Hello everyone: Here’s another film that I’ve been wanting to address for some time, and now that time has finally come. Let’s open up the Wachowskis’ 2008 live-action adaptation of the 1967 anime “Speed Racer!”
The film opens in a manner that alternates between Speed (Emile Hirsch) and his younger self (Nicholas Elia). While not the best student, as noted by his teachers; he shows great enthusiasm for car racing. This is also noted by his father Pops (John Goodman), his Mom (Susan Sarandon) and his older brother Rex (Scott Porter). As they’re on the racetrack, I really like this bit of them in the Mach 4; one of the film’s counterparts to the anime’s Formula 1 car variant.
Just as they hit the big jump, the film shows Speed leading everyone at the local racetrack, known as Thunderhead. The Wachowskis, having just come off The Matrix Trilogy; used what they learned there to adapt the anime in a manner that embraces the absurdity of its concept. Using the technique of the “digital backlot,” live actors against chroma key; they take the original 1967 TV show and use it to make a retro-futuristic take on the series; gravity-defying cars and candy-colored hues abound.
In his own Formula 1 variant, the Mach 6; Speed is going after the “ghost” of his older brother Rex in more ways than one; who set the record at Thunderhead Raceway when Speed was still a kid. Also watching the race are his younger brother Spritle, (Paulie Litt), their pet Chim-Chim, (animal actors Willy and Kenzie) and Speed’s flame Trixie (Christina Ricci). They’ve apparently known each other since they were kids, as shown by a flashback to her younger self (Ariel Winter).
I actually really like how this movie tries to recreate a lot of the same editing and camera techniques you would see in the anime: given the time I grew up in, I actually saw the show in some manner on at least all three major kids' networks in syndication: Nickelodeon, Disney Channel and Cartoon Network: imagine that. Some the announcers, including late anime VAs Peter Fernandez and Corinne Orr are used as transitions!
As time passed, Rex eventually left Racer Motors to forge his own path, leaving Speed the Mach 5 and leaving his family on bad terms. He also apparently dies in an accident in a cross country race known as the Casa Cristo 5000; which we’ll come back to later. Speed wins the opening race, but decides to preserve Rex’s record at the last moment to honor his memory.
This movie, on top of being rife with Easter eggs to the source material; also contains a brief parody of “Fist of the North Star” that Spritle and Chim-Chim are watching at breakfast. As their mechanic Sparky, (Kick Gurry) remarks on who Speed will race for, everyone is confident he’ll stick with the family at Racer Motors.
Just then, EP Arnold Royalton (a deliciously hammy Roger Allam) tries to court Speed into joining his team; offering him a lavish lifestyle and even a tailored suit to race for him! The sequence at Royalton Industries also sets up many key plot threads that we’ll be addressing soon. There’s also the company’s racer: two-time Grand Prix winner, five-time WRL Champion and future Hall of Fame member Jack “Cannonball” Taylor (Ralph Herforth).
Speed asks for time to consider, and Royalton reluctantly agrees. We then cut to Taejo Togokahn (actor and K-pop star Rain) being interrogated by Cruncher Block (John Benfield doing his best impression of Tom Wilkinson). Block was one of the more notable antagonists in the anime, and his transport is this film’s version of the “Mammoth Car.”
Taejo is narrowly fed to Block’s piranhas when the car is intercepted by Racer X; (Matthew Fox of “Lost” fame). I really like how this scene handled: both cameraman David Tattersall as well as VFX supervisors John Gaeta and Dan Glass did a fantastic job of introducing X before he even starts speaking. I especially like how they introduced his car, the “Shooting Star” in this movie. Though Taejo is reluctant to turn on Block, X gives him the authorities’ number.
While Speed contemplates racing for Royalton, the latter turns out to have an ulterior motive with fellow company Musha Motors and their head, (Hiroyuki Sanada). The day comes for Royalton’s offer to Speed, with Spritle and Chim-Chim sneaking onboard the plane and dipping into their candy supply!
Though Speed is tempted, he relays a story about what happened after losing Rex. Speed has indeed been deeply invested in racing since he was very young, with one highlight being the Grand Prix match between Ben Burns and Stickleton. However, Royalton’s idea of racing is much different; and the big leagues have a long and shady history; up to and including race fixing. Royalton himself has a demeanor that would be the envy of Bobby Kotick and Tim Sweeney! Elsewhere, Spritle and Chim-Chim are also joyriding in a tram while listening to “Free Bird;” stumbling upon an illegal device known as a “spear hook!”
Unfortunately, they’re caught by security, and amusingly; the chief is credited as “Dour Face” according to the captions on my DVD. Speed ultimately declines to sign with Royalton, but Royalton retaliates by conspiring with Block at the Fuji Helexicon race; totaling the Mach 6 and having Racer Motors accused of IP infringement! Though not in that exact order in the film, I do give the editors credit for taking an unconventional approach to recreate the anime’s flow on film.
On top of Speed being met by Burns (Richard Roundtree of “Shaft” fame); he’s encouraged by his parents and given a second chance by X and Inspector Detector (Benno Furman). However, this involves racing in the Casa Cristo; a race that has a reputation for “jackals, headhunters and thugs.” As well as Rex, the cross-country rally is so well-known for death that it’s also known as the “Crucible.” Against Pops’ wishes, Speed ultimately agrees to join the race alongside X and Taejo; by saying he’s going skiing as a cover. Classic.
