Speed Racer (2008)

Director: Lana Wachowski

Cast: Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer, Nicholas Elia as Young Speed, Susan Sarandon as Mom Racer, Melissa Holroyd as Speed's Teacher, Ariel Winter as Young Trixie, Scott Porter as Rex Racer, Gian Ganziano as Everyman Announcer, Peter Fernandez as Local Announcer, Harvey Friedman as Harold Ledermann Announcer, Sadao Ueda as Japanese Announcer, Valery Tscheplanowa as Russian Announcer, Sami Loris as Italian Announcer, Olivier Marlo as French Announcer, Sean McDonagh as Celtic Announcer, Kick Gurry as Sparky

Above everything else, this movie is a visual feast that stays true to
the cartoon. I think it is really unfortunate that so many critics are
complaining about the visuals in this movie, because I think that they
are truly fantastic. I can safely say that I have never seen another
movie like this one, and I feel that so many movies are going to try to
do what this movie did. A lot of the visuals really are beautiful
bursts of color similar to what you find on the busy streets of Tokyo,
and this movie is aware of that. It is like they took Shibuya and made
it a hundred times as big and colorful. Only someone who has been to
Tokyo will know exactly what the Wachowskis were going for in this
film. After all, it is based on a Japanese TV show.

The acting is somewhat campy, but can also turn that gear into more
serious acting. It can be funny, and then be heartwarming. Lots of the
racing sequences are very over the top, but the movie knows it and does
it well. The tracks are very creative, and I can only imagine how fun
they were to design. If real racing was this exciting, I would watch it
all the time. I can understand why this film made the race tracks so
crazy, because who would really want to see two hours of regular race
tracks with cars going around and around? The sound was also really
impressive in this film. The sounds of the race cars were explosive and
loud and if you see this movie in a good theater, it will make it that
much better. The music is also very fitting and tasteful. Probably the
only time I will hear "Freebird" without being annoyed.

Also the politics in this movie were excellent as well. I feel above
all the message of this movie is that money corrupts art. This movie
portrays Speed as more of an artist than a race car driver. A big
corporation wants to sponsor Speed, but Speed knows that corporations
are evil and are only looking to make more money. He is very dedicated
to his craft, and does not want to sell out. Speed knows that
corporations corrupt art, and so does this movie. You will not see one
piece of product placement in this whole film.

So overall this movie is very self-aware. It wants to entertain, and it
does exactly that. It wants to be different, and it does exactly that.
Don't listen to those wimpy critics that didn't like this film because
it gave them a headache. Many people said the same thing about Moulin
Rogue, and that movie is fantastic too. Critics who complained about
there being too much color should have brought a pacifier with them to
the movies, because only babies would complain about how this film
looks. Race to your theater to see it now.