I remember this movie being blasted when it first came out. I never saw it. And then I read these articles over the past couple weeks about how this movie has turned into a cult classic in the ten years after its release…and it’s streaming on Netflix. I had to check it out.
THE BLURB:
Born into a family business of race cars, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is one of the track’s hot stars. Sitting at the wheel of his Mach 5, he consistently deflates the competition. When Speed turns down an offer from the head of Royalton Industries, he uncovers a secret. Powerful moguls fix the races to boost profits. Hoping to beat the executive, Speed enters the same arduous cross-country race that killed his brother.
WHAT WORKED:
So, this movie is a trip. It is NOT realistic. The Wachowskis (yes, the same ones who brought us The Matrix) make absolutely no attempt to ground this movie anywhere in the real world…and it’s kind of awesome that they don’t.
The races are spectacular, if a little choppy in how they’re edited together. They’re colorful, fast, and very much like a cartoon, which (kinda) what they’re based on. It’s a fantastical place where racing rules the planet, and they fill in that world with color and style.
And the color, my god, the COLOR. It’s everywhere. It’s bold, in your face, and somewhat mesmerizing.
There’s also some decent “family” stuff in this, in the sense that John Goodman plays your prototypical hardass dad with a heart of gold, Susan Sarandon plays the good mother and wife, and they’re all there to support their son, and his dreams of living up to his name. Yes, Emil Hersch’s name in this movie is actually Speed Racer.
WHAT DIDN’T:
The movie as a whole.
While the racers are visually almost too much to handle in their crazy, colorful splatter…they’re not realistic enough. It’s too removed from reality, at least in the sense that I never believed what was happening would ever actually be possible anywhere in the universe, simply because that’s not how the laws of physics work. It makes for a fun show, but it robbed me of any sense of danger, or even actually being impressed by any driving expertise.
I really do think that was the biggest mistake with the style of this film. So much of the drama hinges on these races, the fact that I never believed any of it was ‘real’ sucked out the heart of most of the movie.
And it’s not jut the races that don’t look real…NOTHING looks real. It’s a step further than the kind of artificial cartoonish world we get in something like Edward Scissorhands or The Flinstones–at least those movies built sets–in this movie, 90% of what you see on screen is digital. The entire movie, except for the actors and a handful of small sets, is a green screen.
The acting and script overall, are also tragically thin. Yes, you are replicating the look and feel of a manga/anime…but IT’S NOT A CARTOON. At least, not anymore. These are real actors on real blue-screens. You have to adjust to that. The Wachowskis didn’t. It makes the serious scenes laughable, and the comedic scenes unfunny. I never rooted for Speed, and never really felt anything for anyone. The artifice became this barrier between me and the hypnotic color gushing from my TV screen.
The film also, simply put, is too long. By about a good 40 minutes.
Ultimately, this film is very interesting to watch, but it’s not all that good. I can see and admire what the Wachowskis were trying to do, which was replicate the anime/manga in live action…but I think the avenue they went about pursuing that was the wrong one. The world pushed me away instead of drawing me inside. According to the initial reviews, particularly with children, who this film was definitely intended to appeal to, I am not alone. I see why people keep coming back to it, though…it is so unique.
5 out of 10 – a unique explosion of color and physics…but too hard to engage with