New to DVD: 'Speed Racer'

by Brett Parker

For those who found The Matrix trilogy too dark and dreary, the Wachowski Brothers have gone to complete opposite ends with their new film, Speed Racer, creating a world that drowns in bright, primary colors and candy-coated CGI work. In adapting the cult anime cartoon from the 1960s, the Wachowskis have blasted cinematic heat under their fond memories of the whimsical cartoon concept and they create a movie world unlike anything you’ve ever seen before. In terms of concept, this may be a family friendly venture, but I can’t remember the last time a family movie was so cool or so visually dazzling.

The film centers on the life and racing career of a speed junkie named Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch). As a child, Speed can think of nothing else but racing and dreams of one day competing professionally. His Dad (John Goodman) runs a motor company that supports his eldest son Rex (Scott Porter) who is in fact a talented competitor in the sport. Rex gets caught up in corporate sponsorship and ends up leaving the family business, enraging Dad to the point of disowning him. As Rex tries to compete in the corporate world, shady incidents take place on the track and Rex is eventually killed in a suspicious racing accident.

Flash-forward (literally) years later and Speed, in his family-made Mach 5 car, is blowing away the competition. He too is under the support of the family business and, after the tragedy with Rex, refuses any corporate sponsorship. This causes the snaky tycoon Royalton (Roger Allam) to try with all his money and power to persuade Speed into his billion dollar racing empire. Speed refuses and Royalton begins a mad quest to destroy Speed in every form and capacity, especially on the race track. This battle between Speed and Royalton will involve a dangerous race across deserts and ice, a corrupt racer named Taejo (Rain), deadly ninjas, British gangsters, and the aide of the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), who may or may not know something about Rex’s death.

Speed Racer is like watching a cross between Tron and Rollerball if it were written by an imaginative 12-year-old. This is a fast and fluffy imaginary landscape that owes more to an adolescent’s daydreams than any form of real life. Like Sin City or 300, this is a movie where real actors occupy an abstract CGI background for the entirety of the film. Yet there has never been a CGI world as colorful or as cartoonish as the one Speed Racer presents. All of the imagery shines brightly like Crayola on drugs and brings an eye-popping fascination to almost every shot in this film.

It may seem obvious to call Speed Racer a two hour cartoon, but that’s precisely what it is. The plot and the dialogue are exactly on the level of a cartoon and never strive to go higher than that. One could knock the film for not being more mature or thoughtful, but how could it be? In honoring memories of a lightweight cartoon, the Wachowskis firmly establish the film as such and trying to make it more grown up would only damage the tone of the film. After all, we’re talking about a race car driver who knows kung-fu here.

Certainly the performances help the material greatly. All of the actors here take their characters seriously and play them with surprising conviction. Both Matthew Fox and Christina Ricci (as Speed’s sexy and sweet girlfriend Trixie) perfectly embody their cartoon incarnations and while Paulie Litt is relentless as Speed’s kid brother Spritle, you can’t help but be charmed by the little goofball. The performance I was especially surprised with was John Goodman’s as Dad Racer. He brings such warmth and sincerity to his thankless role that he is both fun-loving and touching at the same time. As for Speed Racer himself, the gifted Emile Hirsch fits perfectly into the role. Hirsch’s roguish charms and rebellious spirit suit the character well and he has that right touch of Steve McQueen-coolness to make this cartoon hero a compelling screen figure. A lot of critics have been truly upset that Hirsch has gone from the poetic grandeur of Into the Wild to the comic book fluffiness of this special effects venture. I think it’s cool to see that Hirsch knows how to have some Hollywood fun and he relishes the excitement of the role in a way that makes us truly care.

The first time I saw this film, I relished the film’s effects, admired its childlike sensibilities, and moved on. Yet for the rest of that weekend, I couldn’t shake the film from my thoughts. Certain sequences kept haunting my mind. I was in love with a fight sequence where every character gets their kung-fu on in a snow-covered mountain top. I realized how grand and unique the Casa Christo 500 Race scene was in hurtling cars through exotic dangers completely alien to normal race tracks. I also relished how the film’s climax, in which Speed makes a mad dash for racing glory, tries to achieve the visual grandeur of the “Beyond the Infinite” sequence from 2001: A Space Odyssey. It doesn’t quite get there, but my God does it dazzle in it efforts! All of this made me want to see the film again and I did, liking it a whole lot better the second time around. For film is a visual art form, so if a movie is visually grand it can sometimes transcend its content.

The Speed Racer movie may be a lightweight cartoon, but its one of the most exciting and breathtaking cartoons I can remember gracing the silver screen. The Wachowskis treat every visual and action sequence with the same care and precision as they did in The Matrix and the result borders on the sublime. Like Dick Tracy, this is a colorful comic universe compelling in its skill and confidence. As a family film, it’s not just a cross-cutting adrenaline rush but pauses to endorse values such as family, facing adversity, and staying true to your self. As a spectacle, it’s a dream-like thrill ride that’s extremely difficult to resist. The film scholar within may have had some issues with it, but the 12-year-old within was cheering the whole time!

Speed Racer is out on DVD tomorrow, September 16th.