Wachowskis Bros. do right by ‘Speed Racer’

Friday, May 16, 2008

Click here to enlarge this photo Courtesy of Warner Bros. Pictures Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) watches as Racer X (Matthew Fox) blocks a punch from Taejo Togokahn (Korean pop star Rain) in a scene from ‘‘Speed Racer.” E-Mail This Article | Print This Story

The masterminds behind ‘‘The Matrix” trilogy return behind the camera to bring their unique filmmaking style to ‘‘Racer,” a Japanese cartoon that became a stateside success in 1967 with its over-the-top plots and wacky cast.

That includes Speed’s younger brother, Spritle, and the family chimpanzee, Chim-Chim, both of whom add mischief in the movie.

The brothers prove to be the ideal directors for the property as they use their dynamic — some would argue ‘‘needlessly flashy”— style to dramatic effect right from the beginning explaining in flashback fashion how Speed (Emile Hirsch, ‘‘Into the Wild”) became such a renowned driver.

Speed idolized his fearless older brother Rex (Scott Porter, ‘‘Friday Night Lights”), who set course records before Speed could touch the gas pedal. But he died in a tragic accident. The Wachoswkis throw a touch of the cartoon world into the real world by frequently placing floating heads over scenes for a closer shot of the speaker and extra dramatic effect.

Similar to ‘‘The Matrix,” the Wachowskis provide major eye candy with bright colors and elaborate backgrounds. To capture the look of the cartoon, nothing is out of focus, so backgrounds that would typically be vague in a regular film, are in sharp vivid detail. It’s overwhelming at first but shows the intricacies of the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer C.G.-world.

Major business mogul Royalton (Roger Allam, ‘‘The Queen”) wants Speed to be his new driver, but Speed isn’t sure he wants a big-time sponsor, especially since he can keep it in the family with his father, Pops (John Goodman, ‘‘Roseanne”) performing his car’s maintenance.

Speed soon realizes he’s earned a powerful enemy in Royalton and it will take all his driving skill, his family and aid from the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox, ‘‘Lost”) to defeat him.

The cast, which also includes Susan Sarandon (‘‘Enchanted”) who plays Speed’s mother and Christina Ricci (‘‘Black Snake Moan”) as Speed’s girlfriend Trixie, works well together. There’s always the danger of having too many big names working on a project, but the ‘‘Racer” crew plays off each other well. Paul Litt is especially entertaining as Spritle, but it could be anyone; interacting with a chimp is guaranteed to get big laughs.

But the real heart of a ‘‘Speed Racer” movie is about the races, which are thrilling and provide that edge of your seat adrenaline rush especially since you’re this close to the action and the cars are equipped with enough hi-tech gadgets to make James Bond jealous.

It’s hard to complain about getting more for your movie dollar, but the Wachowskis needed to cut a half-hour to keep the excitement building until the climatic race.

One race gets the majority of the focus and at its conclusion, it seems like a perfect end point for the film, but wait, there are another 35 minutes and another grand race to go. It borders on burnout for the audience, but that’s a minor gripe.

‘‘Speed Racer” darts to the front of the summer movie season and should be a big hit with families, but parents should be prepared to hear complaints about how slow they’re driving after their kids watch Speed racing.