Speed Racer

Emile Hirsch stars as Speed Racer, the brother of an infamous race car driver, Rex Racer (Scott Porter), and son of a masterful mechanic, Pops Racer (John Goodman), who finds himself being wooed by every big racing sponsor you can imagine. However, Speed must soon choose between selling out or staying true to what he believes in, with dangerous consequences, as a powerful corporate titan, Royalton (Roger Allam), tries to bring Speed into his organization.

Will Speed Racer be a victim of temptation, or do the right thing, which could make him a victim of much worse?

Ultimately, Speed Racer is a movie that is afraid to be great. It has so many good things going for it. The visuals are stunning as multi-colored waves flash by during race scenes that make the cars twist and turn through 3D-like tracks making the contests into breathtaking aerial acrobatic shows that wow your eyes. I love how we switch back and forth between the past and modern day to help give each scene context, and I especially get excited to see stories and scenes develop in the background as a character tells them. We learn everything we need to know about the situations and characters, which entertains our brains and emotions, while the visuals keep our eyes interested.

Our star, Hirsch, reminds us that he is a fantastic actor who adds emotion and depth where the script gives him a chance, like a fantastic scene where he describes the troubles the family has faced. He doesn’t get to reach out for an Oscar nomination, like he did in the little seen, but fantastic Into The Wild, but Hirsch, like a great actor, doesn’t treat Speed Racer as a paycheck or cynical attempt to become famous. He cares about this character as much as he has ever cared about any character.

And, even the whole story about one tight knit, loving family and a couple of likeminded heroes daring to stand up for what is right as they all battle the actions and temptations of a corrupt, cut throat corporate controlled culture is something to make today’s audience cheer.

However, as you start to think Speed Racer is turning the corner, something happens to make you realize it is cotton candy compared to Iron Man, which is all steak. Spritle (Paulie Litt) and Chim Chim (Willy and Kenzie) are the Jar Jar Binks of Speed Racer. Whenever the audience is about to see something emotional, dramatic, dangerous or just plain great, Spritle, Speed’s elementary school brother, and Chim Chim, his loyal pet chimpanzee, show up to ruin the moment with childishness.

I know there is an attempt to make Speed Racer into a kid friendly and family friendly movie (even though Spritle knows how to use a certain finger, and another character almost says Holy You-Know-What), but the Wachowski Brothers (Larry and Andy), who wrote and directed this movie, as well as The Matrix trilogy, take it too far as the supposedly comic relief antics of these two characters are annoying to anyone over the age of 10. They walk a very fine line between appealing to people my age, who grew up watching Speed Racer during its various periods of popularity, and drawing in a new audience that will want to grow up with this Speed Racer (and more possible movies). I guess I wish they walked on my side of the line a little more.

Also, for a movie trying to appeal to kids, it is at least 45 minutes too long and has two plot twists too many (just like this review might be about 200 words too long, that’s why you want to start downloading the audio version through iTunes or Switchpod). The race scenes can blow you away, and I enjoy getting a couple more, but this is ridiculous! Then, it is too obvious our stars are acting against a computer generated background. We aren’t totally immersed in the world because we can tell the world is fake, especially with John Goodman walking around looking like Super Mario.

Speed Racer is a decent movie, and one that you will find visually stunning, so let’s say it is worth going to see, if you lower your expectations a little bit.

Speed Racer is rated PG for sequences of action, some violence and language.