Speed Racer (2008) User Reviews

Pleasing and grandly amusing adventure about a crack racer based on a Japanese classic cartoon

[ma-cortes · 7/10 · 23 August 2009]

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.

Speed Racer

[jboothmillard · 7/10 · 3 June 2016]

The Wachowskis (Bound, Cloud Atlas) have come a long way since directing The Matrix franchise, in fact both brothers have made the transition to become openly transgender women, Larry is now Lana and Andy is now Lilli, this process started happening around the time of the release of this film, when they were still credited as The Wachowski Brothers (Lana was still Larry then). Basically in near- distant future, eighteen-year-old James "Speed" Racer (Into the Wild's Emile Hirsch) has always had a love and life for automobile racing, since he was in school, he is now the youngest driver in the WRL (World Racing League) with natural racing instincts. Speed's ultimate dream is to win the Casa Cristo Cross Country Rally, also known as The Crucible, this race took the life of his older brother Rex (Scott Porter). Speed is loyal to his family's independent business, Racer Motors, run by his parents, Pops (John Goodman) and Mom (Susan Sarandon), Speed is using his brother's car, the Mach 5 and his own Formula One car the Mach 6, both designed by his father. The owner of conglomerate Royalton Industries, E.P. Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam), makes a lucrative offer to sign to race with him, and have an astoundingly luxurious lifestyle, Royalton is angered when he declines. Then Speed uncovers a secret that many races are being fixed, top corporate interests, including Royalton, are cheating to gain profit, having denied his offer Royalton wants to ensure that that Speed will not win races. Speed has the support of his parents and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), he enters The Crucible, and he is going against his one-time rival, the mysterious masked Racer X (Lost's Matthew Fox), Speed seeks to rescue his family's business and the racing sport itself. In the end Speed wins the race, Royalton's crimes are exposed, and a flashback reveals Racer X is in fact Rex, he faked his death and changed his appearance with plastic surgery as part of a plan to save his family and the sport of racing, he chooses not to reveal his identity to his family, Royalton goes to jail and the Racer celebrate Speed's victory, Speed and Trixie kiss. Also starring Paulie Litt as Spritle Racer, Benno Fürmann as Inspector Detector, The Wolverine's Hiroyuki Sanada as Mr. Musha, Rain as Taejo Togokahn, Shaft's Richard Roundtree as Ben Burns, Edge of Tomorrow's Kick Gurry as Sparky and Run Lola Run's Moritz Bleibtreu as Grey Ghost. Hirsch does well as the young racing hero, Goodman and Sarandon get their time as the parents, and Allam is a suitably dastardly villain, this film is based on a cult 1960s anime show, which would explain why the world in which the characters inhabit is digitised, the backgrounds and fast-paced race sequences are filled to the brim with vibrant colourful special effects CGI, this adds to the spectacle of it, all the family will watch and enjoy entering a different dimension, a most fun sports action comedy. Very good!

Visually Amazing with Stunning Colors

[BaronBl00d · 6/10 · 21 December 2008]

I never saw the Japanese animated series and went into Speed Racer as a pure novice. I also am not of a fan of racing. Notwithstanding I enjoyed the film as a piece of enjoyable entertainment as it chronicles the rise and grit of Speed Racer and the Racer family as they combat the evils of a world built on bribery, consumerism, and sponsorships. While much of the story's finer subtleties may have been lost on me, the film is very easy to understand. It's not Hamlet but is better than some of the mindless entertainment churned out these days in Hollywood. Part of the credit goes to the actors who give their roles enough attention to take them seriously for the most part. Emile Hirsch is fine in the title role. Matthew Fox is really rather good as Racer X. John Goodman gives an acceptable performance as Pops Racer and Susan Sarandon the same as the mom. I really enjoyed the performance of Roger Allam as the heavy. He could ooze with dialog with the best. The directors achieved more importantly a film that is visually stunning and stylistic in its own right. I didn't like all of the innovative things they did. The constant scenes overlapping became tiresome after awhile. But the races had a surrealistic look that made them oddly quite compelling. Speed Racer isn't trying to be taken too terribly serious. After all it is based on an animated series! But it does give the audience a lot of bang for its buck and captivated me the entire time. The biggest annoyance for me was the kid playing Spritle - I just didn't find him cute at all. Not one bit.

Terribly marketed but actually a technically impressive and quite fun family film despite being overlong and a bit hollow

[bob the moo · 11 September 2008]

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.

