Speed Racer Movie Review

Go Speed Go!!! I have been on an anime candy coated infused popcorn ride directed by the Wachowski brothers. For those of you who do not know, this film is based on the classic cartoon named Mach GoGoGo from the 60's. The Wachowski brothers have truly stuck to the roots of the cartoon which will make manga lovers happy. The film starts off with Speed as a young boy who idolizes his older brother. He dreams of one day being such a great race car driver and joining the World Racing League like his brother Rex. I think that moviegoers will relate to this movie because of the family dynamics of the Racer family. The story revolves around the Racer family and their love of racing. John Goodman plays Pops racer perfectly. Pops builds the car with the help of Sparky, played Kick Gurry, and the rest of the family. Susan Sarandon is great as the matriarch of the family and is like most mothers, keeps the family together and is the voice of reason. Emile Hirsch is very believable as Speed Racer who uses his skill and the awesome Mach 5 race car as a battering ram. He is fearless as he performs acrobatic maneuvers the not only defy gravity, but defy reason. I never realized that Christina Ricci had as large eyes as she does, which is actually a compliment and perfect for the role of Trixie, Speeds girlfriend. Paulie Litt and his pet chimp Chim Chim add some slapstick comedy that is a nice touch to the film. Matthew Fox is so cool as the mysterious Racer X. I am a little partial to him because of his role on LOST but I don't care. Roger Allam does exactly what he did in V for Vendetta and is perfectly evil and a downright bad guy.

I have not been a huge fan of manga and my only experience with the show was from it being on the cartoon network when I was growing up. Despite that, I truly enjoyed this movie. I like a movie that is able to transport me away from my thoughts and worries for a bit. Speed Racer does just that at 2 hours and 10 minutes. That was a little long for some kids bladders but not too long for their attention spans from what I could tell from the large number of children in the showing I was at. I really liked that this film had a nice mix for all ages. Please take the chance to see this movie on the big screen because it will NOT be possible to duplicate the sound or picture quality at home no matter how good of a setup you have.