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Speed Racer

Get past the visuals and the movie's running on empty

By Geoff Berkshire

Metromix
May 8, 2008

Critic's Rating:

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With a name like Speed (Emile Hirsch), the middle child in the racing-obsessed Racer family doesn’t have a lot of career options. After his older brother and personal idol Rex (Scott Porter) dies in a tragic accident, it’s up to Speed to carry on the family name and prove that even a driver without powerful corporate sponsors can win the World Racing League’s Grand Prix. Aiding him in his mission are his parents Mom (Susan Sarandon) and Pops Racer (John Goodman), wisecracking younger brother Spritle (Paulie Litt), loyal girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) and the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox).

Big questions: There’s quite a few: Will the movie satisfy fans of the groundbreaking anime series on which it's based? How does it rank as a directorial follow-up to the Wachowski brothers mega-successful “Matrix” trilogy? And is it good enough to distract the target audience from recently released high-octane video games “Grand Theft Auto IV” and “Mario Kart Wii”?

Skip it: Although the Wachowskis are ballsy enough to include a scene where Sarandon’s character says “It’s beautiful and inspiring and everything art should be,” their movie stops at beautiful. “Speed Racer” certainly nails an eye-poppingly colorful cartoon aesthetic, but what kind of triumph is that when so much of the movie actually is a cartoon? The CGI-animated racing sequences could’ve been directly lifted from a video game, but at least they’re more entertaining than the awkward stabs at comedy and relationships in this overly long, unnecessarily elaborate popcorn movie.

Catch it: To hear “Lost” star Fox with suspiciously more bass in his voice than usual and to discover the Wachowskis’ first rule of comedy: When all else fails, cut to the monkey. (Spritle’s chimpanzee pal Chim-Chim.)

Bottom line: The Wachowskis are a long way from their scrappy debut, the lesbian heist thriller “Bound,” and it’s cool that they want to invite younger viewers into their slick cinematic dream world. But was it really necessary to preserve their source material’s weakness for painfully drawn-out expository dialogue? You’ll want to fall asleep whenever long-winded evil businessman Royalton (Roger Allam) shows up, and eventually not even another tricked out CGI car will rouse you from your slumber.

Bonus: Just wondering: Is the scene featuring a male character in a dress a direct acknowledgement of the tabloid reports surrounding director Larry Wachowski?

Video: Watch the review of 'Speed Racer'