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Speed Racer (2008)

Director: Andy Wachowski, Larry Wachowski

Time Out rating

Average user rating

25 reviews

Synopsis

The brothers’ first since the ‘Matrix’ films adapts a Japanese cartoon series from the 1960s about a young racing car driver.

Movie review

From Time Out London

To say that ‘Speed Racer’ is colourful would be as misleading as claiming that it’s quiet and meditative. Its palette makes ‘The Wizard of Oz’ look like an episode of ‘EastEnders’. Its furious pace and movement make Road Runner seem narcoleptic. This live-action cartoon of a film loudly thrusts a 1960s Japanese animé series into the twenty-first century.

It’s the first film from writers and directors Andy and Larry Wachowski since their ‘Matrix’ trilogy and here they present a comic strip world played out in a post-Playstation era. Once again they employ and surpass the limitless perspective of a computer game. Their camera (if you can call it that – the film was produced entirely on a green screen) can leap stadiums and entire cities. Geography is of the Gran Turismo sort: nobody blinks when a motor race traverses continents, mountains and deserts to cross the finishing-line at Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.

The dual worlds of ‘Speed Racer’ are the suburban home and the cut-and-thrust arena of the racetrack. The neon spectacle of the latter informs the look of the entire film. Lawns are day-glo. Home furnishings are orange. On the track, cars look like dragsters but drive like futuristic robots. Our hosts, the Racer family, are a mid-century sort of unit, not unlike the Flintstones or the Jetsons, whose prehistoric or inter-galactic settings were never as important as having a new fridge or its prehistoric or inter-galactic equivalent.

There’s portly Pops (John Goodman), domestic Mom (Susan Sarandon) and young Spritle (Paulie Litt), who hangs out with a real chimp. Our main man, though, is Speed (Emile Hirsch), a good kid, with James Dean looks, whose passion for racing is fuelled by the memory of his brother’s death on the track. Speed is a rising champion who resists the tempting offers of a grand prix magnate, Royalton (Roger Allam), who looks like Christopher Hitchens.

Thematically, it’s classic stuff: the little guy versus the corporation, free will versus destiny. Only the telling, as you’d expect from the Wachowskis, pushes the boundaries of what we expect from the image. It’s so quick that classic edits go out the window; scenes play in extreme close-up, while another angle of the story unfolds behind it on kaleidoscopic wallpaper. You might not follow everything, and kids may be confused by some of the corporate shenanigans, but the two races towards the end of the film gee up the overlong, two-hour plus runtime.If the prevailing mood of the ‘Matrix’ series was dark and suspicious, this is light all the way, and with its tongue firmly in its cheek. It doesn’t make for original storytelling, acting, or writing, but the spectacle eclipses those expectations. Just don’t forget your sunglasses.

Author: Dave Calhoun 2008-05-02 11:40:00

Time Out London Issue 1968, May 7-14, 2008

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User reviews of this film

Paul said...

Posted on May 17 2008 23:03 I have seen Persepolis, An Unbearable Likeness of Being and even Festen. I saw Speed Racer after listening to Kermode and must admit I had a great night and would rather like seeing it again on IMAX.

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steven matthews said...

Posted on May 13 2008 18:10 this is a class movie with all the cheesiness of the 60's
music ,clothing and richard roundtree (shaft) awsome man

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Lukeyman said...

Posted on May 13 2008 11:07 Not seen this yet - not sure I want to after seeing the trailer. Just wondering how Time Out can give 4 stars based basically on its looks?

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Matt said...

Posted on May 11 2008 13:55 Speed Racer is AMAZING! From the first to the last frame of the movie it exudes a kind of class that it's extremely rare in my opinion to find on film. The movie is NOT about motor racing, it's about the dynamic of family and is both an emotional rollercoaster as well as being a visually stunning assault on the senses. Combined I can honestly say that it's one of the best movies I've ever seen. There is nothing more to say except put all pre-conceptions and expectations about Speed Racer aside and go watch it - it is awesome beyond words.

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anonymous said...

Posted on May 10 2008 22:36 i saw it this afternoon, and i loved it. at first, i thought the plot was a bit weak and everything was a bit scatty, but by the end of it you're sitting there screaming "GO SPEED GO!" because you're so hypnotized by the pretty colours and cars. probably not everyone's cup of tea, though.

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john said...

Posted on May 10 2008 13:20 brill

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Dave Calhoun said...

Posted on May 10 2008 00:59 James - The Wachowskis only wrote - not directed - 'V for Vendetta', so I'm right in saying it's their first film as writers and directors since the 'Matrix'. Thanks for your comments.

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James said...

Posted on May 09 2008 21:34 V for vendetta was their first movie since the matrix, for the love of god at least pretend you know about film enough to review one....

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Pile said...

Posted on May 07 2008 04:40 I just came back from a screening of this movie and I know I wasn't a minority in really enjoying this film. It is chaotic and visually over-the-top, and unlike other films there is no ambiguity in deciding that you have to suspend your disbelief to accept the world in which the movie plays, but I thoroughly enjoyed Speed Racer.

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Darren McKenzie said...

Posted on May 02 2008 15:46 they did write V for Vendetta after the matrix so its not there first film since then. Green screen movies are the way of the future I thin Sky Captain 300 Sin City all stunning looking movies if underwritten in places.

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