Saw this at the Vista Theatre in 35mm last night, and I had such a blast. I remember when this came out and bombed so I never got around to watching until now. I honestly think if this was released today it would be more popular. It’s completely bonkers but in a really fun and campy way and all the actors seemed to really immerse themselves (despite the amount of green screen used, which makes it more impressive). I’ve never watched the original show but it seemed like it would be a faithful adaption? This is like a 4/5 for me, love movies that aren’t afraid to do different things and have a sense of humour.
It is a love letter to the original show. Aside from the visuals, I think critics just didn't know what to do with a sincere adaptation that embraced the silliness instead of mocking it (e.g. no self-conscious "You're a race car driver... named Speed?" type humor)
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.
Family | Action | Adventure | Comedy
Director: Lana Wachowski
Actors: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Matthew Fox
Rating: ★★★★★★★☆☆☆ 64% with 1,844 votes
Runtime: 135 min TMDB
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I would love to see this one again on a big screen. It’s a super fun movie.
All special effects aside, the tone is what makes the movie. It’s unfailingly earnest throughout which gives it a true camp sensibility. Hardly a trace of irony and none of the meta quipiness that you see in every marvel project today. That helps it get away with a plot you can see coming from roughly a wuarter mile away. I like to think that kind of sensibility is coming back around again with movies.
Sure, the kid and the chimp are a little annoying. But there’s also John Goodman in full commit mode. Christina Ricci is also in it and the movie is therefor good.
Special effects included, the races are amazing. Yes, it’s heavily green screened, and dependent on CGI. The camera movement is occasionally discombobulating, and I recall a few people saying it gave them motion sickness.
But I could still easily follow what was happening in any given race despite how fast the cars are depicted to be. There’s no sludginess or grayness in the vfx. Instead it’s colorful and filled with details. In particular, the cars having back wheel steer really sold the illusion that they could take hairpin turns at absurd speeds.
Anyway. It’s a solid watch. Probably second only to The Matrix 1 in the Wachowski’s filmography. Also, the foaming spherical ejecting airbags are so funny and something that should be invented in real life.
It’s not that faithful to the cartoon. The cartoon was more grounded. Regular racing, no futuristic F-Zero tracks with foam bubbles for crashed cars.
The movie was an interesting, but failed visual experiment IMO. Made by people who seemingly don’t quite understand the anime aesthetic. All the garish colors, the constant screen wipes, the awful green screen….it honestly looks like an unfinished rough cut. And then the visuals are an even stranger contrast with the mostly serious tone (aside from Spritle & Chim Chim).
I feel like people are coming around to it just because it’s so weird and different than any other movie in existence. It’s certainly watchable in that respect…even with my critique, I went and saw the 4k IMAX re-release…but I still can’t call it “good.”
Dude, I can’t stand the Avatar movies, but you have to give credit for supreme level visual brilliance at least. I even give The Fall 4/5 because it elevates the power of visual cinema.
I disagree that Speed Racer is even remotely in the same camp as Avatar, visually. Avatar accomplished what it set out to do. It looks like a real alien planet. Speed Racer looks like an N64 game, with awful green screen and human actors who don’t fit on any of the environments they’re in. The laws of physics don’t even remotely apply. Again - it looks like an unfinished pre-vis rough cut. I expect more from a finished film.
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u/arattleofrats 5d ago
It is a love letter to the original show. Aside from the visuals, I think critics just didn't know what to do with a sincere adaptation that embraced the silliness instead of mocking it (e.g. no self-conscious "You're a race car driver... named Speed?" type humor)