Speed Racer is a hyperkinetic, stylized racing movie based on anime from the '60s. Helmed by the Wachowski brothers, the movie appears like live-action animation, but for all the visual trickery Speed Racer does not finish first in the summer blockbuster movie race.
For the unfamiliar, Speed Racer tells the story of a teenage boy, named Speed Racer, who enters his high performance sports car, the Mach V, into international races and takes on the world's best drivers.
The movie stays true to the formula of the original cartoon. It opens with Speed's brother, Rex, leaving the family to race for another team. Shortly after, he is killed during a race. Speed grows up in Rex's shadow.
A wealthy industrialist named Royalton offers to buy the family's racing team, but Speed refuses. Royalton is irritated by Speed's rejection and starts fixing races so Speed will lose. Racer X, a mysterious driver who is actually Speed's brother, comes to his aid, and they work together to beat Royalton and reveal his cheating. In the end, Speed gets a chance to compete in the world's most important grand prix.
Speed Racer's editing was clearly designed to keep every ADD-afflicted six-year-old's attention. It jumps between the present, the past in flashbacks, and characters' internal monologues. It is hard to know if what is on screen is really happening. The bright, flashing colors do even more to make sure that kids will keep watching.
There are three major things wrong with this film. First, the cars sound awful. Chest thumping, ear-splitting walls of sound are the major thrill of going to any auto race. It is disappointing that any movie about car racing would get this integral element so extremely wrong. The cars sound more like vacuum cleaners than race cars.
Second, Spritle, Speed's little brother, and Chim Chim, the family's pet chimp, are the worst characters in any movie since Jar Jar Binks.
The two of them are clearly meant to appeal to the kiddies. They come on screen in the middle of good, dramatic scenes to inject humor. For instance, after Speed has rejected Royalton, they come on screen high on sugar and air-guitaring to Freebird. They purposely jolt you out of the movie's major dramatic moments, and it ruins the film. Speed Racer's last mortal sin is not using the original, American cartoon's fantastic theme song. This seems like a minor complaint, but it is such an iconic song, and is irrevocably linked to the show.
The movie boasts a vivid visual style and has some commendable performances, but there are just too many things wrong with this movie to recommend it. Speed Racer does not come in last place, but it will not be scoring any points.
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Chris Bruce
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