Speed Racer met the box office, spun out, and wound up with a flat tire. The Wachowski Brothers’ live action version of the hit anime program is a cartoon sprung to life. Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer! Go Speed Racer, Go!
Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) has racing in his blood. His father, Pops (John Goodman), is the patriarch of the Racer family and builder of racecars while Mom (Susan Sarandon) cooks dinner as little brother Spritle (Paulie Litt) and his pet chimp Chim Chim (chips Kenzie and Willy) gets into all sorts of mischief.
The Racer family is an independent outfit in a sport that has tons of consumer sponsorship. The Racer family is also no stranger to tragedy as in Speed’s youth his older brother Rex (Scott Porter) was killed in a racing accident at the Casa Cristo cross-country rally when Speed was a little boy.
The Racer family was the object of scorn because it was claimed that Rex was cheating in the race that cost him his life. Speed is slowly rebuilding the reputation of the Racer family with his racing skills but he always seems to be racing the ghost of his brother.
Speed is approached by Mr. Royalton (Roger Allam) of Royalton Industries and wants him to join up with Royalton’s racing team. Speed gives it some thought but decides that the corporate sponsorship isn’t for him. The angry Royalton promises that he’ll make Speed’s racing life tough for the snub and that all racing is rigged anyway.
Speed is then approached by Inspector Detector (Benno Furmann) and the mysterious, masked Racer X (Matthew Fox) to team up with Taejo Togokhan (Rain) to compete in a race to qualify for the Grand Prix. The team up is to get Togokhan to turn over some incriminating files on Royalton, but the race is the Casa Cristo.
Pops is dead set against losing another son to the race, but Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) travel surreptitiously to Casa Cristo. When Pops finds out about it he and the whole family travel to stop Speed, but end up helping him in the race.
Will Speed be able to finally compete in the Grand Prix, clean up the sport of racing, and finally outrun the ghost of his brother?
When Speed Racer came out at the theater, I really didn’t have much interest since I’ve not been a fan of the original anime. The less-than-stellar opening box office convinced me that the film wasn’t very good. Appearances can be deceiving though.
I’ll admit that I thought the film did have some problems, a tad too long for one, but I ended up liking it. Sometimes when something is so stylized and uses a nonlinear storytelling style it seems to alienate audiences and they stay away.
I think this was the case with Speed Racer as it uses some creative ways to tell the story and some visuals and colors that will knock you socks off, especially on Blu-ray.
Perhaps the name recognition of Speed Racer (originally Mach Gogogo and Americanized for its run in 1966-68 and voiced in the USA by Peter Fernandez – look for his cameo as a racetrack announcer) has faded enough that it’s only known to a few and not the intended audience.
For example, my kids had a tendency to wander out of the room when they were doing the character moments. However, every time there was a race they’d be glued to the screen.
Spritle and Chim Chim’s antics are especially aimed at the little kids and Speed’s brotherly conflicts may be something for us old folks. I did cheer when John Goodman kicked the crap out of a ninja.
The color palate of the film was fantastic and had a tendency to jump out at you; devil’s advocates may call it garish. There’s also so many computer generated effects that I wondered if they built any sets at all for the film.
They also use some creative visual storytelling, but there was one plot point where Royalton, Roger Allum deliciously gobbling up the CGI scenery, is telling Speed what is going to happen to him for turning him down showing it as he tells it. We think it’s really happening, but then we return to the office, but later it seems it did happen. A bit confusing, though I appreciate the creativity.
There are also numerous pans and swipes that are used, again creative but will other audiences be confused and annoyed? Speed Racer is really entertaining and is truly a cartoon sprang to life on the big screen.
Your enjoyment level may well fall to whether you wish to see a cartoon sprang to life and your tolerance for the film’s creative style. I did think it was a bit long, but in the end I was cheering for Speed’s triumph.
Speed Racer is presented in a 1080p high definition transfer (2.40:1). Speed Racer’s poor box office seems to have resulted in a somewhat slim selection of special features. The 27 minute “Car Fu” is a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film. The 14 minute “Spritle in the Big Leagues” has Paulie Litt touring the set (I guess they did build some).
The 15 minute “Supercharged!” is a look at the cars and the drivers in the racing circuit. All of these bonus features are presented in standard definition.
Disc two features a DVD game called “Speed Racer Crucible Challenge” and disc three is a digital copy for your PC or portable device.
Even though Speed Racer stalled at the box office, I found the film quite enjoyable. The Blu-ray presented the show’s visuals in eye-popping color. The story could’ve used some tightening, but there’s fun for all ages to be found in this film. I don’t think that it’s going to go down in history, but home video might give it a broader audience that might appreciate it more.
I am sure that if it had burned up the box office that we’d be seeing a more elaborate Blu-ray and DVD special edition, but I’ll take what I can get. Go Speed Racer Go!
Speed Racer [Blu-ray] is now available at Amazon . Visit the DVD database for more information.
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