A young boy’s racing pedigree leads him to stardom on the track in the cartoon-based, live-action feature SPEED RACER. Emile Hirsch stars as Speed Racer, a young man torn between family pride and success when confronted by a major sponsor who seeks him as their new driver. Adding to Speed’s tough racing decision is the emotional baggage of losing a brother to the sport, his father’s approval and a childhood romance that has blossomed into something more with girlfriend Trixie.
In spite of all its brilliant colors, high speed racing and clever storytelling SPEED RACER ends up off track in terms of tone and nature. Regardless of the story’s origin, the theatrical version of SPEED RACER turns out to be far more schmaltzy than it should be, and not nearly silly enough, considering the film’s PG rating. The film was written and directed by the brotherly tandem of Andy and Larry Wachowski of Matrix fame. The two’s visual sense is second to none, but wrapping their genius around a cohesive and engaging tale is another story. Although not nearly as complex as the Matrix’s labyrinth, SPEED RACER is a bit complicated for its target audience. Couple the kid-challenged plot with several manic racing sequences, and the film’s ability to entertain is drastically reduced. The extremely talented cast, consisting of Hirsch, Chistina Ricci, John Goodman, Matthew Fox and Susan Sarandon, all go to waste with performances that are too sincere for the synthetic script. SPEED RACER has its engine all revved up, but never is running on all cylinders.Grade: C-
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