Last night I re-watched one of my favorite movies. Please don’t judge me: Speed Racer. If you look at a lot of other reviews of this movie you will understand why people tend to give me dirty looks when I admit my love for this movie out loud, but I think it is a misunderstood masterpiece and I am going to try and explain why I feel this way.
Speed Racer is a movie based off a Japanese Cartoon from the mid-sixty’s. Speed Racer is the name of the main character and all he wants to do is be the best race car driver in the whole world, and his dad runs Racer Motors, and builds his cars. The basic plot of this movie is that small independent race car companies are good and the big sponsors and builders are bad. Oscar worthy I know, but the plot is not what makes this movie great. It is the visuals, and the slavish devotion to the source material.
This movie is like cotton candy for your eyes. There are shades of neon in this movie that you didn’t even know existed. And the way they make the cars move, is like how every six year old makes his Matchbox cars move: turning three-sixties, jumping, spinning, sliding around every corner. It is the stuff of every little boy’s dreams. Fantastic.
The Wachowski’s also took a risk by turning a live action movie in to a cartoon with real people in it. All the sets are animated, and so is the entire world around them. They made characters in the movie exactly as they are in the show which is amazing since the show was never that popular, and I don’t think any but a few of us got all the references.
Like I said before in this movie is like cotton candy. I know this movie is pure visual sugar, and I can’t watch it all the time, but sometimes there is just nothing better then giving your eyes a treat. Even if you disagree with me about if this movie is good or not, I still think everyone should own this on Blu-Ray, not on DVD or streaming but Blu-Ray, because watching this movie puts your Hi-Def screen through its paces, and seeing those crazy colors pop and spin will make your jaw drop. I can’t wait for the 4K Ultra Hi-Def screens to come out, so I can melt my eyes out with this movie.
I also love Speed Racer, for the visuals, but also for the story as well – it has heart.
” There are shades of neon in this movie that you didn’t even know existed.”
That was one of the best descriptive sentences about this movie I think I’ve read to date. I haven’t seen this since theaters, and I think it’s about time I checked out the Blu-Ray.
Let me know, you can always borrow it.