Review of Speed Racer (2008) by Juan C — 14 Sep 2010

More thoughts will come for this terribly underrated film that is a masterpiece and pure delight...

This is a film that came years before Scott Pilgrim but had already mastered the way in which an anime can be translated to the big screen. The Wachowski's love of the Japanese culture is easily evident, right down to the ninjas underpants.

The film is fun and eclectic in every way. There are also some really interesting non linear devices that are used throughout the film. Speed Racer effectively racing his brother at the start of the film is a genius touch and sets up the deceptively moving core of the film. When the villain reveals himself and explains exactly what will happen, this is a great way to quickly convey events that will occur before the next cut. Also when you expect the revelation of Racer X's identity, and a scene is set up specifically for this, it never comes. Even during the climax of the film there are cuts to previous events that make the victory all the more deserved.

The film even circumvents the CGI requirement of today by featuring a real monkey. In contrast to the CGI of the rest of the film, it adds to already amazing visuals. The Wachowski's would never go Jar Jar Bink's on us.

It must be remembered that this is a children's film. The scene with Speed Racer as a child is obviously meant to appeal to them, and when he grows up Spritle fulfills this requirement. However it does have the problem of featuring a story that has slightly too much dramatic edge and is a little long for such short attention spans. Perhaps the core problem this film had is that like Scott Pilgrim, the effective audience base is extremely vocal, yet at the same time extremely small.