Speed Racer

May 9th, 2008 by James Cook | Source: The Moving Picture

Leave it to the Wachowski Brothers to take a cartoon from the 60s and turn it into an epic summer blockbuster – with enough CGI that would even make George Lucas a little envious. Yes, the latest from the directors of the Matrix trilogy has arrived, and it’s a solid summer popcorn flick that manages to entertain – just don’t expect it to leave a lasting impression on you.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) was born into a family of racers, it’s not just a job it’s a religion, with his father, Pops (John Goodman), designing cars all his life and his older brother Rex (Scott Porter) climbing the ranks as the family’s first great racer. It’s now Speed’s turn to take to the track and show the world what he’s made of – and as it turns out he lives up to his family name – he’s one of the best. His talent on the track catches the eye of Mr. Royalton (Roger Allam) of Royalton Industries, a man who wants to sponsor Speed, but also someone more focused on money, rather than Speed’s talent behind the wheel.

Like his brother before him, Speed chooses to follow the family tradition and stay an independent driver. Royalton doesn’t take to kindly to Speed’s decision and focuses on making his life a living hell, which opens the young driver’s eyes to the corrupt world of racing.

I’ve never watched a single episode of the original Speed Racer cartoon series, and yet found my self extremely excited for this movie. When the first pictures and footage for the movie started to come out, it looked incredible. The Wachowski’s had taken a cult cartoon and turned it into a special effects extravaganza, but while I was excited to see Speed Racer, I was also a little cautious – would the movie work as a whole? Unfortunately, the answer is no.

Speed Racer’s special effects are truly something you have to experience on the big screen. The race sequences, which play out like big screen versions of Mario Kart, are the best parts of the movie, and not only because they’re beautiful to look at, but because they’re so much fun. Each race is an epic action scene, where Speed is always fighting for his life. There are rules to the races but, as you might expect, nobody sticks to them and each car is outfitted with futuristic gadgetry, aimed at helping the driver propel to first place.

Speed isn’t alone on the track, having his trusty mechanic Sparky (Kick Gurry) telling him what’s up, via radio, along with girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci). He also teams up with fellow driver Taejo (Rain) and superhero-like badass Racer X (Matthew Fox), who want to bring down the evil Royalton just as much as Speed. When the trio works together it makes for some great moments.

Without a doubt Speed Racer excels in delivering entertaining action sequences, and one comes to expect that sort of thing from a Wachowski Brothers movie. But the biggest problem with Speed Racer lies with what’s happening when the characters aren’t behind the wheel. Much like the Wachowski’s Matrix Reloaded and Revolutions, Speed Racer is extremely bloated. Clocking in at close to two and a half hours, there’s just way too many boring moments in between all the spectacular races.

Royalton’s motives are clear right from the start – the man wants money, we get it. But that doesn’t stop The Wachowski’s from piling on scene after scene of Royalton’s shady dealings with various different baddies who make up the Racer world, throw in a couple of double crosses and an attempt at giving Racer X some back-story and you end up with a lot of unnecessary filler.

Overall, Speed Racer is sure to entertain the younger audience, and even adults will get a kick out of the colorful-CGI filled world, but when the cars aren’t moving, you’ll likely be looking at your watch.