A Wild Ride Of Colors & FX

[ccthemovieman-1 · 7/10 · 26 September 2008]

If you're into color, this film is for you. It's hard to imagine a movie with more and bolder colors and wild action that is presented here.

The story is predictable and a bit juvenile but I'm an older guy. For kids and most of the family, this should be very enjoyable. For those, like me, who like special-effects and stylish visuals, it was definitely worth a look, particularly on a Blu-Ray hi-definition disc.

Many of the characters were over-the-top, especially the villains, naturally, led by Roger Allam as "Arnold Royalton." The good guys - meaning "Speed Racer" and his family, were okay. It was odd seeing Susan Sarandon and John Goodman playing the parents, but, that's Hollywood. The younger brother "Sprittle" (Paulie Litt) and the chimp, I'm sure, drew most of the laughs from most audiences.

This film, however, is not really about the story or, more specifically, about futuristic auto racing, although if you love auto racing you should like this - it's about the incredible colors and special-effects extravaganza. Hey, the guys who made this movie made the three "Matrix" films, so that should tell you something.

I felt like I was on Speed while watching this movie

[Smells_Like_Cheese · 5/10 · 11 May 2008]

Speed Racer, blockbuster number 2 for the summer, based off the popular animated 60's cartoon, the first real "Japanimation" series, we have the now live action film. What was supposed to also be a family film, this film just flops on. First I'll start on the positives: bright colors, exciting effects, and it felt like a cartoon, which is what it meant to bring. However, this movie was overly long, if it's supposed to be for kids, so don't make it into a 2 hour and 15 minute film. Like one of the ending scenes where Speed has all these flash backs of earlier scenes, we didn't need it. Some of the dialog, it was decent but again, could have been shortened. Also, I know that CGI is a thing that will never die, but it's not my cup of tea, because it just takes away something special. But the story does deliver on it's fast paced race scenes.

Speed Racer has lived a fast paced life on the road, trying to live up to his "deceased" brother's world of racing. But all these sponsors are coming after him, but he wishes to stay in the family with his dad, mom, little brother, and Tricksey, his girlfriend. With the help of a mysterious Racer X, Speed wishes to beat the sponsors who threw things in his face and just make money off of him, and can just prove that he is the number one racer in the world.

Speed Racer, for a summer blockbuster, it's a decent enough film, however it does have it's flaws here and there. Now the one thing I was impressed with is that not only did they make it feel like a cartoon, but it was over all pretty faithful the the original cartoon series, so you get a real feel of the original story. I just think it was a little too long and the CGI was a little too much, it was almost like why did they even need the actors? Everything was probably a green screen, so what's the point in making it with human actors? But this is a fun movie for the kids with the bright colors, it just could have been shorter, because the kids will probably loose attention with the film. But for the 10+ year old's, they'll definitely get into it.

5/10

Way better than I thought...

[BandSAboutMovies · 7/10 · 27 April 2019]

As a kid, I was totally obsessed with Japanese culture. In the late 1970's, we had Godzilla, Gamera, Johnny Sokko, Ultraman, Battle of the Planets, Starblazers and Speed Racer all on TV at the same time. The thing is, I was the older brother who always felt like the screw-up, so Racer X was my hero. I avoided this movie when it was released. How could it live up to my memories? I'm pleased t admit I was wrong. This movie is crazy in all the best ways.

After years of this movie never getting made, The Wachowskis were able to bring it to the screen. Just from the beginning - where time overlaps and we get both the backstory of Speed, his brother Rex and the race that they've both won - this movie grabs you. Yes, it's way too CGI intense but at some point, all the blurring and spins and overlaps just win you over.

Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) loves racing and loves his family - Pops (John Goodman), Mom (Susan Sarandon), brother Spritle, chimp Chim Chim, his mechanic Sparky and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) - even more. He once had a brother named Rex who left the family for racing and became one of the dirtiest racers in the sport before dying in the Casa Cristo 5000 cross country rally. Seriously, the flashback scene that tells you all of this will either thrill or exhaust you.

Everything from the show is here, from how Speed leaps from the Mach 5 and the screen turns to pose in the original animation to characters like race fixer Cruncher Block, Inspector Detector, Snake Oiler and Prince Kabalah as well as the Mach 5, the Shooting Star, the GRX race car and the Mammoth Car.

In a better world, the fact that this movie exists in a candy-colored neon world would have been seen as a welcome escape from the grim and gritty world that we live in. Sadly, it was not to be, although the film made up from its box office losses via merchandising and video sales.

