with John Goodman standing out as Pops Racer. Matthew Fox is obviously having a fantastic time with Racer X. Christina Ricci is stunning as the love interest Trixie, and also has a toughness and strength not seen in the anime. The rest of the cast handles their roles with varying degrees of success, but nothing is too cringe worthy when one takes into account the goal of the film. In many films of this ilk the comic relief can be painful for anyone above the age of 10, but Spritle and Chim-Chim are not as bad as Jar Jar Binks or other ill-fated characters.

The film does have its share of issues though. As a family and kids film Speed Racer could have definitely stood to be 10-20 minutes shorter and does drag a bit before the two big races of the film. Sometimes the frenetic action on the screen is too much to handle though that breaking point will vary from person to person.

With the multitude of negative reviews pouring out, I feel the problem that Speed Racer has had is that people simply refuse to understand who this movie was made for and what the intention was. Various reviews condemn the film for being too cartoony or too manic. The movie isn't too cartoony though it is a cartoon. This is a film that defies the fetish to redo a nostalgic franchise in a gritty, edgy, realistic, and dark tone that so many seem to call for. Speed Racer is trying to be nothing more than Speed Racer. Oftentimes films will use the term "popcorn movie" as a defense for being incomprehensible and vapid, but these films are often trying to be more. This movie functions fine on logic, only it is Speed Racer logic. Logic of a day-glo world with superfast cars. While I can fully understand someone saying that they didn't enjoy the film because it isn't their taste, to fault the film for not being something it wasn't intended to be or something you wished it to be is a strange way of thinking. This idea is also something that they filmmakers could never escape as if they made the film dark, gritty, and realistic many would be calling the out on the fact that they betrayed what made Speed Racer so fun in the first place. Fun. That, to me, really is the key for Speed Racer. Speed Racer isn't necessarily a good film, but it sure is a fun one.

Verdict: 4 stars out of 5.