Speed Racer

Before I delve into my review of this movie, let me preface it with my personal story of how I came to see this unique film.

I saw the trailer for Speed Racer in the theater before Iron Man. I had a very low opinion of it. I knew of the Wachowski Brothers' obsession with anime homages, and I figured that this was another film that would only appeal to those who were already in love with the original TV series (which I was not). I quickly dismissed the film as "trash" that no one in their right mind would actually want to see.
When the film released in theaters last month, I went through my usual routine of listening to IGN.com's podcasts. On the IGN Movies podcast (which is hosted by several editors whose opinions I greatly respect) it was said that Speed Racer is in fact an "incredible" film, but is also somewhat of a concept film, and would likely not make sense to most professional film reviewers. I fancy myself a fan of concept films, so at this point I began to consider Speed Racer a possible film-to-see.
When the opportunity came to see the movie last weekend, I took it.
I am infinitely glad that I did.

From the start of the film, I decided to accept it for what it was. I wasn't going to judge it for lacking depth, but rather enjoy it for its amazingly well-crafted visual design. The first several seconds of the film are a kaleidescope of contrasting colors, not unlike the original Willy Wonka (not that Johnny Depp trash). Oh, hey, just for fun, here's the first seven minutes of the film, kindly posted online by Warner Bros and Yahoo:



As you can see, it's a color-filled candyland of speed. Honestly, though, those first few minutes aren't quite enough to hook you on the film. After another 15-30 minutes, the main conflict kicks in, and the simple-yet-still-enjoyable plot will have you cheering (perhaps only inwardly) for Speed Racer in his quest to change the world.

The character of Speed Racer is remarkable, even among the countless young-and-somewhat-naive-hero characters that--for better or for worse--permeate the modern cinema.
While characters like Peter Parker are prone to failing by making bad personal decisions, Speed Racer does better. He is indeed young and slightly immature, but he has a sense of right and wrong that surpasses his immaturity. He isn't stupid (though he is indeed annoying as a young child during the first few minutes of the film), and his wisdom makes up for his lack of experience.
It's refreshing to have a character that does not make mistakes merely because the "Bible of filmmaking" dictates that he must.
It makes for a character that the viewer can genuinely support, and makes the audience feel as if they are part of the Racer family, desperately hoping for his success.
I didn't anticipate liking Speed as a character, but I was pleasantly surprised. The rest of the characters are great as well.
(For the guys in the audience, Christina Ricci plays Speed's girlfriend. Which is pretty freakin' awesome.)


I must say that, as someone who had never watched more than a few minutes of the Speed Racer anime, I was initially skeptical of the idea that a race car driver could somehow be a world-saving hero. However, the film's story shows (in perhaps too complicated a fashion) the importance of the races due to company investments. Furthermore, the film establishes the importance of racing to the Racer family (okay, that sentence came out oddly), and makes the races feel important. The audience cares about the races because they have a deep significance to the characters, much in the same way that dancing movies illustrate the importance of dancing to the main characters.
(No, I have not seen many dancing movies. My mother has. I just happened to walk by several times. Honestly.)

The real draw of this film, however, is the visual style. Many films, from the Spy Kids series to Ang Lee's Hulk have attempted to merge the style of cartoons with live-action. It has not worked very well. If anything, it normally looks badly made (Hulk) or perhaps badly made on purpose, as a joke (Spy Kids).
Speed Racer is the first film to make it work, and work beautifully.
While there are a few scenes in which the green screen work is obvious, the vast majority of the film looks outstanding. Furthermore, the physics of everything from the cars to the characters looks correct. I still cannot figure out how they did it, but somehow, although it's obvious that the laws of physics are being ignored, it somehow doesn't look "wrong." It just looks fun, and that's exactly what it is.


Don't make the mistake of thinking that Speed Racer is a stupid film as I initially did. Do yourself a favor and see the film in theaters before it's gone, even if you have to see it in the dollar theater. This film was made for the big screen. Don't watch it on home video unless you can see it on a big screen (preferably on Blu-Ray disc, as detail and color is everything in this movie).

Surprising though it may seem, I thoroughly enjoyed Speed Racer far more than I did Iron Man. Though I understand that many will disagree with me, I believe that this film deserves to be rated according to what it truly is: a film that delves into all manner of visual fun, creating a world in which the most outlandish things are plausible, and where adrenaline-fueled fun goes on forever.

9 out of 10.

Go Speed Racer, Go.