At one point, Julien Temple was to direct, Johnny Depp was to play Speed and Henry Rollins was going to be Racer X. I kinda wanna see that movie now.

Great special effects! Bad movie :(

[pat-pat · 4/10 · 13 May 2008]

Well the creators of the matrix have tried their hand at directing something new. However I'm sad to say its not very good. The movies biggest problem is its script, its about as good as a Saturday morning YU-GI-OH! cartoon. And hey i know this film is supposed to be campy but come on. The second problem, this movie is wayyyyy to long for a kids movie, I'm sure kids will start to figit once the movie trys to be smart by bringing up issues of the racing biz and thanks to the awful script it falls flat on its face. I could go on about the movies other problems such as Speed's annoying little bro and his chimp and the bland characters, but this film does have one redeeming quality,the special effects. The movie looks great from the racing scenes to the color palate, the Wachowski's know their special effects. i recommend u wait for the film to come out on DVD and rent it, so u can fast forward through the crappy dialog and watch the races.

As with most of the Wachowski's works, Speed Racer is generally misunderstood

[jj-jesus92 · 9/10 · 14 December 2010]

After reading seanwalker's review of Speed Racer, I feel compelled to write a positive review in light of such skepticism.

First off, this is not some stupid trolling endeavor. The guy who wrote that review is clearly intelligible, he just didn't get this movie.

Speed Racer, as do all Wachowski movies, has a theme: family. Speed Racer captures the ideal family in a realistic way, showing the conflicts between child and parents with the coming of age, first with Rex Racer and then with Speed Racer. In this film, the power of strength in family overcomes all odds, all conspiracies, and all evil. When all ideals of goodness seem to fade, family still remains strong. It may be a somewhat simple message, but the message runs deeply throughout the film, and, after all, this is a family movie.

Though the effects were likewise phenomenal, after Royalton's speech, you can't possibly say this movie isn't deep. Once again, the Wachowski's apply multidimensional philosophy into their film, a feat that hasn't been done before in a family film, at least not that I can immediately recall.

And finally, we are faced with everyone's biggest complaint about Speed Racer: the big cheese. The cheesiness will make you cringe occasionally, but that's not to say that it isn't intentional. Fans of the original series will tell you that the corniness and overdone comic relief were part of what made the series what it is. As the great Tarentino would do, the Wachowski's stay true to their original content, and not only include each character of the original series, but portray them as they've always been portrayed, with Racer X as the only character without a ridiculous, cheesy scene.

Speaking of Racer X, how about some praise for this movie instead of just counterargument! Racer X's portrayal is wonderful! This may be a spoiler, but honestly, if you don't know by now that "Racer X is really Rex Racer, the older brother of Speed who ran away from home years ago and is secretly racing behind the mask and the wheel of the number nine, the shooting star" then you probably need to go watch the series. As an older brother, I find Racer X to be a heart-wrenching character. Not only does he posses the inner fire to do whatever it takes outside of cheating to liberate the sport of his passion, but he will sacrifice even more for the good of his family, though disowned by them. He is the icon of sacrifice, passion, and, yes, badassery. And still, within a family film! If you're a fan of the series, you will love this movie. It has literally everything the series had, corniness and all, but also a deeper message about family. The racing scenes, which I have little about, are indisputably enamoring, fast paced, sleek, and full of the crazy stunts and devices the old series had. Any fan of the series will love this movie.

For everyone else, the cheese may be unbearable. Some people just don't feel the pull to be open minded to corniness, especially when it comes to family movies, and that's understandable, just make sure you know that this corniness doesn't spring from poor direction. Also, as with The Incredibles, those that don't relate so well to messages of family strength, or those that don't want to see a coming of age movie, no matter how well down, will also experience distaste for this film. But whether it's your cup of tea or not, this is a well done movie with depth, passion, and of course mind-blowing color and effects.

The ultimate Wachowski movie

[name99-92-545389 · 6/10 · 28 February 2022]

To my eyes this is peak Wachowski, with all that implies, positive and negative.

Wachowski movies pretty much always provide intense visual spectacle coupled to a plot that makes little to zero sense (oh spare me your nonsense about deep philosophy embedded in The Matrix!), and this movie dials both of those to 11.

The plot makes zero sense even within the framework of the movie! The drivers all believe the races are honest, and the parents all believe racing is mostly safe, even though every event looks like something out of Death Race 2000???

