RUTHERFORD ON FILM: 'Speed Racer'
Racing to Nowhere with Cardboard Personalities and Model Race Cars
By Tony Rutherford
Huntingtonnews.net Entertainment Editor
Wachowski Brothers. Virtual Cinematography. Nuke Digital Domain HD software. Cars splattering at the screen. Add a checkered cinematic flag for the team? Sorry, they tanked by not hypnotically displacing me from my cushioned seat and put me in the race car with Speed Racer sweating, dodging, and fighting for the checkered flag … and at time survival.
Blending live action with CGI, “Speed Racer” fails to deliver more than cardboard personalities uttering flat dialogue at each other. For that matter, none of the actors have chemistry with anyone. They might just as well be standing in front of a microphone doing voice overs for the animated portions. You hear the gunning of the big engines starting and racing, but an opportunity to make the sounds bettering an in-car NASCAR perspective hardly bother any ear drum.
Ironically, the blurry kaleidoscopic neon lights that surround a futuristic (say “Jetsons” like) city produce greater visually creative fanfare than the roller coaster inspired race tracks which look challenging but deliver no air time.
Let’s face it: driver perspectives scramble the utmost suspense particularly if they have a little sweat and lines of tension on their faces. These racers, when behind the wheel, merely talk and steer. The camera drifts away for crack ups and often when explosions occur no attention is paid to driver survival.
The vehicles themselves look too much model car appearance wise and as I alluded before, the drivers fail to coordinate properly with the smashes and clashes.
A modest morality play steers most of the scenario as a young wonder driver decides whether to stick with the struggles of family name sponsorship or fall into the clutches of corporate greed, where the deals are not about skillful, artistic racing but how much money can be made on the often predetermined outcome.
Set design stands out, too as the homes have bright red, yellow, and orange neon, which designates the land of camp and cheese, but the overall has racked up such triteness that zoom equals boring too.
Two of the better feeble relationships concern Racer ( Emile Hirsch ) and his girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), along with his young brother and their pet chimpanzee. Matthew Fox (“Lost,” “We Are Marshall” ) has a cameo as the mysterious Racer X.
There is one bright portion. If you hang past the fade out, a melodic, bubble gum rock song, go speed race, go speed racer , now… has a nice beat. You’ll have to stick through the credits to hear it. Hardly anyone did. Even the youngsters took concession breaks when they would normally be transfixed.
1/2 out of