Young driver Speed Racer aspires to be the champion of the racing world with the help of his family and his high-tech Mach 5 automobile.
“Speed Racer” is one of those films that puts its heart on its sleeve then burns that sleeve off in a kaleidoscope explosion of color, velocity, and sheer cinematic balls-outness. Directed by the Wachowski siblings, the film serves as both a love letter to the original cartoon and an experiment in how far one can push the boundaries of cinematic presentation without leaving one’s audience in the dust.
In this film’s world, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is the young, furiously gifted racing driver in pursuit of glory on the track and honor for his family’s independent team. His father Pops (John Goodman) serves as the bedrock of the operation, while his mother (Susan Sarandon) is his anchor on terra firma. The supporting cast is packed with faces we know and love: Matthew Fox as the enigmatic Racer X, Christina Ricci as Speed’s adoring girlfriend, Trixie, and Paulie Litt as his troublesome younger brother, Spritle, usually seen with his simian sidekick, Chim-Chim. The plot itself is a heady concoction of Saturday morning cartoonism and a heartfelt family drama. Speed finds himself caught between the seductive pull of corporate endorsement deals and his own conscience as he tries to uncover criminal conspiracies and survive the ludicrously exciting races that look suspiciously like Mario Kart on steroids.
The first thing that distinguishes “Speed Racer” from its fellow blockbusters is the complete absence of realism in the Wachowskis’ approach. This is a film that embraces hyper-stylized chaos with both arms, plunging into a world that feels as if it has exploded straight from the cartoon’s page. Every single frame is saturated with neon light, and the action is as kinetic and dynamic as a drug-fuelled fever dream. Expect impossible flips through the air, gravity-defying jumps, and editing that throws realism out of the window in favor of rapid, disorienting cuts, all set to a pounding soundtrack that will surely be earwormed into one’s brain. “Speed Racer” is the closest that Hollywood has come to a live-action adaptation of an anime, and parts of it are breathtaking to watch.
What may be even more surprising than the visually stunning presentation of “Speed Racer,” however, is its unashamed emotional sincerity. In the post-2000 era of blockbusters, it’s becoming increasingly rare to witness films that eschew cynical detachment and embrace whole-hearted earnestness, but “Speed Racer” truly does that. The moral and thematic elements of the film-family, morality, the integrity of an individual against corporate greed-are presented as earnestly as one could expect, and the film has the courage of its convictions to wear its heart literally on its sleeve. It is this sincerity that, for some audience members, gives the film its surprising power, resonating with viewers even more deeply than the CGI mayhem.
“Speed Racer” is not, it must be admitted, without its problems and its flaws are not at all subtle. The relentless onslaught of visually overstimulating images (violent neon, intensely saturated colors, green-screen compositions) can be, as one would expect, rather disorienting, and I, for one, was often struggling to keep my bearings and even, at times, to figure out who was winning a particular race due to the film’s relentless, breakneck editing. This is a film that, in places, struggles to avoid becoming visually overwhelming, and at a running time of 130 minutes, it feels a little long for what is essentially a family adventure. Audience members may well find themselves checking their watches well before the race is over.
Despite its inherent excesses, however, “Speed Racer” is not a film that should be dismissed. The racing sequences themselves are sheer exhilaration – the most imaginative, vibrant, joyous celebrations of racing I have seen. It is under the vast digital spectacle of this film where one unexpectedly finds a wealth of heart. “Speed Racer” is not, in short, a perfect film, but for those that are prepared to strap in, keep their eyes open, and surrender themselves to its frantic, unpredictable journey, it provides something which many blockbusters lack – sheer, unadulterated joy.
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