Speed Racer is a bright, loud, and occasionally baffling attempt to remake a beloved animated series into a live-action summer spectacle. The Wachowskis wrote and directed the film, drawing on the 1966 manga by Tatsuo Yoshida, and they built a world that looks like a cartoon made real — neon colors, giant cars, and a soundtrack that never lets up. What they didn’t build was a coherent plot, and that’s the problem.
Trailer, via Warner Bros. Rewind.
The Setup
Speed Racer is an 18-year-old driver who idolizes his dead older brother, Rex. His family runs Racer Motors, and his father, Pops, runs the business with his wife, Mom, and their younger son, Spritle, and their pet chimp, Chim Chim. The film opens with Speed winning races in his Mach 5 and his own T-180 car, the Mach 6, while refusing a contract offer from E.P. Arnold Royalton, the CEO of Royalton Industries.
Royalton offers Speed a luxurious lifestyle in exchange for racing with him. Speed declines because his father distrusts corporations. That refusal sets off a chain of events: Royalton fixes races, sues Racer Motors for intellectual property infringement, and hires a driver to crash Speed’s Mach 6 during a race.
The Mysterious Masked Driver
Racer X enters the picture as a masked driver who helps expose Royalton’s corruption. Fellow racer Taejo Togokahn has evidence to indict Royalton, but he will only share it if Speed and Racer X race for his team in the Casa Cristo 5000. Speed agrees, suspects that Racer X is Rex in disguise, and keeps the plan secret from his family.
The Cast
Emile Hirsch plays Speed, and he’s earnest enough to carry the film’s emotional weight. Christina Ricci plays Trixie, Speed’s girlfriend, and Susan Sarandon and John Goodman play Mom and Pops. Matthew Fox plays Racer X, and Roger Allam plays Royalton. The casting was competitive — Shia LaBeouf, Zac Efron, and Joseph Gordon-Levitt were considered for Speed, and Keanu Reeves was offered Racer X before declining.
The Race and the Chase
The Casa Cristo 5000 is where the film finally gets interesting. Speed drives alongside Racer X, who he suspects is Rex, and they overcome brutal racers bribed by the fixer Cruncher Block. The film’s visual effects are impressive, and the action sequences are fast and chaotic. But the plot is thin. Royalton’s scheme is simple, and the film spends too much time on spectacle and not enough on stakes.
What Works
- The look of the film — the colors, the cars, the city streets — is a genuine achievement.
- The chase sequences are thrilling.
- The performances from Sarandon and Goodman are warm and funny.
What Doesn’t Work
- The plot is shallow. Royalton’s scheme is easy to guess, and the film doesn’t complicate it.
- The dialogue is often silly, especially for a film that wants to feel serious.
- The runtime is long, and the middle sections drag.
The Cult Following
Speed Racer was a box office failure, grossing $94 million against a $120 million budget. It was nominated for three categories at the Teen Choice Awards. In later years, the film developed a strong cult following among filmmakers and audiences.
The Verdict
Speed Racer is a film that wants to be a classic and ends up being a curiosity. The Wachowskis clearly loved the source material, and that love shows in every frame. But loving something isn’t enough to make a movie work. The film is too loud, too busy, and too thin to justify its length or its budget.
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