Speed Racer

A surreal visual effects movie with a terrific sense of speed.

A lot has been said of Speed Racer and most of it has not been good so I'm going to start off by simply saying that I thoroughly enjoyed it. On the other hand I can understand that this movie has a particular audience that does not include the majority of serious movie critics.

The movie is beautiful. It may take the first 15 to 20 minutes to get over the childlike quality. After that you'll see that this movie could not (and should not) have been done any other way. The vision is very coherent; nothing looks out of place regardless of how strange. Even the actual sets that blend perfectly with the rest of the Computer Generated scenery.

The music and sound are great as well and really contribute to the frantic pace of the races.

That being said, I'll get to the bad. If for some reason you do not enjoy the look of the movie then you're in for about two hours and fifteen minutes of torture. The movie is a little bit long (unless you are enjoying it) and has very little beyond its visuals to keep you going.

The story, though interesting and fitting to the visuals, is very simple and not enough to captivate. The acting is sub-par which does add to the effect but again the effect may not be for everyone.

The pacing is very awkward. The races are intercut with the bulk of the story but once out of the race it slows down significantly.

A beautiful piece of eye candy that has not much more to offer beyond that.

Score: (this one is tough because I know that you'll either love it or hate it, but this is my personal score) Mach 4 out of Mach 5

A Fast Flurry of Fervent Flattery:

"He's going to be very good."
"No, he's going to be the best... if they don't destroy him first."

Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Matthew Fox stood in front of the green screen. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski turned the green screen into magic.