'Speed Racer': Take a Detour
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Larry and Andy Wachowski lay it on thick in "Speed Racer," a frenetic, densely layered, narratively scrambled blob of moviemaking that will leave viewers alternately baffled and sensorially stunned. This supercharged adaptation of the beloved Japanese cartoon of the 1960s bears little resemblance to that anime classic of yore, unless you count Christina Ricci's impossibly huge brown eyes. Here, the Wachowskis take their cues from video games and their own hyper-stylized visual grammar perfected in the "Matrix" movies.
"Speed Racer" is being billed as the first big family blockbuster of the summer, but it's hard to imagine youngsters sitting through more than two hours of confusing flashbacks, windy speeches and monotonous car races. Emile Hirsch, fresh from his breakout performance in last year's "Into the Wild," barely registers as the title character, who seldom utters a word for the first half-hour. But Hirsch's decision to underplay is probably a wise one in a story overstuffed with plots and subplots involving filial betrayal, corporate malfeasance, criminal corruption and races that never seem to end. Speed's little brother, Spritle (Paulie Litt), and his pet chimp provide precious little comic relief, especially when the tyke resolves a scene by flipping someone the bird. (Ricci plays Speed's girlfriend, Trixie.)
Long on exposition and dialogue that requires an MBA to figure out, "Speed Racer" does feature two interesting performances: Roger Allam, as the villain Royalton, looks like he should be doing Tom Stoppard plays in the West End, and "Lost's" Matthew Fox (what a voice!) nails the mysterious character of Racer X. But chances are, after they've passed the two-hour mark, viewers will share the same collective, if unspoken, wish: Go, "Speed Racer." G o.
-- Ann Hornaday
Speed Racer PG, 129 minutes Contains sequences of action, violence, profanity and brief smoking. Area theaters. Speed Racer PG, 129 minutes Contains sequences of action, violence, profanity and brief smoking. Area theaters.
