Speed Racer

As a child Speed Racer not only had his name as a developmental factor in his passion for motor racing, but also the influence of his older brother and famous driver Rex Racer. However when Rex is revealed as corrupt he is thrown from the sport and is eventually killed in a deadly cross-country race – devastating his family but yet purring Speed on to continue his brother's legacy, believing him to have been wrongly accused. As an adult he appears to have the racing world at his feet, with only the limited resources of his father's company as a constraint. An offer from one of the largest firms in the sport appears – but Speed soon learns that the sport he loves is not as pure or as clean as it is for him.

I remember seeing the trailer for this film and both me and my girlfriend turned to one another and simply said in unison that Speed Racer "looks awful". Presented as an adult action movie of sorts, it just looked terribly gaudy and nonsensical and I was not surprised when it got a critical mauling on its release in the UK. I watched it recently anyway though and quickly worked out that actually it was meant to be that way and that the marketing department did a terrible job of selling it by presenting it as something that it wasn't. Rather than an action film it is essentially a live action version of a cartoon series (which I have not seen) that is trying to be a cartoon in the same way as Tank Girl tried to be the comic strip even if it wasn't a great film. With Speed Racer it actually works better because it has the budget and the consistency across the film to just about carry the style. Substance-wise it must be said that there is not enough going on to really carry a film that is over two hours long and a lot of stuff could have been cut back some but this isn't really a film that is about substance. Some have said it is good for children and I do agree but again this makes me wonder why it ran as long as it did.

Anyway, the film it is all about the visual design and in this regard the film is quite impressive IF you keep in mind that it is deliberately the way that it is and that the gaudy colours and excessive special effects are all part of it and not just a sign of the Wachowski brothers going out of their minds. Style does not make a film brilliant though and indeed Speed Racer is still an acquired taste – if you can get into the comic book style then it just about works but personally I do not agree with those praising it to the high heavens. Technically yes, it is really good and I particularly like the visual awareness that built it, for example the editing and overlaying of images in the style of a comic book. The cast are not any good in a traditional sense but they do play up the hyper comic style performances required. Hirsch is a bit stiff but leads the film well, while Fox has already shown he likes style without a lot of substance and is equally sturdy. The supporting cast is deep in faces, all of whom pretty much fit with the weird comic book style even if I'm not sure what any single one of them personally gained by being in the film (apart from money of course). Ricci, Goodman, Sarandon, Roundtree and many others all show up and add to the novelty feel of the film.

Speed Racer is not a great film by any means but it certainly did not deserve the panning it generally got. It is important to watch it as a kid's animated cartoon, even if it cost millions and seems silly. In this mind, the visual style and everything else works because it makes sense – however two hours+ is still a tough ask for a film that is all style with very little of substance.

This tale starts with Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), he is an aggressive, impetuous, and brave crack pilot to win breathtaking world races. He lives with his mom (Susan Sarandon) and Pops racer (John Goodman) who designs a fabulous car along with a mechanic(Kirk Gurry), the Match 5 . The proprietary of Royal Industries does him a lavish offer but he rejects it. And he also uncovers a dark secret about the biggest races are being fixed . Speed Racer must save the sport he loves and his family racing business. Then Speed join forces with his one time rival Racer X (Matthew Fox) to win ¨Casa Cristo¨ rally , a cross country race, competing against dangerous racers and a shifty Japonese racer(Rain) and ultimately the ¨Grand Prix¨.

This exciting movie contains thrills, action-packed, tension, suspense and overwhelming races, but also some commercial elements. This is a dynamic, fast-paced and amusing movie. Full of action, its complemented by silly comedy in charge of a little boy and a monkey. The picture relies heavily on the overlong and death-defying races that are incredible and magnificently made by 3D computer generator. The story moves like a supersonic bullet for most of its running time and the last generation of fantastic cars steal the show. Contrived beyond belief with spectacular races that play like video games, but slickly calculated to please 2000 audiences and children especially. Emile Hirsch as valiant racer is good, he's an instinctive, stubborn and valiant young man. Susan Sarandon and John Goodman are sympathetic as his affectionate parents and Christina Ricci is beautiful as his love interest. Colorful cinematography plenty of pastel and glimmer color by David Tattersall. Impressive and groundbreaking production design by Owen Patterson. Stirring and moving musical score by Michael Giacchino, usual of J.J. Abrahams movies. The motion picture is well directed by the brothers Larry and Andy Wachowski adapting the famous Japonese anime . The Wachowski, also screenwriters(Speed Racer, V for vendetta)achieved his big success with Matrix trilogy and here get another great hit.

I just loved Speed Racer. It did an amazing job at entertaining, and overall the movie blew me away altogether. The movie may have became a little idiotic and somewhat uninteresting at points, but they did a very good job on the script and I loved all the awesome kick-ass action. One of my favorite parts is when they are fighting in the hotel bedroom, that scene was awesome, and I laughed at a lot of the cute jokes too.

I understand it was mostly all for thrills in the vision department, but that is what you should have been expecting when you went in to Overall Speed Racer exceeded my expectations, and in the end I was very glad I had the chance to view it, for I loved it and think it rises above a lot of other movies out there recently. It did not deserves it's Razzie noms. Give it one more chance if you did not like it.

I have to say, it seems that those who hated it were obviously not doing their homework beforehand to know that SR is not supposed to be a thought-provoking film like The Matrix. It is based on a wonderfully simple cartoon with a simple message for kids. If anyone knows anything about cult fans, they want films to reflect the original medium as much as possible. Thus, if you go to a children's movie based on a child-friendly anime, expect it to be such and not some mind-blowing,challenging film. Especially these days, we need films like this one to take our minds off the usual violence and such found in so many other so-called family movies. Take it as it is, a great family flick for ALL ages to simply enjoy.

Personally I have never been a fan of the original animated series, and I wasn't sure what to expect of this movie. After seeing the trailers I thought it looked kind of cheesy and over-done. After watching this I realized that the cheesy graphics, work to it's own advantage. This movie really caught a good look at Live action Speed Racer without losing the characteristics of the Cartoon. I didn't think even the Wachowski brothers could pull this off, but as usual, they did.

As far as the actors performances, Emile Hirsch did exceptional, but my eye was mostly on the brilliant performances by John Goodman, and new comer Paul Litt who plays Spritle, Speed's mischievous little brother. I recommend this for the family, don't wait for the DVD get to the theaters while this stunning cinematography is on the big screen!