So just accept, going in, that the plot is nonsense and it's ALL about the visuals. Which has a few consequences, the most important of which is that this movie was made for a large OLED screen, and displayed in HDR. Do not try to watch it on anything less. It just will not be pleasant; you'll miss all the value of the movie. The stills show some of what to expect, but they and the previews on this site don't have the HDR that makes what you see truly astonishing, these insane ultra-oranges side by side with deep purple or eye-watering fuchsia.

And so, and I cannot stress this enough, the experience is like eating cotton candy - more than a small dose will make you violently ill! I watched it over four days, about half an hour a day, and I think that's about the right pace. Anything more than that and your brain and visual system will be permanently scarred.

What were they thinking?

[kgprophet · 3/10 · 11 May 2008]

This movie is bad. It's "Last Action Hero" bad, it's Ang Lee's "Hulk" bad, it's "Flinstones" bad, it's "Phantom Menace" bad. I started to get that sinking feeling as the opening act failed to find it's groove, jumping all over the place without giving the audience a chance to ground themselves. Supposedly this is a movie made for youngsters. If this was true, they would know enough to keep the running time to about 90 minutes. I can guarantee you that if the studio required the Wachowski Bros to shorten the run time, this movie would have been much better. They also should have known that you can't keep up this flashy visual style for over two hours, for it becomes repetitious and loses it's effect on the audience. The worst thing you can ever do for a summer popcorn movie is have long long monologues. My God, it's not a contest to see how many words you can use to describe the racing business. What were they thinking as we are inundated with countless close-ups spewing subplot after subplot. After about an hour of this claptrap, I just gave up trying to keep track of who was in trouble, who was friendly, it just went on and on.

The flashy editing didn't help with the racing sequences, because you are only given 1 second to figure out what's going on in a shot before it changes again. A few race sequences weren't fleshed out enough to get a sense of the endurance. We rarely see the actual start, and the flashy editing prevents you from keeping track of who is where, or whether they are winning.

I gave this movie a shot by seeing it on Imax, but it just made the nose hairs bigger.

Added 05/27/08: I am truly puzzled by the stark contrast in the reviews on IMDb. Many reviews were 10 stars and fawning over how perfect it is. I really can't see by any stretch of the imagination how this could be given a perfect score. Judging not only by the critical reviews but also the nearly empty theatres nationwide, it is NOT any kind of masterpiece. I am hesitant to guess, but perhaps these early reviews were planted? I was fooled in the past by early glowing reviews on IMDb (Swordfish comes to mind), and certainly am wary these days. Especially when the film is given 10 stars and described as if it is the most important achievement in movie-making. Speed Racer? I don't think so.

Total 10 when on edibles

[seshygrl89 · 10/10 · 16 May 2023]

All of the bright color and cartoonish effects are really fun under the right circumstances. ;) Even if not under the influence, it can still be a real fun movie especially when it feels like it's making fun of itself. Was a fan of the original show so I liked the movie for that fact alone but the other factors take it over the top, just like the effects. A fun ride, just like the one the race cars have. It's like a more colorful family friendly Sin City. Much of the movie is like riding a rainbow. It is probably the most colorful movie there is. The plot stands on its own even if it is often overshadowed by obvious ridiculousness.

when it's a dumb, colorful B-movie from an anime show, it works. when it goes for plot, it... doesn't so much

[Quinoa1984 · 6/10 · 27 May 2008]

Leave it to the Wachowski brothers, masterminds behind the Matrix and V for Vendetta, to take something of a cult item like Speed Racer and try and turn it to a summer blockbuster. It wasn't so bad trying to make it into a movie, but the "summer" and "blockbuster" parts are trickier, particularly when up against the heavyweight competition (which, as with Indiana Jones and especially Iron Man are, to be fair, better movies). In their attempt to make a movie suitable for kids they did a job better than expected, but it's also a nutty piece, a film brimming with a cavalcade of colors and CGI gimmickry that's akin to Nascar on LSD. Like the show, it works best for a cult audience- either fans of the show or those who are little kids (under 10) or can tap into that side of themselves now and again- and it's not surprising it didn't do well at the box-office. In another part of the year, maybe, it would've done better.

