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Plot of Speed Racer
Based on the classic 1960’s Japanese animated series, Speed Racer chronicles the aspirations of a young race car driver as he attempts to obtain glory, with the help of his family and the Mach 5, an advanced car created by his father.
Details of Speed Racer
Directed by: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Produced by: Joel Silver, Grant Hill, Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Written by: Andy Wachowski & Larry Wachowski
Starring: Emile Hirsch, John Goodman & Christina Ricci
Speed Racer Movie Trailer
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July 6th, 2008 at 5:05 pm
Disclaimers: A) There are no spoilers in this comment. B) Iron Man fans, hold on to your nuts and bolts. C) I grew up watching Speed Racer cartoons and playing with Hot Wheels… My anticipation for this movie was very strong and I expected to like it under almost any circumstance. In short, I was and am seriously biased in favor of the Speed Racer franchise.
Set-Up: The initial teaser and it’s windmill updated successor had me both very relieved and very worried. Seeing the Mach 5 come to life was wonderful, but a Mach 6? NO! Don’t usurp my childhood! Also, the high-power cast didn’t seem to fit this project, and the scene with Spritle & Chim Chim in the trunk with Speed bobbing his head like a knodder toy was troubling.
My family knew of my intense desire to see this movie but, as with all things, my wife’s participation is high on the list of considerations. My adult son wanted to take me to Speed for Father’s Day, IMAX even, but my wife wanted to see it too. I was going to see it, one way or another, with or without either or both of them. The wife wanted to go (for me), and I urged my son to go along with us so we could enjoy it together for our first viewing. He was disappointed it wasn’t going to be a guy’s night and not in IMAX. She was tolerating my ‘comic book guy’ childishness.
Opening Night: Some sneak preview reviews had begun to trickle in. All spouted ridiculous crap relating to the reviewers personal tastes and having little or nothing to do with the actual quality of the film. I was beginning to have concerns again, but my confidence had previously been solidly bolstered by the subsequent trailers. We went to see Speed Racer.
At the Theater, Pros: I was stoked. When Speed’s foot is seen to be tapping nervously (seen in trailers), mine did the same. I’m convinced this was a planted meme which perfectly achieved it’s desired result, which was to tune up the audience to high-performance level, as tuning up a car engine. My leg coudn’t be kept still during the racing segments. The excitement when cars started rolling was probably measurable by sampling the air in the theater for temperature and Co2 output of the audience. The movie includes some unusual editing and non-dialog A/V narrative moments that all work flawlessly in the telling of this story.
At the Theater, Cons: Speed Racer is a lengthy movie, which is not to say that it’s TOO long. I ran out of popcorn and drink far too soon, not because of the length of the film, but because my excitement kept me constantly shoveling handfuls of salty goodness in and then washing it down. When I was a small child I specifically remember missing the ends of many kids and family films because I would fall asleep during the necessary dialog/set-up parts, especially at drive-in shows. However, I wouldn’t call such segments a flaw here any more than I would similar segments of classic Disney films.
Post Viewing: The movie was freakin’ AWESOME! I can’t wait to see it again! Speed Racer is a better film than Iron Man - this is a fact, not an opinion. I won’t go into why in this forum, but it’s true, and I’m a Marvel head who works in a comic shop. Speed Racer is a fantasy racing film that stays completely true to itself, to it’s history, to it’s audience, and to it’s possibilities, whereas Iron Man (mostly as good as Speed Racer for totally different reasons) breaks the rules of it’s reality a number of times which successfully brought me out of the Iron Man story each time. ‘Nuff said.
Summary: Take my advice. See Speed Racer on the silver screen while you still can. I am at a loss to explain the numerous negative reviews for Speed Racer. Few, if any, of the bad reviews for Speed Racer will hold up to any close examination, especially from anyone who has seen the film.
July 9th, 2008 at 10:24 am
Thanks BonK for your review and I hope to see you again soon with some more of your reviews. I have not seen this as I was a little unexcited about it but after your review it might be worth a watch.
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