Review: Speed Racer
Tuesday, June 3rd, 2008
Rating: 
Initially, when the wind blew news of the Speed Racer movie, my face lit up with glee. The excitement quickly increased when Christina Ricci was confirmed to play the role of Trixie and that was the end of that. The first trailer was up and I was less than excited. The style looked cheesy and over-saturated, therefore, when my Mr. made plans to watch Speed Racer with an old friend oh his, I wasn’t heartbroken.
Boy, did I regret my decision. My Mr. returned from the movies with raving reviews (and since I trust his judgement) we were off the following Friday to the IMAX theater to experience the thrilling races of a mega screen.
My previous concerns for the overly saturated look actually worked in it’s favor. The (what I’ve been referring to as) “psychedellic bubble pop” look made the movie much more reminiscent of the show. On a side note, I’m sure if I look back at the cartoons, that I’ll come to the realization that it was really bad– but I refuse to taint my childhood experience with reality.
The cast, which I was also concerned with, was amazing in their roles. I really appreciated the flashbacks of Speed with his brother, and related to him as a grown up refusing to let the world change him or his views. In addition to, he was quite believeable and respectable when he tried to help uncover the truth behind the “fixed” races and the people who fix them. Speed’s relationship with Trixie was also quite romantic in that young-innocent-love kind of way. Oh, and it should be stated that Chim Chim played his role quite great!
The plot and action were done quite great too. And though the colors are loud, you forget about that when cars are speeding through. And, unlike any other “racing” movie I’ve seen, it is the first time I experiece car kung-fu action. It is true that the movie is still quite cheesy, but it doesn’t take away from rooting for the good guys and wanting Speed to win the race. I say that if you had any reservations against this movie, that you let go of them and go see it! It really does deserve your $12.