I would like to report that it's the most underrated flick of the season, but I'd be lying. It is a flawed movie, where the story- of Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) and his battles with the corrupt owner of Royalton motors (Roger Allam) with the help of Trixie, his girlfriend (Christina Ricci) and the mysterious masked Racer X (Matthew Fox), not to mention winning the big Grand Prix race- is told at times in such a jumbled way that one starts to loose the momentum built up in the race scenes. Even in the climax of the picture there's spouts of flashbacks that almost start to kill the adrenaline in the sequence. And, as is often to happen in kids movies, only here to the max, there's a detailing of the plot, twists that occur (I won't reveal which though they should be obvious), and some themes touched upon (redemption, revenge) that can barely be given enough weight given everything else that's going on.

But this being said, there is enough to recommend in the picture overall for a rental; preferably widescreen for the full effect of the close-up visual scheme used constantly. When sticking to what probably made the series enjoyable, Speed Racer is good, not-quite old fashioned guilty pleasure. Actors like Allam (reprising a role somewhat from V For Vendetta) and Fox chew up their scenes especially well, and Hirsch is a solid choice for Speed. There's actually fun comic relief between Speed's younger brother and a chimp (including one impossibly laugh out loud moment where they fight monsters inside a bad anime TV show). And the races themselves are delirious imaginations, somewhere between the range of kung-fu and the pod race from Phantom Menace with a chase of amphetamines. They truly are some crazy works of pop-art, and for all the money (too much money) that went into the visual effects, they synthesize strangely for these races, either on the wintry slopes or in the wacky Grand Prix itself.

What the brothers and the VFX crew were on when they created much of these scenes I can't say, and depending on the viewer they'll either delight one to hell or make on totally dizzy. For me, it's somewhere in the middle.

A bad misfire

[seawalker · 4/10 · 14 May 2008]

At the weekend I took my Nephew to see "Speed Racer". My Nephew is 12 years old. Midway through the film I leaned over to him and whispered, "What do you think?" and this is what he said to me.

"It's rubbish, man!"

My Nephew was right as well. "Speed Racer" is very rubbish.

I will admit that "Speed Racer" looks absolutely fabulous. It shows us a big, bright, day glow universe. A multi-coloured extrapolation of how somebody living in the 1950's would think that a car racing obsessed future would look like. Breathtaking production design.

However... Other than the great visuals, "Speed Racer" is possibly the emptiest, shallowest, dullest movie experience I have had in a cinema, since my misfortune in shelling out a couple of quid to see "The Matrix" sequels. Very long and very boring. (Sorry guys, but a 2 hours and 15 minutes running time for a film aimed ostensibly at small children is way too much). "Speed Racer" is all glittering surface without a decent script underpinning it.

Sigh... I know it's dull, but let's repeat the mantra once again, shall we?

Special effects alone do not a good movie make.

Personally I felt sorry for the cast in getting involved in such a clunker. Emile Hirsch had good notices in "Into The Wild" (I missed that one), and I thought he was funny in "The Girl Next Door", but here he is a personality vacuum and wears one expression of mild bemusement throughout the entire movie. Fine performers like Christina Ricci, John Goodman and Susan Sarandon are totally wasted. Lastly, the less said about Paulie Litt as Speed's irritating younger brother the better, and let's not mention the comedy chimp at all. Life is too short. (Whoops! Just did.)

A bad misfire, then, but in recent times I have learnt to expect nothing much from the Wachowski's. "The Matrix" had it's moments (the first DVD I ever had, fact fans), but the best movie they were ever involved in was the lesbian film noir "Bound" and that was released way back in 1996. I would love the Wachowski's to do something as good again, but I doubt that they will. They have discovered the paintbox of digital special effects and, as long as those films continue to make money, I doubt they will ever want to close the lid on the paintbox.

The Hungry Desire of Eye

[tedg · 10 May 2008]

I saw this the same night as the latest film by my favorite filmmaker and I must admit that this held its own.

Sure, the story is silly and there are the requisite two lessons for children. All the shots with the parents could have been replaced with a dialog card so far as I care. But this is highly cinematic in a fine-grained sense.

Coursegrained long form would be the cinematic values of that Peter Greenaway film, where the narrative has substance and is cast cinematically. The contrast is shocking, with this Wachowski business seeming to be mere busy style.

But look again. There's real value in how the story is told even though the story is as close to vacuous white noise as possible. In fact, there's a statement there that matters. This movie is about movie-making. The watchers of the "race" are watchers of the movie. Its a simple fold.

