Speed Racer

The apathetic reaction the Wachowski brothers latest received on its release is, in hindsight, not surprising. Whilst it would be nice to think that innovation and individuality leads to success and acclaim, here is living proof that generally this is not the case. The great thing about the film industry though is that in a way this doesn’t matter, once a film has been deemed a failure it already exists. You can buy it, watch it and enjoy it if you so choose, and those involved, slightly bruised egos aside, will bounce back. Say what you will about the cookie cutter evil inherent in Hollywood but somewhere a studio forked up over $100m to let these guys bring their, lets face it, rather insane vision to the screen, based, of all things, from a relatively obscure kids cartoon. It was a risk and a gamble, and from a financial point of view it didn’t work out, still I have the feeling like many others than maybe in time people will look back fondly on the film.

Make no mistake this is no disaster, in fact it is a fast, fun and entertaining family film, maybe part of the problem is that people didn’t get that, or expect it. Coming off the back of the Matrix films and V for Vendetta the expectations could have been for the Wachowski’s to apply the same gritty and adult tone to Speed Racer, instead they went in the opposite direction. At a time where dark and gloom seem to be the prevailing factors in many of the big summer movies it was a bold step, quite literally, to fill Speed Racer with as much colour and lightness as they did. Visually the film is spectacular and its hyper kinetic style is maintained throughout not as a gimmick but as a way of establishing the world in which it takes place. This is not any kind of reality we can relate to, the world of Speed Racer is almost literally a cartoon brought to the life, and the unreality of it all can be jarring. We are so used to CGI being used in films to replicate reality, or when showing the fantastical, grounding that in a sense of believability. To the Wachowski’s credit they don’t even bother with that here, because that is not the point. Some of the techniques used in fact actually highlight this unreality, characters in the background and foreground remain in focus and the depth is squeezed from many of the scenes, aping the film’s cartoon roots.

Yet despite all this the characters are very much grounded as recognisable people. In fact it is the characters and story that ultimately make the film work; this is not a hollow exercise in eye-candy but a film with a message and heart. The Racer family as shown in the film have a real bond, and all the actors involved help you care about them. Sure the races are exciting and brilliantly staged, but it would be for nothing if you were not invested in the people taking part. The film paints in broad strokes with the good characters and the bad, but its message about corruption greed and power and some of the twists the story takes along the way help elevate it about other so-called children’s fare. This is a film far too good to be simply dismissed as such and it is a shame many people did. That is not to say it doesn’t have childish elements, Spritle and his pet monkey offer much of the so-called comic relief in the film but thankfully they amuse rather than irritate and such scenes are kept to a minimum.

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John Goodman and Susan Sarandon lend the film its heart and manage to play the emotional scenes with real gravitas, whilst also having a lot of fun at the broader nature of some of the rest of the film. In fact the tone is very well held throughout, never overly silly and throw-away yet never too mawkish and sentimental. As I said the emotional moments in the film feel earned, because of the way everything is set up and the ending is pitch perfect, culminating the story and the underlying themes whilst also being an exhilarating sequence in its own right.

Speed Racer isn’t for everyone, the cartoony style and broad tone of the film may put many people off, but for those who can relate to their inner child and who remember what it is to be sucked into a crazy world, and for those looking for something visually and technically unique and impressive I would highly recommend checking it out.