This is review is Spoiler Free!

Skeptical is the best word I can think of to describe my thoughts while entering the theatre this weekend. While I admit I wasn’t a big follower of the show, when I was able to catch Speed Racer on TV, it was a favorite of mine growing up. There was just something about the quirky humor and the still images of Speed in his car as the backgrounds whizzed by that always caught my attention.

This tv show-turned-movie created by anyone would be enough to bring on a little doubt, but knowing that it was re-thought by the Wachowski Brothers brought on even more speculation. What would it be like? Although I really enjoyed The Matrix (the first one) and V for Vendetta, “family” just isn’t a word that would come to mind.

As the movie tried to make a big start, I was a little worried. Scenes cut back and forth from Speed’s childhood, one of his first big races, and scenes of his older brother Rex leaving the family to race on his own. It started feeling forced and I was also concerned that all of the special effect cards were being laid out on the table right away.

There was definitely more to it though. One of the ingredients that made Speed Racer different from a lot of the other cartoons was the interaction between him and the rest of the family, almost like the Partridge Family of racing. The movie did not disappoint in this area and they remembered to give it a lot of heart. In fact, it was most of the scenes with his family that seemed to be taken right out of the show itself. I especially felt this way when watching Spritle and his pet chimpanzee Chim Chim.

While some of the effects and the directing style might come across as silly to anyone not familiar with the TV series, I really appreciated the attention to detail and the effort put into giving it a real cartoon feel. It was also neat to watch the Mach 5 speed through all of the zany twists and turns throughout each race, giving a “virtual roller coaster” feel at times.

The choice in cast was excellent. Not being a fan of John Goodman, I can still say that I thought he did an excellent job of playing Pops. I also thought Emile Hirsch did a great job of capturing the static anime-like facial expressions of Speed from the cartoon (hmm… maybe that doesn’t say much for his acting skills.) Matthew Fox did an okay job as Racer X but it almost seemed like the heavy voice he was using didn’t even convince himself. Towards the beginning of his character being introduced into the film, he almost seemed to smirk like he was trying to stifle a few laughs as he spoke.

Overall the movie was very entertaining and I would definitely recommend it to any fans of the show. I was a little disappointed when half of the family died at the end. (by the way, totally just kidding :) )

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