I consider this the best of the brothers' films because their sometimes intriguing plots distract from their deeper intent. That intent is to visually explore what it means to watch. Sure, those plots are about watching as well. But people watch "The Matrix" and build religions around the story mechanics as if they matter. Previously, "Bound" was my favorite Wachowski film because it suppressed the noise of the story so as to equal the expression of that story in terms of the eye, the desire of eye.

These folks are to Welles as Coltrane is to Getz. They run riffs whose patterns are derived from the languid, meaningfilled studies of what went before, but which are presented so quickly you cannot possibly comprehend the fullness with which they were originally loaded.

That overloading of serious visual grammar has an immediate effect: that we are really there instead of digesting something filtered to be simple enough for us to understand. But there's a deeper effect: there is so much motion here, so many paths we can choose from to decide what we see, that there's a sort of tease between the film and our mind about what options they will present — and what tricks they will use to suggest paths to comprehension. And on our part to discard, to race ahead of the track suggested, to speed ahead and get to the end before even the movie.

I consider this serious work, and an advance in film grammar that possibly will be profound.

Ted's Evaluation -- 3 of 3: Worth watching.

Poor Marketing, Good Film

[gavin6942 · 6/10 · 24 May 2008]

Young Speed Racer is in constant admiration of his older brother Rex Racer. Coming of age, Speed becomes a great driver himself, possibly the best in the world. Who is Racer X? What is the story with the evil gang who tortures people with piranhas? And is it better to be independent or join up with a billion dollar corporation in order to get the best gear? I've been a fan of Speed Racer for some time. I grew up watching reruns on late night television (it's a 1960s show, and I'm a bit younger than that). I have a Speed Racer shirt that I love wearing. So when I heard a film was coming out and starring one of my favorite actresses, Christina Ricci, as Trixie, I was intrigued. But then I saw the trailer and my heart sank. It was all digital animation and looked about as boring as watching NASCAR.

At fault here are the people who made the trailer. If this film fails, it's the poor advertising. Who cares about seeing race scenes? The focus should have been on the actors. The trailer doesn't tell you that this film stars heavy-weights like Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Matthew Fox. Very little of the movie actually takes place on the race track. Goodman in particular is quite good (as usual) and Fox isn't as wooden as he is on "Lost".

I'm still not a fan of CGI or computer animation in general. But, to be fair, in order to turn a 1960s anime into a live-action film, I think the Wachowski brothers ("Matrix") did about as good as can be expected. At least they used a real chimp for Chim-Chim. The animation didn't bother me. In fact, my only real complaint was with Ricci. I miss the days of the pudgy Ricci. This new one, who needs to eat a sandwich, doesn't have the appeal or charisma as she did in her younger days.

"Speed Racer" will not be for everyone. The humor is unusual, the characters are strange (on purpose) and exaggerate Japanese culture quite a bit at times. The film strives towards PG, but includes situations that would have worked better with a PG-13, so it comes off as awkward at times. But I really thought this would be a bigger disappointment. I enjoyed "Speed Racer", and for anyone who is curious I don't think they should shy away.

another sad case of buying out our childhood

[notatntt · 3/10 · 12 May 2008]

So I took my daughter to see Speed Racer yesterday. What a pile of rubbish. On it's own, it was OK...no, it was stupid. But to add Speed Racer to it is just an insult. Insane and unrealistic driving. The characters were props and you had no want or desire for anyone to succeed. The whole movie is a CGI + Green Screen psychedelic trip with a wooden acting.

Had they made the movie without using Speed Racer, it would have been better. If you never watched the cartoon, you may like it. But having grown up watching the cartoon, I hated it. A vindictive Speed Racer goes a far left from the idealist and purist of the original.

Shame on the Wachowski Brothers for this stinking pile of epilepsy inducing garbage.

Andy & Larry, I want my $20 back you hacks!!

Purity and Shamelessness

[Nicol_Bolas · 6/10 · 3 August 2009]

There are so many movie adaptations of other media that are ashamed of their source material. They want to run away as fast as possible from what the source material was. In some cases, this means dropping minor aspects of the original. In other cases, this means changing the entire tone of a work.

Take The Dark Knight. For all of its greatness, it isn't a Batman film. Indeed, it would probably have had more verisimilitude if they'd called the character "The Vigilante" or some such. Every time the word "Batman" is uttered, the film seems to lose its tone. Batman is reduced to an artifact in his own movie, an echo of an unwanted element in this serious character study/action film.

