All these colors, racing across the screen and pervading into my retinas, it is almost the equivalent of watching 2001: A Space Odyssey except without the classical music and the ambiguous plot. The Wachowski Brothers, creators of the visually stunning Matrix film and the equally as slick V for Vendetta action / terrorist fest give the audience a shower of colors in this adaptation of the famed cartoon. Everything is quite simple, that is never in question and anyone going in for a complex story is sorely mislead. This is a tongue and cheek homage of sorts to the corny animated cartoon series. Go in for an enjoyable ride of slick racing action and dazzling effects and very bright colors and you will not be very disappointed as the film delivers several excitement-filled races, which are never in question.
That is the whole thing of going in watching this, go for the fun of it not some deep story with complex villains. It is clear-cut even from the design what is good, what is bad, and the musical cues are dead give a-ways. Emil Hirsch plays the one-minded hero of the film Speed Racer and does a nice straight arrow job of it in contrast to his great performance in Into the Wild where he plays a free spirit. Here he plays the loyal and justice driven son. On the other side of the spectrum is Roger Allam who plays nefarious Royalton who is the big company owner who would sell his soul to keep winning and fixing the big races of the film. These two especially Allam ham up their scenes along the corny dialog to display their divergent natures Allam as the definition of evil and Hirsch as the innocent and driven hero, but that is completely all right given the material. I did not go in expecting a serious film, but fun filled corny adventure.
The films most attractive feature, of course, is the extremely saturated coloring, which gives a very surreal nature to the film and makes everything blur in a rainbow effect. This works especially well as reality and imagination are blended throughout the film. It makes the film feel corny and outrageous through and through which never leaves in doubt the tone meant for the film. So my advice for those who would go see this highly enjoyable flick is leave your analytical mind behind because there is not much to this tale. Nothing to it but fun filled mindless adventure with a clear-cut value scale.
That is the whole thing of going in watching this, go for the fun of it not some deep story with complex villains. It is clear-cut even from the design what is good, what is bad, and the musical cues are dead give a-ways. Emil Hirsch plays the one-minded hero of the film Speed Racer and does a nice straight arrow job of it in contrast to his great performance in Into the Wild where he plays a free spirit. Here he plays the loyal and justice driven son. On the other side of the spectrum is Roger Allam who plays nefarious Royalton who is the big company owner who would sell his soul to keep winning and fixing the big races of the film. These two especially Allam ham up their scenes along the corny dialog to display their divergent natures Allam as the definition of evil and Hirsch as the innocent and driven hero, but that is completely all right given the material. I did not go in expecting a serious film, but fun filled corny adventure.
The films most attractive feature, of course, is the extremely saturated coloring, which gives a very surreal nature to the film and makes everything blur in a rainbow effect. This works especially well as reality and imagination are blended throughout the film. It makes the film feel corny and outrageous through and through which never leaves in doubt the tone meant for the film. So my advice for those who would go see this highly enjoyable flick is leave your analytical mind behind because there is not much to this tale. Nothing to it but fun filled mindless adventure with a clear-cut value scale.