Speed Racer

2008 "A world built for speed."
6.1| 2h15m| PG| en
Details

Speed Racer is a young and brilliant racing driver. When corruption in the racing leagues costs his brother his life, Speed must team up with the police and the mysterious Racer X to bring an end to the corruption and criminal activities.

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Village Roadshow Pictures

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Reviews

Exoticalot People are voting emotionally.
SpecialsTarget Disturbing yet enthralling
Dynamixor The performances transcend the film's tropes, grounding it in characters that feel more complete than this subgenre often produces.
Rio Hayward All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.
ryderspearmann Speed Racer is a stunning achievement.Only those that know the original Speed Racer can really comprehend the difficulty of the task the Wachowskis took on. Their decision, clearly, was to being Speed Racer to the screen in a pure adaption... not a re-imagining. The artistic choices they needed to make to pull this off are inspired.The speeds are insane, the driving is nuts, the tracks are crazy and impossible!But that IS Speed Racer.Nine-year-olds "got" Speed Racer in 1968... they followed it perfectly in a way that only a blindingly fast nine-year-old sponge of a brain can. To the average boy, it is riveting. Nine-year-olds today will also "get" Speed Racer.True to the sounds, sights, characters and plots of the original, the 2008 Speed Racer hits it's target with LASER precision. It is bold in it's execution, being so true to the original that even the questionable elements of the 1968 version are retained, including the bizarre transitions and overall campy feeling.The film is woven tightly, providing the entire backstory and introducing all of the primary characters with considerable depth DURING the first race which serves as the opening to the film. By the end of this first race, we understand Speed perfectly. We know who he is and what drives him... and again, he is the Speed from 40 years ago. The other characters are true as well.Everything from emotions to camera angles are meticulously chosen to match the original. This is well demonstrated when Rex Racer talks over his shoulder, his back toward his father as he leaves forever in the tradition of the Japanese original. The tension and drama are constructed using the original techniques throughout.Speed Racer is the PERFECT live action rendition of anime... which to the uninitiated will seem bizarre and out of place. The Wachowskis have given new generations of kids a true gift... putting a beloved story on the big screen that might have otherwise been lost, and doing so in a painstakingly pure effort which will thrill little kids for many years to come.
fredlondi The animated "Speed Racer" is one of the most notoriously silly and corny cartoons ever conceived. The characters are two-dimensional, the plots are little more than "win the race, defeat the villain," and the English dubs are so notoriously hilarious that they've been mocked in everything from "Family Guy" to "Dexter's Laboratory."It was surprising, then, that the live action "Speed Racer" was so needlessly complicated. First, the audience is expected to understand the difference between an "off-road race," for which the Mach 5 can be used, and some fantastical loop-de-loop superspeedways, where the Mach 5 is apparently too out-of-date, replaced by a "Mach 6." What's strange is that the Mach 6 isn't introduced as a replacement to the Mach 5 - in fact, the Mach 6 is destroyed early in the film, then completely rebuilt. I don't understand why this couldn't have been done with the Mach 5 instead. The Mach 5 stands as the most important character in the original cartoon. All of the aforementioned characters are merely a means of showing off its awesomeness. The film should've done the same, not brush it off as a relic compared to the Mach 6.Second, the villain's plot is entirely too dense - even by modern Anime standards. Something about stocks, and corporations fielding drivers with the specific intent of making their companies more money, yet somehow not caring about racing. Something about helping another guy get money for his company. I couldn't honestly tell you what the story should've been about. Why not just do the same thing the cartoon did: bad guy wants to win a race, Speed needs to beat him. The complexity would've been restricted to the characters themselves, which would've been fine. They're basically blank slates from the cartoon - just make them more interesting.The underlying hilarity behind the film's complexity as that the film itself yearns for simplicity. One of the film's best scenes is where Pops Racer recalls a night where he and a young Speed start cheering at a race they're watching on TV. On top of this, the effects are just dreadful. Like "Phantom Menace"-tier. One of the first shots is Rex Racer standing in front of the Mach 5, and you can tell he's just some guy in an empty room leaning against a green-painted rectangle. The action sequences feel like Hot Wheels commercials - certainly not a coincidence given the company marketed the film. There's also no grit, no teeth, no consequence to the action. The spectacular crashes and explosions from the cartoon are dulled by a ridiculous safety feature where drivers are launched to safety in foam cocoons. At least that's what seemed to happen - the CGI battles are so fast and overwhelming that it's hard to tell what's happening.On top of this, the character designs are awful. Why was Snake Oiler turned from some mysterious guy in a black suit with ridiculous glasses into some drunk leather-clad cowboy?What almost singlehandedly saves the film is Matthew Fox, who plays Racer X. My goodness, he absolutely owned that part. While Emile Hirsch was brought on just because he looked like Speed Racer, Fox took on the role of Racer X and quite literally became him. He carries himself with such tortured seriousness that every moment he's on screen is just golden. Watch a supercut of his scenes and you'll enjoy it.As for the rest of the film? Meh. Couldn't help but be disappointed, and this is from someone who watches actual racing. Make no mistake, there's real passion behind the making of this film, and it's clear a lot of work was put into it. I'll take that over some rubber-stamped superhero film any day. I just wish more of that effort was used in the script, character design, and effects. It's just frustrating because one more revision of the script before shooting could've saved it.
xtradragon02 I watch the re-run cartoons some times when i was a kid, so you would say i grew seeing this. And i say is a masterpiece. Is funny, is intriguing, got action, got drama and the effects and the colors just make it awsome and different, so you can see it like a piece of art!!. I don't know where the hate come from. And maybe im not a famous critic, but I definitely give nice reviews on good movies and this is one!!! Is just maybe not to all kind of audience but still is awsome.
Malteser999 Dear Lord, what happened to these guys? From creating a flick that had changed cinema forever to the most nauseating roller coaster ride I've ever been in. If anyone of you are looking forward to see a good (passable) anime adaption, go and pop in Death Note, Oldboy or even Initial D. And I'll tell you why you should be avoiding this garbage.Have I previously mentioned the word "nauseating"? Yea, maybe I'll enjoy this movie more if I had some aspirin on hand. Yes, utilizing a neon color palette sure is a challenge and pretty original in my book. But if two of Nicolas Winning Refyn movies, Only God Forgives & The Neon Demon, can be the polar opposite, why can't you do something similar considering you had 3 TIMES his budget?With all that aside, there are, thankfully, a few "watchable" moments in this entire 2 hour disaster. Speaking of run-time, it wouldn't be that long and presumably entertaining if they just completely erase the two little "animals" (the monkey and that kid I wanted to decapitate). Why would you cut back to these 2 when we're in a middle of a pretty intense conversation? What grotesque species are you.Guess who they can afford with all that truck-sized money. Emile Hirsch. Wow!!! You can get John Goodman, Rain ( a popular Korean star) but picked out an unknown as your main character? But the real reason I was disappointed was the fact his acting chops are as good as a 2 am infomercial host. Trust me, it's that terrible.Sorry, I don't usually express my personal hatred towards films in my reviews. But because I legitimately liked some parts from this movie such as Sir Goodman and Sir Allam's captivating performances. As well as to one of the most heart pounding climax I've seen in a damn long time. I really wished they could've just focus on how can we make a damn good family flick because I loved Disney's Cars. And just in case you are a parent reading this, buy a Blu-Ray copy of Cars rather than feeding your kid this monstrosity.