Speed Racer is completely without shame for its source material. This is Speed Racer in live-action. The world is clean and pure, the racing scenes are absolutely over-the-top (even moreso than in the cartoon, if you can believe that), and even the characters are broad and dramatic. It is, in a word, pure.

No attempt is made to cover up the fact that a family with the last name "Racer" had a child that they decided to give the first name "Speed". This is introduced, and the audience is to either accept it or move on to something else. Speed's brother has a pet chimpanzee; this is introduced and the audience is expected to accept it or leave. The whole movie is like this.

There is nothing quite like a film that knows what it's trying to achieve and lets nothing stand in the way of achieving that. This film sets out to make live-action Speed Racer, and it succeeds. If that interests you, check it out.

Expected much more

[sashoh · 4/10 · 7 July 2008]

I went to the cinema expecting another spectacular show from the "brothers", but I was sadly disappointed. The movie proved what I actually though it was, a huge special effect show, but apart from that is can be defined by only one word - CHILDISH. I am can definitely say that everyone with age 12 and below would love this movie, but come one, this is ridiculous! I give it a 4 four just, because of the idea for the movie and the effects, but in any other aspect it deserves at the most 1 star. I really reaally do hope that this movie does not have a sequel or at least, put some cartoon characters next, so that I know what I'm going to see when I enter the cinema.

I Don't Know What Haters Were Expecting But It Did Exactly What It Set Out To Do

[moinsyyed · 10/10 · 3 May 2008]

and that would be, entertain.

I can't describe how many times I thought 'whoah!' it's one of those moments that could only ever happen in cartoons or 'whoa!' that was anime level crazy! This film set out to create a literal live action adaptation of a lovable & cheesy retro cartoon anime. That's exactly what it did.

Let's start with the PG rating, this was appropriate not because this film is 'aimed' at kids (which it wasn't clearly, as box office disconnect showed) but because it's a 'family' film for all ages based on a cartoon that most of the older generation watched when they were kids, the source material barely even bordered a 12A and yet the film managed to in fact surpass it's source material in maturity.

Fans of anime will seriously lap this up despite what the recent comments have said. Not only has every care been taken to preserve elements of the source material but it also has those cool retro and also modern anime moments. Good and bad guys with crazy cartoon anime hairstyles, crazy over-the-top kung fu, elaborate motion line effects just like in mangas, crazy death defying races, cheesy as hell dialogue which fits perfectly in context! Performances were quite impressive given it's a predominantly 'kids' PG film and that they were filming against green screen.

I also commend the Wachowski's use of such a strong colour palette.They didn't tone it down or diverge from the theme and each scene had a contextual wash of colour.Serious or more intimate moments had darker shadows while remaining colourfully vibrant. They were bold and not shy about what this film was going to look like.

To the haters again i say ,'what exactly where you expecting? The Matrix with cars?, people getting there throats slit?, symbolic commentary on capitalism,corruption, religion or the new world order? Go into this movie expecting high adrenaline scenes and all campy fun that only a 60's anime adaptation can provide, but don't just to go and watch it just to 'see what the fuss is about' until you actually understand what the source material was like. That way the movie will exceed your expectations.

I don't have complete praise for this movie however, in that towards the end of the film they got a little overboard with the editing and i was really let down by the final antagonist type drivers. Speed seemed to have a harder time in the casa cristo race in the film where the other drivers were far more menacing. It seemed like 'Cannonball Taylor', 'Gray Ghost' and especially the bad ass, white haired yakuza driver (for musha motors by the way) were just a flash gone by and Speed just beat them without any problems at all. Let's hope they make more of a presence in any semblance of an extended/directors cut

Skip the first hour

[hitchcockkelly · 6/10 · 25 January 2023]

I'm giving this six stars with one caveat. If you must rent this and you know the basic background of the characters, start with scene 14 because that's when the plot begins. Speed is approached by Racer X and Inspector Detector to help bring down a corrupt race fixer by helping an informant win a race. After that, there is some good, plot-driven action and some nice emotional scenes between Speed, his father and mother, his girlfriend, and Racer X. The 13 scenes preceding it are boring and useless. The cuts back and forth between past and present are confusing. Rex comes off heroic while Speed is whiny. Skipping the first 57 minutes will also spare your eyeballs for the frenetic second half. Watching this film is like standing in a pinball machine being played with 100 gumballs. It could cause an epileptic fit in a sloth. The races are ludicrously staged, but you have to suspend a lot of disbelief to enjoy a film like this. In short, if you want to enjoy some flashy escapism, the last hour and fifteen minutes aren't so bad.

