"Speed Racer" Review

Born to race, Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is an aggressive driver. His main goal is to win the 'Crucible', a cross-country race that took the life of his older brother, Rex Racer.

Speed shows his loyalty to his family's racing business when he turns down an intriguing offer from Royalton Industries, a racing sponsor. In retaliation, Royalton Industries' owner (Roger Allam) threatens to shut down Speed Racer's family business Speed teams up with his girlfriend, Trixie (Christina Ricci), and his rival, Racer X (Matthew Fox), in his attempt to win the 'Crucible' and to save his family business along with the integrity of racing.

Speed Racer is filled with high-octane special effects, but drags across the finish line. Simply put, the movie is way too long. The PG rating makes it suitable for children. But, we all know kids' attention spans are very short. I had to sit through a grueling two and a half hours and found it painful. I know my 10-year-old nephew would not suffer through it. It took way too long for the film to get to the action. It is supposed to be an action movie, but took 45 minutes to get back to the first race. For an action flick, it had way too much dialogue and not enough action. I am not familiar with the Speed Racer cartoon, but I am pretty sure there was not a whole lot of talking.

The directors of this movie are the Wachowski brothers, best known for The Matrix trilogies and I am very disappointed in their overall effort here.

I would rate this movie 1 pair of sunglasses only. The special effects give it a slight cool factor.

Total run time: 2 hours 26 minutes
Directed by: Larry and Andy Wachowski
Starring: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, John Goodman