Dir. The Wachowski Brothers, US, 2008, 129 mins
Cast: Emile Hirsch, Susan Sarandon, Melissa Holroyd, Ariel Winter
Review by Matthew Rodgers
After the Neo force critical pummeling received for The Matrix franchise the notoriously media shy Wachowski Brothers retreated even further into their Eastern fused subconscious, via V for Vendetta producer credits, only to emerge with this beautifully hallucinogenic, kaleidoscopic revival of cult cartoon Speed Racer.
In case you don't remember the intricacies of Speed Racer's life (and that's our protagonist's name too, played by Emile Hirsch of Into The Wild fame), and it wouldn't be surprising as it was originally a short lived 60s oddity titled Mahha GoGoGo that spawned a strangely cult following, then here's a high speed synopsis. Born to race cars, Speed is the poster boy for his families construction team – Pops Racer (John Goodman), Trixie (Christina Ricci), Mom Racer (Susan Sarandon), Spritle (Paulie Litt), and Chim-Chim (chimps Willy and Kenzie) – who have put aside the tragic loss of eldest son Rex to drive to the brink of exploitative big business sponsorship deals that threaten his very existence.
To quote Keanu Reeves, “Woah”. It's the only response to some of the most stunning visuals you will have seen since Bullet Time (the special effects company behind the Matrix franchise) rippled onto our screens, using a palette of mind-altering colours to paint the majority of the film, and in particular the high speed Car-Fu races that seem like The Phantom Menace pod race on speed. The cars do some stunning aero-balletics and the Casa Cristo race is a 20-minute exercise, or perhaps exorcise, of the eyes.
At times though it can be a bit too much and the prevailing feeling in the sometimes overlong circuit scenes is that the movie quickly feels like the audience is a passenger along for the ride. That is until the Wachowskis throw in a genuinely funny ninja attack and a hard to describe, but marvelously rendered, fight scene that is as close to live action animation as you could possibly get, both of which just spice things up.
Establishing that the bodywork is stunning, it's now time to look beneath at the chassis and see if the same “style over substance” approach that hindered The Matrix sequels is evident in Speed Racer's engine. The surprise is that it isn't as vacuous as you would expect. The impressive family dynamics give Sarandon and Goodman a chance to shine and Hirsch plays the requisite square-jawed and earnest as the Player 1 controller. It's also no judgment on their abilities that the star of the show is the enthusiastic Spritle and a superb simian performance as Chim-Chim.
Aimed squarely at the kids, it does require a lot of investment to even get past the day-glo marketing campaign and should carry a post-hangover warning for the assault on the optic nerves, but it's inventive fun and definitely not something you have ever seen before. Buckle up.
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