#GOLLY GEE WHIZ DRIVERS#
How else to explain drivers like Snake Oiler, who dumps actual snakes onto the track a diversion. It’s as though the Wachowskis used Speed Racer as an opportunity to make a magnificently gorgeous, action-packed version of Wacky Racers. Our hero races against cartoonish caricatures of army men, girly girls, and Vikings, among others. Thankfully, Speed’s nefarious competitors are nowhere near as grounded as the other characters. As to be expected, Speed Racer features many great races, the highlight being the Casa Cristo 5000, a two-day trek across a variety of trecherous terrain. The cast knows its place, allowing the ridiculous spectacle take center stage. While these roles could have been poorly conceived archetypes, the actors keep the characters grounded with their largely understated performances, taking their dated cues from big-hearted sitcoms like The Andy Griffith Show and Leave it to Beaver, without any Eddie Haskells to laugh at the schmaltz.
Speed Racer’s mom and dad (Susan Sarandon and John Goodman, respectively) are literally named Mom Racer and Pops Racer. The head detective from the Central Intelligence Bureau? Inspector Detector, naturally. The ludicrously wealthy villain played with a Christopher Hitchens smarm by Roger Allam? He’s E.P. This hilarious straightforwardness even applies to the characters’ names besides Speed Racer’s. Speed Racer might be outrageously silly, but its characters treat their zany world completely seriously Everything gets this matter of fact treatment, from the comically dangerous racetracks to the misadventures of Speed’s kid brother and his monkey sidekick, Chim Chim. In this film, even the groan-inducing pun (“You do it because you’re driven.” Thanks, Bruce Vilanch.) becomes profound wisdom. These hoary clichés are treated with the utmost respect. You don’t climb into a T-180 to be a driver. Every one of us has to find a reason to do this. What matters is if we let racing change us. “It doesn’t matter if racing never changes. This extremely hokey speech is delivered with the straightest of faces – Matthew Fox’s. Consider Racer X’s pep talk to a distraught Speed during the film’s final stretch. Though it takes place a futuristic wonderland, the values of Speed Racer have a squeaky clean, 1950s Cleaver family vibe, making for an amusing and endearing juxtaposition.
#GOLLY GEE WHIZ MOVIE#
Underneath the beautiful, retina-searing CGI lies a big-hearted movie with a goofy sense of humor.įor such a commercial endeavor, the film displays a surprising amount sincerity. Thanks to its core simplicity, however, the intricacies of Speed Racer and its meticulously crafted world can be easily ignored (or at least saved for a repeat viewing). Narrative complexity in a Speed Racer movie is as appealing as historical veracity in Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Unsurprisingly, Speed Racer had trouble finding an audience and flopped upon release in May 2008. It’s like they were bored by their own movie. Although story itself remains fairly simple – Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) must win races to defeat an evil corporation and save his family’s business – the Wachowskis toss it into a blender, filling the film with flashbacks, flashforwards, and all sorts of structural trickery. The Matrix trilogy might have proven their box-office credentials, but those films are far from simple.Įven by their elaborate standards, the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer is shockingly hard to follow. For whatever reason, the high-minded Wachowskis were hired to adapt this simple franchise into a summer blockbuster.
The title alone tells us the main character’s name, occupation, and his particular focus when it comes to racing (not to mention his theoretical drug of choice). Few properties are as aggressively single-minded as Speed Racer.
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