Release Date: May 9, 2008 Studio: Warner Bros. MPAA Rating: PG Genre: Scifi •
Romantic •
Fantasy •
Family Director: The Wachowski Brothers Writers: The Wachowski Brothers Cast: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Benno Fürmann, Hirojuki Sanada, Rain, Richard Roundtree Synopsis: Hurtling down the track, careening around, over and through the competition, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel. Born to race cars, Speed is aggressive, instinctive and, most of all, fearless. His only real competition is the memory of the brother he idolized—the legendary Rex Racer, whose death in a race has left behind a legacy that Speed is driven to fulfill.
Speed is loyal to the family racing business, led by his father, Pops Racer (John Goodman), the designer of Speed’s thundering Mach 5. When Speed turns down a lucrative and tempting offer from Royalton Industries, he not only infuriates the company’s maniacal owner (Roger Allam) but uncovers a terrible secret—some of the biggest races are being fixed by a handful of ruthless moguls who manipulate the top drivers to boost profits. If Speed won’t drive for Royalton, Royalton will see to it that the Mach 5 never crosses another finish line.
The only way for Speed to save his family’s business and the sport he loves is to beat Royalton at his own game. With the support of his family and his loyal girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), Speed teams with his one-time rival—the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox)—to win the race that had taken his brother’s life: the death-defying, cross-country rally known as The Crucible. The Review: When I first heard of the plan to make a feature length motion picture adaptation of Speed Racer I'll fully admit I gave that all too familar groan and sigh. Sure the show was fun as a kid, but lets face the fact that it's silly and hasn't aged all that well. Turning it into a new franchise film series had disaster written all over it. When I heard the Wachowski's were heading it up I had to check the calendar to make sure it wasn’t April fools day. Really? the two dudes behind the leather clad bullet time S&M style world of The Matrix and the producers behind V for Vendetta were gonna make a family film based on Speed Racer? I counted myself in for the ride right then and there. This was either going to be the biggest train wreck in a long while or the most stunning upset to hit screens in a long time.
Then the first trailer hit. Holy Spritle!! This not only looked insanely cool but really really fun. While my thrill and joy were not shared by others, I geeked out when I saw all the nifty toys hit store shelves (admittedly some are lame, but the boy have a bunch of die cast cars to play with now).
Had this been anyone else besides the Wachowski's I’d have just expected a dumb thrill ride of CGI effects. But what this turned out to be was a veritable Technicolor love letter to old school toonage and family bonds. Mind you they go a tad over board at times and the story starts to drag a bit with lengthy bits of dialog and exposition, not that they aren’t fun, interesting, or entertaining, they could have just been less of it to keep the pace above 55 mph….which is just how Sammie Hagger likes it.
From the opening scene to the final checked flag the screen is filled with this intense vivid color saturation this movie looks just stunning and they use this to the films advantage at every turn to keep you up to speed about the back story and motivations of the Racer family.
I think what touched me the most about this film wasn’t the snazzy cool effects or car kung fu (Car-Fu?) it was how slyly they show the bounds between everyone in the family and how everything has a cycle to it (watch the relationship between Speed and Rex and then Spritle and Speed). Sure they could trim this movie up a bit to keep the kiddies from getting restless but this movie holds together in ways I’d never have expected from a family film. Perhaps that’s the key Hollywood needs to see; that stories don’t have to be totally dumbed down to be family friendly. Let talented people work on them and the results will be far beyond the average family film we see on average.
Overall: A freakin crazy ride that needs to be seen in a theater for full effect. Take the kids and get ready to sing the theme song we all know and love.
Here he comes, here comes Speed Racer
He's a demon on wheels
He's a demon and he's gonna be chasing after someone
He's gaining on you so you better look alive
He's busy revving up the powerful Mach Five
And when the odds are against him and there's daaangerous work to do
You bet your life Speed Racer's gonna see it through
Go Speed Racer
Go Speed Racer
Go Speed Racer go
He's off and flying as he guns the car around the track
He's jamming down the pedal like he's never coming back
Adventure's waiting just aheeeeeeeeaaaaad
