Speed Racer
Let’s get this out of the way first: “Speed Racer” is a kid’s movie and must be looked at as such.
Sure, it comes from The Wachowski Brothers — the guys who made “The Matrix” movies — and it has A-list stars in Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon. That’s led to some scathing reviews for under-utilization of their collective talents.
But this one’s not about showcasing great acting or concocting a sci-fi legend with spiritual undertones.
Rather, it’s about candy-colored high-speed fun. And that’s largely what it supplies — although at 129 minutes it’s at least a half-hour too long, especially for a PG-rated film that’s aimed at kids.
That said, the race that makes up the final segment of the film had the little ones firmly in their seats during the screening I attended, and the boredom factor, which hit midway through, seemed to go away quickly.
Here’s the scoop on “Speed Racer”: The film opens with the young Speed doing everything he can to race, tagging along with his older brother Rex (Scott Porter). When Rex dies in a race, the Racer family temporarily drops out of racing. But a few years later Speed (Hirsch) and Pops (John Goodman) are back at it, with the full support of Mom (Sarandon) and Trixie (Ricci), the girl who has had eyes for Speed since she saw him drawing pictures of race cars in his school books.
Speed establishes himself as a prime driver and is recruited by Mr. Royalton (Roger Allam), one of racing’s top sponsors. But as he’s given the grand treatment, Speed begins to question whether he wants to drive for Royalton’s corporation. When the billionaire becomes threatening, Speed declines to join his team.
That sets up the little-us-vs.-big-them conclusion that’s standard for most competition pictures — and “Speed Racer” is just that, a sports movie dressed up in Wachowski computer magic.
And it is the computer-generated images of the racing that bring out your inner 7-year-old and make “Speed Racer” engaging. The cars fly around a looping track, bouncing into the air, crashing into each other, flipping and flying. None of this could happen in real life, which is the point of computerized pictures.
But there’s something more grounded about a family racing team than, say, giant Transformers stomping the Earth. And that should make it easy for kids to connect with the story being spun out on screen.
There’s certainly nothing new about “Speed Racer” in terms of its story line, and it’s acting is about as simplistic as it gets. If you’re looking for Hirsch to repeat his powerful work from “Into the Wild,” you’re going to be very disappointed watching him here. The same holds true for Ricci, who doesn’t really have much to do. But her big eyes sure look like an anime cartoon character’s.
The action and effects, however, feel fresh and the highly imagined tracks and cross-country race courses give the Wachowskis’ effects team a chance to go nuts. The whizzing colors and wild action are the entertaining payoff for that work.
For many, including myself, “Speed Racer” was one of the question marks entering the summer movie season. Question it no longer. Go, check your brain at the door and enjoy the ride.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
Sure, it comes from The Wachowski Brothers — the guys who made “The Matrix” movies — and it has A-list stars in Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci and Susan Sarandon. That’s led to some scathing reviews for under-utilization of their collective talents.
But this one’s not about showcasing great acting or concocting a sci-fi legend with spiritual undertones.
Rather, it’s about candy-colored high-speed fun. And that’s largely what it supplies — although at 129 minutes it’s at least a half-hour too long, especially for a PG-rated film that’s aimed at kids.
That said, the race that makes up the final segment of the film had the little ones firmly in their seats during the screening I attended, and the boredom factor, which hit midway through, seemed to go away quickly.
Here’s the scoop on “Speed Racer”: The film opens with the young Speed doing everything he can to race, tagging along with his older brother Rex (Scott Porter). When Rex dies in a race, the Racer family temporarily drops out of racing. But a few years later Speed (Hirsch) and Pops (John Goodman) are back at it, with the full support of Mom (Sarandon) and Trixie (Ricci), the girl who has had eyes for Speed since she saw him drawing pictures of race cars in his school books.
Speed establishes himself as a prime driver and is recruited by Mr. Royalton (Roger Allam), one of racing’s top sponsors. But as he’s given the grand treatment, Speed begins to question whether he wants to drive for Royalton’s corporation. When the billionaire becomes threatening, Speed declines to join his team.
That sets up the little-us-vs.-big-them conclusion that’s standard for most competition pictures — and “Speed Racer” is just that, a sports movie dressed up in Wachowski computer magic.
And it is the computer-generated images of the racing that bring out your inner 7-year-old and make “Speed Racer” engaging. The cars fly around a looping track, bouncing into the air, crashing into each other, flipping and flying. None of this could happen in real life, which is the point of computerized pictures.
But there’s something more grounded about a family racing team than, say, giant Transformers stomping the Earth. And that should make it easy for kids to connect with the story being spun out on screen.
There’s certainly nothing new about “Speed Racer” in terms of its story line, and it’s acting is about as simplistic as it gets. If you’re looking for Hirsch to repeat his powerful work from “Into the Wild,” you’re going to be very disappointed watching him here. The same holds true for Ricci, who doesn’t really have much to do. But her big eyes sure look like an anime cartoon character’s.
The action and effects, however, feel fresh and the highly imagined tracks and cross-country race courses give the Wachowskis’ effects team a chance to go nuts. The whizzing colors and wild action are the entertaining payoff for that work.
For many, including myself, “Speed Racer” was one of the question marks entering the summer movie season. Question it no longer. Go, check your brain at the door and enjoy the ride.
Reach L. Kent Wolgamott at 473-7244 or kwolgamott@journalstar.com.
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