Speed Racer

Beautifully kinetic, not only via movement on the screen, but also the movement around the story. Had I seen it as a child, my brain would have blown out of my nose. Anyway, it is elegant, funny, confidently told and poetically boyish with its pastel-manga-coloring book-family-chimpy style. Even the clichés that sometimes irritate me are completely smooth and high-octane in this cheeky injection. WW may be ahead of their time, or maybe they missed it completely, but to hell with the times, I watch movies and this one works better than any 3D prefabricated product. The added dimension of Speed Racer is probably the art of listening to a complex but completely effective machine for a simple story. Family movies have always bored me. Now I know why. None of them look like Speed Racer. (22/11/2012)

Despite my aversion to Japanese animated series, despite the silly humor that abounds, despite the heaps of clichés and despite the silly characters of the little brother and his tame chimpanzee... I actually had fun with this. Not groundbreaking or memorable, but thanks to the stunning visuals, imaginative racing scenes and Giacchino's music, it's pretty much sound from start to finish. Three and a bit. (31/12/2012)

So colorful... Oh yeah, this movie just blew me away. It raised the bar. I just loved it ;-) I waited, I went through it, and it paid off. I put it on at the exact moment I needed it the most. At the moment when it could consume me. Maybe if I'd let it in just a moment later or earlier, it wouldn't have gotten full marks. Clever as can be. :-D It's got juice. (18/10/2008)

The audiovisual side of the movie is simply unbelievable. Painstaking racing scenes interspersed with a conflict between a family firm and a megalomaniac corporation represented by the slippery Roger Allam. Emile Hirsch gave a great performance in the role of Speed and I was equally surprised by Matthew Fox as the mysterious Racer X. Playful, sweet and funny (unfortunately sometimes too much so). Great for kids, remarkably digestible for adults. (23/05/2008)

Races: Perfect spectacle, eyes are amazed, adrenaline rises and I grip the steering wheel subconsciously and step on the pedal. Dialogues, funny scenes, and the rest: Disappointment and often unexpected suffering. Parents try, my brother rolls his eyes, and Trixie, as a lovely sexy figure, winks her eyes and helps the main hero. And meanwhile, I pray for someone to step on that pedal again. It is truly a very uneven mixture, you climb into Speed's cockpit and you still don't get under his skin even for a bit throughout the two hours. And at that moment, any possible enthusiasm for the film as a whole ends for me. Visual orgy on a zero background. This is supposedly how films should look in the future. I think (and I strongly hope) not. P.S.: Big plus for the mysterious Matthew Fox, who can create a deep character out of anything. (31/05/2008)