Classic Review: Speed Racer (2008)

Some movies need time to be appreciated. The bad part of it is that, when the expectation are set too high, it usually doesn’t end well when it doesn’t perform. This results in some getting a reputation that isn’t always deserved. This was the case with Speed Racer.

When Speed Racer was released in 2008, expectations were quite high for the new movie from the Wachowski sisters. It’s understandable why; after the revolution that was The Matrix series, everyone eagerly anticipated what they would do next. Upon the announcement that it was indeed Speed Racer, well… anticipation went through the roof. Unfortunately when it was finally released, it didn’t perform well and it became branded a disappointment. In fact, the film is far from bad, and it didn’t deserve that bad reputation.

Speed Racer tells the story of Speed (Hirsch), a kid who is totally into car racing, mostly because of his hero, his older brother Rex (Scott Porter). One day, Rex has a fallout with their father Pops (Goodman) and leaves home and soon after, dies in an accident. Speed then grows old and becomes a racer himself, grabbing the attention of Royalton (Roger Allam) who wants Speed to race for him. When the pilot refuses his invitation, Royalton shows him his true colors and they clash.

The problem that led to Speed Racer‘s underperforming at the box office had nothing to do with the quality of the film itself. The story may not be highly inventive or complex but it’s pretty clear that the target audience were children. Therefore older audiences expecting something more like The Matrix series got disappointed. This is a clear case of a previous film so strongly establishing a style to its director (in this case, directors), and creating an expectation of more of the same. Maybe the biggest example of that “curse” is M. Night Shyamalan who after The Sixth Sense was always expected to deliver an exciting twist.

But the Wachowski sisters were not interested in doing more of the same. They embraced their kid friendly film and did the best they could with it. The script is not really complex or layered which might be the biggest problem of Speed Racer. The excitement never comes from where it should come from the first place: the story, the characters, the conflicts. The movie is visually quite arresting, but the story never takes it to the next level, which is a bummer. Though if the Wachowski underperform as writers, they more than make it up as directors. The narrative style of the film is amazing, and the visuals are truly incredible to watch. The racing scenes are, of course, the highlights, and they are so imaginative and insane you can feel your heart accelerating.

Meanwhile, the cast delivers for the most part. Hirsch is a good lead, Christina Ricci brings the right quirkiness to Trixie, and Goodman and Susan Sarandon make a good pairing as the parents. The standout, though, is Matthew Fox who was great as Racer X.

In the end, Speed Racer is not as exciting as it could have been, but it is also not as bad as people thought of when it first came out.

still courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures

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