05.13.08
Families don’t Go to Speed Racer Go
I could post a review for this masterfully crafted summer popcorn family film but theirs another issue I prefer to address. If you want the long and short of it, Speed Racer rocks, go see it or be doomed to discover it on video and regret never seeing this crazy spectacle on the big screen along with so many other great movies that only get seen on home video. Remember watching Dark City, Donnie Darko, and Blade Runner on video and then wishing their was some way you could go back in time and enjoy them as they were meant to be seen? Well that is going to be Speed Racer in a few years. Not only is this a crowning achievement in visual style but its probably one of the most honest family films I’ve ever seen. To think that Alvin and the Chipmunks opened to huge business and not Speed Racer just makes my blood boil.
I must ask you America. What the fuck? What more did you want? Did this film seriously need singing chipmunks to get your attention? The Wachowski’s release another megaton bomb into cinemas only to receive the big fat yawn of familiies who decided that a good family film is just too much to bear. Instead you run to Cheaper by the Dozen and Surf’s Up. The dumber it looks the more you want to see it. Speed Racer is the stuff that every little boy dreams of (besides of course that cute girl next door). I practically turned into a ten year boy right there in my theater seat. Just when you think the Wachowski’s may be pandering to children with an over abundance of Spritle and Chim Chim scenes they manage to squeeze in some thrilling racing scenes and some awesome hand to hand combat from their matrix days.
While I find myself more and more disenfranchised with Iron Man (come on those action scenes were so weak) Speed Racer only grows stronger in my mind. Its a shame you didn’t see it but don’t worry you’ll catch up with the rest of us in a few years when Speed becomes a certifide cult classic.
4/5
