Reviews by Matt

What does it take to get me to go see a movie when I do not have to? The truth is, not much. If I am even remotely interested in a movie, I will go see it. That is how it was with “Speed Racer” I wanted to see it, but could have easily waited for it to come out on DVD. The mere fact that it looked visually stunning was the sole reason I went to see it in the theater.

Speed (Emile Hirsch) was born to race. His family owns their own racing company and he has wanted to race since he was a young boy. He is one of the best in the world and has offers from many of the biggest racing companies to come race for them. Instead he stays with his parents Mom (Susan Sarandon) and Pops (John Goodman) at their small, independent race care building company.

When he refuses a huge offer from E.P Arnold Royalton (Rodger Allam) of Royalton Industries, Royalton tells Speed that he will never finish another race if he walks away from the offer. With the Racer family facing lawsuit after lawsuit, Speed decides to enter The Crucible, the same race that took the life of his brother Rex, and help his family get out for trouble. With the help of the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox) he will stop at nothing to bring Royalton to justice.

Visually it was stunning. The colors were vibrant, the computer animation was slick and advanced. It was simply the best part of the movie.

From a story stand point, however, it lacked substance. How things unfolded was shaky at best, even for a movie. The odds were so stacked against Speed that you knew it was going to turn out for the better in the end. Yes, Speed is the underdog and in a movie the underdog usually wins, but this was just way too much. Every modification made to the car ended up saving Speeds life and helped him win.

I cannot say I expected a strong story from the Larry and Andy Wachowski, the directors of “The Matrix” Trilogy. The two sequels to “The Matrix” were all flash, no story. The same can be said of “Speed Racer”
Unless you really are in to the visual elements, this is not a must see. Just wait for the DVD, which based on the poor box office performance, will be sooner rather than later.

7 out of 10
Rated PG for sequences of action, some violence and language
135 min