Cinematography:
David TattersallComposer:
Michael GiacchinoCast:
Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Hiroyuki Sanada, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox, Scott Porter, Benno Fürmann, Richard Roundtree, Christian Oliver (more)VOD (3)
Plots(1)
Start your engines and fasten your seatbelts for the high-octane adventure Speed Racer, combining heartfelt family humor and groundbreaking visual effects. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is a natural behind the wheel of his thunderous Mach 5. With support from Pops and Mom Racer (John Goodman and Susan Sarandon), girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci), younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), Speed takes on fierce competitors to save his family’s business and protect the sport he loves. When Speed steps onto the track, it’s not just a race. It’s an adrenaline-fueled, high-speed charge to the finish. Go, Speed Racer, go! (Warner Bros. US)
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Reviews (13)
The first twenty minutes I joyfully wallowed in its ingenuity, stylization and precision that the Wachowskis shower at you both horizontally and vertically. But then the same happens over and over for the rest of the movie. Here and there a wonderful moment occurs, but mostly you just get a chimp gawping out at you from the screen. And I don’t mean the excellent as always Hirsch. In my eyes it gradually devolves into the level of a far too long tripped out paint by numbers book that isn’t shaken out of its over-combined lethargy until the very end. Personally, I was expecting something different and more bizarre. This was, Speedy’s adventures make a traditional infantile family movie about the right values, with a pinch of insight into basic capitalism for the very young. So, certainly baloney, but not much fun. Still I would like to recommend this epileptic’s paradise because you really don’t get the chance to see something like this every day. And, last but not least, for that feeling of speed that the Wachowski siblings (can’t call them brothers, can I?) are so skilled at instilling. P.S.: That monkey in the pajamas has an unpleasantly penetrating gaze. I still have the feeling that somebody’s looking at me. Brr.
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The audiovisual side of the movie is simply unbelievable. Painstaking racing scenes interspersed with a conflict between a family firm and a megalomaniac corporation represented by the slippery Roger Allam. Emile Hirsch gave a great performance in the role of Speed and I was equally surprised by Matthew Fox as the mysterious Racer X. Playful, sweet and funny (unfortunately sometimes too much so). Great for kids, remarkably digestible for adults.
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I hereby accuse the Wachowskis of illicit visual exhibitionism and wasting their enormous storytelling talents on a subject so predictable and bound by the conventions of the cheapest family pathos. On the other hand, it is very rare (if not impossible) to see a film that captivates and engrosses the viewer with its original visuals and absolutely ingenious spatio-temporal construction, so much that you want to remain a part of the "cheap and stupid" and, above all, incredibly rich fictional world that is presented at a tremendous pace and on a voluminous plot. The first 15 minutes represent one of the most beautiful narrative stretches in the history of cinema, while the rest of the film never ceases to surprise with an avalanche of revolutionary filmmaking ideas and bold decisions that, as we can see, have no chance of bridging the model habits of a significant part of the viewing public. But that's okay, great films have always stirred controversy and greatness is relative, and Speed Racer – a bold experiment with its own stylistic elements, an infinitely energetic tide with fade in effects at the level of shots, genres, narrative approaches and the cinematic underworld of the Wachowskis as such – is undoubtedly a tremendous film, deserving of detailed analysis to defend its rejected systemic modes and rules. Maybe some day, further screenings are unavoidable.
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A visual trip into the dimension of spilled colors and an absence of plot that perhaps only looks at family values and "sports" clichés. I’m not familiar with Japanese pop culture sources for manga comics, so after an hour and a half I was looking at the clock an unusual amount of times. Sure, it's new and unique and maybe someone will want to reference it now and then, but I don't think the Wachowskis are the kind of filmmakers suitable for family entertainment in which the children get lost and parents don't understand. While film theorists are feeling blissful, I find myself wondering how many balls the Wachowski brothers actually lost. The people at Warner were obviously on speed when they went into this, and they must have cried a lot over the 120 million.
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Despite my aversion to Japanese animated series, despite the silly humor that abounds, despite the heaps of clichés and despite the silly characters of the little brother and his tame chimpanzee... I actually had fun with this. Not groundbreaking or memorable, but thanks to the stunning visuals, imaginative racing scenes and Giacchino's music, it's pretty much sound from start to finish. Three and a bit.
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