'Speed Racer' Is a Go, Racer X Isn't Lost, IMAX Burns Rubber

The Wachowski brothers roar back to live-action filmmaking with Speed Racer – their first non-Matrix directorial effort since their excellent indie debut, titillating action-thriller Bound (1996). The Matrix Reloaded and The Matrix Revolutions were better-than-average Hollywood sci-fi action sequels, but were disappointing, plot-wandering, gloomy-gloopy messes compared to the dazzling, spoon-bending wire-fu of the original The Matrix.

To regain their mojo after years spent on Matrix sequels, videogames, websites, comic books, animated projects, and whatnot the Brothers W stepped out of the driver’s seat and produced and directed the intelligent comic-book adaptation V for Vendetta and wrote the actual comic-book Doc Frankenstein. With their batteries recharged and engines revving, the Wachowskis finally drop the hammer with Speed Racer, burning up the screen with a bonanza of optical tricks and a little bit of plot.

By amping up and embracing the campiness and hand-drawn antics of the source material, the directors deftly avoid the potholes that tripped up flicks like Hulk (which took itself too seriously), Thunderbirds (too dumb for its own good), and Transformers (a soulless toy ad). Sure, it’s unabashedly a kids’ movie, with cartoon characterizations, scene-chewing bad guys, and little-brother Spritle Racer (Paulie Litt) and chimp sidekick Chim-Chim (portrayed by chimpanzee actors Kenzie and Willy) searching for candy and mischief much of the time. But the filmmakers never pander, instead using the camp performances to garner real laughs and the kid-terrain of the material as an excuse to pack the screen with a dense, dizzying array of visuals.

You could almost call it an experimental film, with its heady mix of live-action, animation, plastic props, impossible locations, psychedelic editing, swirling camera moves, and trippy spins into Spritle’s imagination. The acting, too, verges on the Brechtian, purposely distancing the audience from reality and appropriating archetypes and stereotypes – like a Hal Hartley film hidden inside a sugar-coated action-adventure epic. Warren Beatty’s take on Dick Tracy meets Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey on a racetrack against the Technicolor madness of Luc Besson’s The Fifth Element, Steven Lisberger’s TRON, Terry Gilliam’s Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, a fluorescent kiddie-car version of Frank Miller and Robert Rodriguez's Sin City, and George Miller’s epic Babe: Pig in the City.

The casting team (including Anja Dihrberg, Lora Kennedy, Lucinda Syson, Marcel Dykiert, Arlene Kiyabu, Iris Müller, Kate Ringsell, and Jennifer Weinstein) have put together a spot-on ensemble, with the brooding Emile Hirsch (Speed Racer), hyperactive Nicholas Elia (a young Speed Racer), scene-stealing Susan Sarandon (Mom Racer), always reliable John Goodman (Pops Racer), Aussie comic-relief Kick Gurry (Sparky), luminous Rain (Taejo Togokhan), and other actors all offering gleeful, energetic turns.

Christina Ricci as Trixie is a particular standout – in a small role that could easily have been played as pure two-dimensional eye-candy, Ricci infuses the character with guts, subtle weirdness, and humor. The script, too, let’s Trixie ascend beyond the standard-issue action-film damsel-in-distress stereotype – she pilots the helicopter, can drive a car better than most of the boys, and forces Speed to race even when he’s acting like a moody downer. Ricci’s interpretation is so anime-sexy and off-kilter, it’s disappointing that her character isn’t used more – too much of the time she’s just there to look doe-eyed at the hero.

Matthew Fox (Racer X), on the other hand, appears to have a limited performance range. Or maybe he’s just been typecast. No matter what part he’s playing, he only seems to have access to four Lost expressions: Charming Jack, Angry Jack, Sad Jack, and Action Jack. But then again, he is really, really, really good at all four of those. That’s why when Speed Racer ends you’re left hoping that the Wachowski brothers will make a more grownup Speed Racer spinoff feature focusing entirely on Racer X and the inscrutable Inspector Detector (Benno Fürmann). With his turn as Racer X, Fox proves that, for better or worse, he’s ready to become the world’s next Keanu Reeves – because no one has looked cooler throwing punches and wearing black since Reeves played Neo in The Matrix. Racer FoX marks the spot.

But, despite its aerodynamic stylings, the film is deeply flawed. Like the Matrix sequels, it has a habit of getting lost in itself, and struggles to find a purpose. The opening flashback sequences to Speed and Rex Racer’s early days quickly grow tiresome and disjointed. Every race lasts a few minutes longer than needed. Character development is lacking, and more (unexpected) plot twists are needed – you can see every twist on this raceway a mile away. The third act is fun on its own, but it’s anticlimactic in context – the final race begins to feel like one race too many, the action and triumph repetitive compared to what’s come before. Speed Racer’s third-act flashbacks – Speed remembering bits and pieces of scenes from early parts of the movie – are unnecessary, even grating. The last-minute revelations about Rex Racer (Scott Porter) make for a shockingly boring montage – the Wachowskis spoon-feed the audience instead of spoon-bending.

Still, as a whole the movie is a pimped-out fun ride. See it in theatres while you can – like other CG spectacles, it’s a treat on the big screen but may not translate nearly as well on the small screen (Beowulf, anyone?). For a movie like this, the bigger the sound and picture, the bigger the thrills: See the gear-crunching IMAX version if you can – it’ll leave skid marks on your eyes.

-- Luke Crowe, National Casting Editor, Back Stage

[Note: This is not the official Back Stage review of  Speed Racer, just Luke's opinion. For the official review, click here. ]

Speed Racer and Speed Racer: The IMAX Experience open in theatres May 9, 2008.