While Speed Racer does live up to the repeated statement that “it will be like nothing you’ve ever seen before,” I’m beginning to think that is all the Wachowski brothers care about in filmmaking. Although it is admittedly a very unique film in the visual department, the story is confused and buried in poor comic relief and schizophrenic editing.
Speed Racer is the story of a young boy named Speed that wants nothing more than to race automobiles. His “pop” builds them and his brother already races them. After some tragedy and growing up, Speed eventually becomes a phenomenal race car driver who has to decide what kind of driver he really is.
The acting is delivered by a lot of very talented people and within a very sporadic script. It is unclear throughout the movie whether or not this film is supposed to be for kids or adults, which leaves the extremely ridiculous “for kids” scenes incredibly ill-placed. It’s difficult for the audience to shift between the drama and the outrageously cartoon, so I can’t imagine what it must have been like for the actors. I feel certain that Matthew Fox had to suppress a laugh after every line that he delivered.
No big surprises here as Speed gets an unexpected invitation to race in the Grand Prix and prove that racing hasn’t been completely bought out. He succeeds and although you never believe that he won’t, I still think the delivery was exciting. You also discover that Racer X is in fact his brother Rex.
