Speed Racer (2008)

	Also Known As: -
	Year of first release: 2008
	Director: Andy Wachowski & Lana Wachowski (The Matrix, Cloud Atlas)
	Actors: Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild, Killer Joe), Matthew Fox, Christina Ricci, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman (The Big Lebowski)
	Country: USA
	Genre: Action, Adventure
	Conditions of visioning: 22.09.2013, Blu-ray, Home cinema
Synopsis: The young Speed Racer (Hirsch) dreams about only one thing: becoming a racing cars champion like his big brother Rex.
Review: One thing is sure: the Wachowski like to bring something new to Cinema to enrich it. I don't remember their first movie Bound (I should watch it again), but for sure The Matrix was a little revolution, and Cloud Atlas is an epic story that even if it didn't succeed much, is at least original, a different way to tell a story, and may be more and more appreciated with time. Speed Racer is for me as special. It is adapted from a Japanese animated TV-series itself adapted from a manga. I had seen this Blu-ray already but was motivated to see it again after watching this interesting review (only in French) on the website of the Mad Movies magazine, in which redactors were invited to revise the original opinion they had of a movie. How to make a live movie as fast and flashy as a cartoon? As fast as the Japanese full-length feature Redline and as fun as Pixar's Cars? The choice was made to have the characters evolve in a fully-fictional world, mosly in CGI. The brights exagerated colors reminded me of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. The effects look sometimes unfinished or poorly matching the rest of the environment, but it was likely done on purpose so that one could focus even more on the characters. Because apart from the car races and caricatural villains, the heart of the story is about family. And when the viewer is not blow away by the races scenes he can identify to this family, united even when lost in the middle of corruption and cheating affairs. This feeling is helped by the choice of good actors: John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as the parents, Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer, Matthew Fox as the mysterious Racer X and Roger Allam as Royalton the corporate leader. Against the general good impression I had of the movie, I can only criticize the sometimes heavy humour by Spritle the youngest Racer kid and his buddy chimpanzee.
Rating: 7 /10