Review of Speed Racer (2008) by Rachel C — 09 Sep 2012

Epileptics stay away. Which is probably one of the reasons this film flopped. That and also it came out the same week as Iron Man.

The big problem with this film is that the story line is too complex for a family film. The Wachowskis hadn't written a family film before and it shows. Did they think kids would know anything about fixing races, the Stock Market or any kind of criminal business? Ask a kid what the plot of this movie is about and they wouldn't have a clue.

The movie tries be serious but has a lot of silly slapstick that changes the tone of the film. The worst scene involve the Racer family fighting the criminals which is just so camp and embarrassing.

Another thing that bothers me is that every five minutes, the top half of a character's body would move and go past the camera in the foreground. I never saw the anime, but they probably had that. Doing that for 30 minutes is okay, but for 135 minutes is just irksome.

Bad dialogue mostly coming from Trixie. Christina Ricci is reading the dialogue thinking "Really? I have to say THAT? C'MON! Where's Quentin Tarantino and Kevin Smith when you need them?".

It also has the cliched English bad guy. I was expecting him to be drinking tea and eating scones.

The younger brother Sprittle is annoying. I was hoping a car would crash into him.

On the plus side, the film is gorgeous. The visual effects are splendid and it looks amazing on HD.

The acting is good, Emile Hirsch is good as Speed and Matthew Fox as Racer X (nice suit) and Roger Allam has fun. The racing scenes are enjoyable, especially the finale. Overall, I liked it. It's not perfect, but watchable and just pleasant to look at.