I took Xander and Mitchell to see Speed Racer today. I was a little apprehensive about seeing it. The previews looked interesting but it also seemed like an odd direction for the movie.
Overall, the movie was fair to good. There were some tremendous action scenes. One was an actual fight scene while the rest were car races. The races were fun and truly fanciful. A healthy dose of suspended belief was absolutely required because no true laws of physics were applied during the movie. The plot was simple – a family who goes against big business and corruption. There was a bit of comic relief but it was minimal (from the little brother and his chimp).
It was hyper colorful. Most of the time it added to the fancifulness of the whole picture but there were times that it just got psychedelic and distracted from what was really going on. The end of the final race was an example of this.
I did like the characters including Speed and Trixie (Ricci was very nice looking). Mom and Pops Racer were well developed too. Rex Racer/Racer X was interesting but in some ways, his story was more interesting than Speed’s.
There were lots of fun elements but some weaknesses. It’s probably worth seeing but I don’t think there is much to miss if you wait for a rental on DVD or Blu-Ray.