well kind of
A race car driver carries on his faimly's racing tradtion and follows in his older brother's footsteps. Defying corporate corruption, not to mention gravity, Speed Racer stays true to his values to become the world's greatest racer
SPEED RACER
If you watch Speed Racer because you’re looking for the highly intensive ride The Fast and Furious provided or because you thought Christina Ricci looked hot in Black Snake Moan you might want to go rent those two movies again. However, if you’re part of the MTV generation that watched the animated series to see the dynamic and unbelievable races and enjoyed singing “Go Speed Racer Go,” you’ll appreciate the pains that directors Larry and Andy Wachowski went through to make this movie as much like the animated series as possible. For the sake of the non devoted Speed Racer fans the movie gives a dramatic insight of the Racer family (yea, that’s their name, and it is confusing at times) history showing how Speed grew up idolizing his older brother Rex who races for the Racer Family Race Team (I told you the name gets confusing). At the top of his game Rex Racer leaves the family team to enjoy the riches offered by the corporate race teams and then is killed during the dangerous, cross county Crucible race. Never fear though, for the Speed Racer fans of old all know that Rex didn’t die but now races under the mask of RACER X (all the good, mysterious names must have been taken). To carry the racing torch of his family Speed climbs into the cockpit of the powerful Mark V and soon brings the racing world to their feet speeding the Mark V through enough loops, spins, and turns to make a roller coaster ride seem tedious. Everything is fine and dandy in the Racer family until the evil corporation, Royalton Industries, tries to seduce the young racer with their money and high tech factory which looks like it is straight out of a Dr. Seuss story. Speed Racer refuses such (well, of course boy and girls, after all he is SPEED RACER), and then the conflict begins!
This movie can be a lot of fun IF you remember that it came from a CARTOON! Sure, the race scenes are unbelievable and the plot is somewhat ridiculous, but that’s why we’re watching a movie called Speed Racer! Enjoy how the movie provides the same gravity defying races the animated show gave us, not to mention a track full of unsavory villains. Although Speed Racer’s arch rivals the evil acrobatic racing team or the dreaded mammoth car are dearly missed, do not despair for the movie brings forth the Snake Oiler whose car tosses live snakes into his opponents’ car not to mention a team of mercenary Viking racers who try to put an end to Speed Racer after they are enticed with a chest full of fine furs!
Speed’s little brother Spritle and his ever present pet chimp Chim Chim weren’t forgotten either, but their antics are kept to a minimum (thanks guys). John Goodman’s magnificent portrayal of Pops Racer delivers the most accurate transfer from animation which leaves us wondering just how many hours of Speed Racer did Mr. Goodman have to watch? Another detail that the movie also didn’t ignore was the sexual tension and relationship confusion between Speed Racer and Trixie that the animated series always held. Although there is suppose to be a love interest between the two, she lives with his family and is treated far more like a sister than a girlfriend. BUT true Speed Racer fans do not fear for this mystery and many others could be answered in the future because I have a feeling a sequel could be speeding around the next hair pin curve. GO SPEED RACER GO!!!!!!
RATING: PG (pretty good)