Look at the bright pretty colours.....

[neil-476 · 3/10 · 27 May 2008]

This movie was a disappointment. I don't know if the Speed Racer cartoon was ever shown in the UK - if it was, I missed it. But the fact that I've never seen the TV series is, I think, a reason why I may not have all the data I need to assess this film comprehensively. Because I don't think I am within the demographic which this film is aimed at.

Mind you, I'm not sure what that demographic is (other than middle-aged people who want to see the TV series translated into shiny new CGI - and that's an assumption on my part). One might think that the movie is a kids' film - it's full of bright shiny (bordering on fluorescent) colours, hyper-kinetic energy designed to appeal to the video game generation, and a simple-minded story. But then, and going with the story, there is much to put kids off - though simple-minded, I have my suspicions that kids aren't going to be too enthralled with the backstory of corporate corruption and, for a movie which runs over 2 hours (a long time for those restless little bums to stay on seats), there are several sections which are very very talky. I confess that I found it hard to stay awake through the main villain's attempted corruption of Speed.

There was a fair bit to irritate unindoctrinated adults, too - the immensely shudder-making younger brother and pet chimp take the chequered flag in this particular race. And, while I understand that this movie takes place in its own universe - a universe in which the laws of physics as we know them don't quite apply - I found myself getting very distracted by the randomness and inconsistency with which they were applied. OK, so you can race round mountain bends at several hundred miles per hour, and come to an abrupt stop without being pulped. But how come that out of the many, many apocalyptic crashes, the only one which actually harms anyone is Rex Racer (OK, I know, I know, but in terms of the impact on other characters). My, how dangerous this racing is - well, not really, you just get cocooned in foam or parachuted to safety.

I can't figure out the Wachowski brothers. Bound was a fabulous suspense thriller, wound tight as a watchspring. The Matrix was a groundbreaking sci-fi spectacular, with an interesting plot. V for Vendetta was a tolerable adaptation of a classic comic series.

But Speed Racer is grown from the same seeds as the Matrix sequels. Yes, there's some fabulous eye candy in it. But I also need something for the brain to get its teeth into. Where the Matrix sequels went to an extreme of overblown pretentiousness, it's almost as if the Wachowskis have gone to the opposite end of the spectrum here just to make a point. And neither extreme works.

Speed Racer was undeniably eye-catching, but I did not care about a single thing beneath the gaudy surface. Because there wasn't anything beneath that surface.

A good family movie

[nicib32 · 8/10 · 6 May 2008]

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.

Could be higher if it wasn't for...

[ustickemily · 7/10 · 25 May 2022]

I don't love nor hate this film. I enjoy it unlike the haters.

The visuals and acting, plus soundtrack are spot on. I used to have a crush on Emile Hirsch in this film.

But honestly, I could rate this movie higher if Spirtle and his pet monkey wasn't so annoying in this movie. That's my only problem with this film.

Who is this movie for, exactly?

[mistaphill · 3/10 · 14 May 2008]

I knew going in that the visuals were going to be the main draw to this movie, and after sitting through it I'm not entirely sure who the film is geared towards. Kids? OK, they'll like the video game-like car chases and the colors and especially the monkey, but they SURE AS HELL are not going to want to sit through the inane and sleep inducing dialog that is all over this movie, I could barely stand it myself. They will have never heard of the old Japanese cartoon this was based from. They're not going to want to hear how corrupt the racing industry is, or about the Racer family history, or want to see the sappy romantic scenes they want action. And you know what, they're right.

Is this for adults? Hmm, they say the word "ass" a few times, there's some martial arts fights sprinkled in, the filmmakers assume that some of us have heard of the old cartoon, though this movie really has nothing to do with it aside from the character names and the theme music at the end, and I guess we should be impressed by all the flashy computer graphics.

But man, was this thing a chore to sit through. It throws all these driving sequences at us right at the get in it's attempt to introduce Speed Racer to us, but I got a freakin headache from it. Then it got really slow and talky and I was damn near asleep. I was real close to walking out of a free screening, but I made myself sit through it. At this point, I didn't care about the characters, got bored with the driving shots, and was looking at my watch. There were points were even the visuals were very low-res looking as if it was rushed.

I know some of you Matrix nerds will automatically give this a high score because it's the Wachowski's, but so what? This is not a good movie. An expensive one, yes. A sometimes impressive looking one, yes? An entertaining one? No.