As a child Speed Racer not only had his name as a developmental factor in his passion for motor racing, but also the influence of his older brother and famous driver Rex Racer. However when Rex is revealed as corrupt he is thrown from the sport and is eventually killed in a deadly cross-country race devastating his family but yet purring Speed on to continue his brother's legacy, believing him to have been wrongly accused. As an adult he appears to have the racing world at his feet, with only the limited resources of his father's company as a constraint. An offer from one of the largest firms in the sport appears but Speed soon learns that the sport he loves is not as pure or as clean as it is for him.
I remember seeing the trailer for this film and both me and my girlfriend turned to one another and simply said in unison that Speed Racer "looks awful". Presented as an adult action movie of sorts, it just looked terribly gaudy and nonsensical and I was not surprised when it got a critical mauling on its release in the UK. I watched it recently anyway though and quickly worked out that actually it was meant to be that way and that the marketing department did a terrible job of selling it by presenting it as something that it wasn't. Rather than an action film it is essentially a live action version of a cartoon series (which I have not seen) that is trying to be a cartoon in the same way as Tank Girl tried to be the comic strip even if it wasn't a great film. With Speed Racer it actually works better because it has the budget and the consistency across the film to just about carry the style. Substance-wise it must be said that there is not enough going on to really carry a film that is over two hours long and a lot of stuff could have been cut back some but this isn't really a film that is about substance. Some have said it is good for children and I do agree but again this makes me wonder why it ran as long as it did.
Anyway, the film it is all about the visual design and in this regard the film is quite impressive IF you keep in mind that it is deliberately the way that it is and that the gaudy colours and excessive special effects are all part of it and not just a sign of the Wachowski brothers going out of their minds. Style does not make a film brilliant though and indeed Speed Racer is still an acquired taste if you can get into the comic book style then it just about works but personally I do not agree with those praising it to the high heavens. Technically yes, it is really good and I particularly like the visual awareness that built it, for example the editing and overlaying of images in the style of a comic book. The cast are not any good in a traditional sense but they do play up the hyper comic style performances required. Hirsch is a bit stiff but leads the film well, while Fox has already shown he likes style without a lot of substance and is equally sturdy. The supporting cast is deep in faces, all of whom pretty much fit with the weird comic book style even if I'm not sure what any single one of them personally gained by being in the film (apart from money of course). Ricci, Goodman, Sarandon, Roundtree and many others all show up and add to the novelty feel of the film.
Speed Racer is not a great film by any means but it certainly did not deserve the panning it generally got. It is important to watch it as a kid's animated cartoon, even if it cost millions and seems silly. In this mind, the visual style and everything else works because it makes sense however two hours+ is still a tough ask for a film that is all style with very little of substance.
