Every once in awhile a film comes along that grabs you by the throat, shakes you around like a martini and dumps you onto the floor wondering what in the hell just happened; Speed Racer is just such a film, moving at a breakneck pace from one action sequence to another, allowing a breather or two to expand upon the admittedly thin storyline along the way.

The first thing you’ll notice about the film if you haven’t already been inundated by the TV ads are the remarkable visual stylings; you’ve never seen a film like this, and I doubt you ever will again. Combine primary-colored, candy-coated aesthetics with wildly kinetic anime sensibilities, throw in a dash of retro-pop chic, and gloss it all over in a neon-drenched, Japanese postmodernist veneer, and you have a film that might literally cause seizures in those who might be susceptible to it. The race sequences move in a decidedly implausible F-Zeroesque fashion with the cars spending near as much time in the air as they do on the track, but blink and you’ll miss a spectacular crash, collision, or explosion. The film sets the pace early, and it’ll throttle you relentlessly until the very end, at which point you might actually leave the theater feeling exhausted for inexplicable reasons. Speed Racer is indeed an assault on the senses unlike any any movie before it.

While my enthusiasm for this film might be more than most film critics might’ve harbored, keep in mind that I don’t ask a lot from movies other than to be entertained and not feel as though I wasted the price of admission. Speed Racer, I’m happy to say, fulfilled both my requirements admirably. On the other hand, I won’t try and say that this is Oscar material when it clearly isn’t (although Best Visual Effects wouldn’t be out of the question), but the art direction is simply stellar, and I’ve always held that good art direction helps a film distinguish itself more than merely trying to mimic the real world. The story, while a basic tale of valuing family and honor more than money and corporate sponsorships is very basic and acts as little more than a thread tying together the relentlessly frenetic race setpieces. Casting was better than it had any right to be, with Emile Hirsche (Speed), John Goodman (Pops), Susan Sarandon (Mom), and Christina Ricci (Trixie) having a good bit of fun with their respective roles. The unquestionable scene stealer here is young Paulie Litt (Spridle) who, along with chimp cohort Chim-Chim, infuses even the slower scenes with an energetic, hyperactive kick of nitrous. The plot may be base and perhaps a bit threadbare, but the ensemble cast makes it fun to watch regardless. Besides, exactly how complex a plot does Speed Racer really need? Bog it down in too much detail and it’s not Speed Racer, but something entirely different. Speed Racer is all about action, and that’s really all that matters.

One of the things that really struck me about the film was the care with which the Wachowski Bros. (the Matrix trilogy) treated the source material. While taking some liberties with some of the original anime series’ plot points (for example, the origin of the Mach 5’s gadgets), much attention was paid to authenticity. Rival racers have the same sorts of trippy names, their cars have the same elaborate, wickedly spiky Japanese aesthetic that pervaded anime during the 1960s, and the music also pays respect to the campy, overblown soundtrack of the original show. Even some smaller details such as Speed’s trademark pose when he leaps from the Mach 5’s cockpit show that the Wachowskis are true fans at heart. The end result is a movie that brings the franchise into the modern age while paying homage to its roots, and that’s a rare bird in cinema these days.

Ultimately, how much you’ll enjoy Speed Racer depends on just how much you demand from a movie. If every film you see has to be of ‘Lord of the Rings’ caliber, you’re going to walk away wondering what the hell just happened. But if a bit of high-concept, check-your-brain-at-the-door, Summer film escapism is what you’re after, Speed Racer is worth the price of admission. It’s fast, frenetic, high-octane entertainment, and if you can’t keep up with its breakneck pace, you’re just too damned old.

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1 Comment »

Comment by Shawn M.

2008-05-10 05:34:51

I’d like to add, if your theater offers it, you have to see this movie from a digital projector. The visuals are like nothing else, the complete definition of eye candy.

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