The day of the race arrives, and it spans two continents, three climates, and 5,000 km of road! Spritle also tries to hide he’s watching the race by watching a German program, but Pops isn’t fooled.
On top of the race being a qualifier for the Grand Prix; there’s also another factor involved: to stop Royalton and Musha from taking over Togokahn Motors, and to provide key information on both Royalton and Block. However, several other racers are indeed being paid off to take out their team; with all the crazy outfits and modified cars being just shy of Dastardly and Muttley in these wacky races. One of these is Snake Oiler, a key racer from the anime (Christian Oliver). The Mach 5 has also been modified to level the playing field by X’s lover Minx (Nayo Wallace).
The queen of Casa Cristo fires the starting gun at sunrise, and the race is off! While several stragglers are taken out right away, Speed and X are able to outmaneuver most of their opponents out of the city and into the Zunubian desert! Though Snake Oiler is in the lead, Speed and X are able to work alarmingly well together. On that note, the race itself is quite impressive; and this section of the film is definitely my favorite part. It’s a big love letter to the original anime, much is the movie itself.
The first day of the race concludes at Cortega, and the hotel there is one of the only three practical sets built for the film alongside the Racer home and Royalton’s office. Speed’s family has found out what happened, and though there’s a tense argument; they all come to the agreement to finish what they’ve started. That night, a hit is put out on everyone; with Taejo being poisoned, but X is able to fight off his attacker; and the ninja sent after Speed is fought off by the whole family; including Pops! Actually kind of neat they included his background as an ex-wrestler from the anime; as shown by his class ring.
Since the toxin has partially paralyzed Taejo, Trixie decides to race in his stead; while Taejo and his sister Haruko (Yu Nan) help set a trap for Cruncher Block! This clash with Snake Oiler’s team in the mountain pass is actually quite impressive, as is this fight near the peak with Cruncher’s gang. While many adaptations before and sense never really “got” the dynamic energy of their source or medium, it’s clear the filmmakers are unashamed of what they’re adapting and are downright gleeful to be a part of it.
Cruncher and his thugs are arrested, and now there’s only one path to win the race: the Maltese Ice Caves; where Rex didn’t make it out! The last of Snake’s henchmen crashes out of the race, and Snake himself tries to trip up Speed with an oil slick hidden in his car!
Speed nearly falls off the cliff, but he drives back up thanks to the Mach 5’s modifications; and Snake crashes out as Speed wins the race! I really love how the film recreated the image from the intro as he crosses the finish line.
However, it turns out that Togokahn had his own motives: it wasn’t to prevent the buyout, but to increase the benefits of the merger with Royalton! Needless to say, Speed isn’t happy; and this leads to a brief, but actually quite effective race with X at Thunderhead. This sets up how the film adapts the classic reveal from “The Trick Race,” which showed Rex behind the mask. Speed doesn’t recognize the man behind the mask, but this isn’t the end of the story. X then tells him that he needs to figure out what motivates him to keep driving, saying that he hopes to see it when he does.
Pops and Speed reconcile, and Haruko gives Speed the invite to the 91st Grand Prix in her brother’s stead! In just 32 hours, the family rebuilds the Mach 6 and Speed takes part in the race! Among the other drivers, Royalton has put a $1 million bounty on Speed’s head; and Speed must face Cannonball, who is driving the prototype “GRX!” This is another car that featured prominently in the anime, and the purple and gold is a nice touch.
While other live-action adaptations have often struggled to translate the unique visual style of anime on film, this final race is a major example of embracing it with gleeful abandon, candy-colored cars and racetracks abound. Using the same techniques they employed with the Matrix series; the Wachowskis have crafted an intricately-choreographed automotive martial art known as “Car-fu.” That’s not a joke: the video game confirms this, and it’s actually quite good. It’s basically like the Speed Racer version of F-Zero or Wipeout.
Speed bobs and weaves through the rest of the field, with only Cannonball left in his way! The two trade paint as Speed shouts, “get that weak shit off my track!” … There’s your PG rating, fellas.
Cannonball shoots the spear hook into the Mach 6, and as Spritle calls it out, Speed uses the jump jacks of the car to catch it on camera and free himself! The GRX crashes out, and as the Mach 6 stalls, X softly says to just “listen to her.” This is part of what I mentioned, and Speed is able to kickstart the Mach 6 by shifting into 5th gear! As he jets across the track, he recalls all that brought him here; causing the last two racers to crash into each other headfirst as Royalton breaks down and everyone else cheers! He quite literally burns rubber as he shoots into a first place finish! Yowza: I can only imagine what that would look like in IMAX.
Before we head to victory lane, we see why X can’t go back to his family: not only was his death a cover by his agency, he had cosmetic surgery done to help protect them. So, not the exact same circumstances as the anime; but the one constant is that being a spy takes precedent over being a racer.
We close on Speed celebrating his win, Taejo testifying in court; and Royalton being jailed on the headline “cheaters never prosper.” The credits then roll to some really good multilingual arrangements of the original theme song!
Though time and audiences have been kinder to the movie, at the time, it was roundly panned by critics as little more than 135-minute version of the show with lollipop-hued CGI; which technically isn’t wrong, but still. The film cost $120,000,000 to make and another $80,000,000 to market; with a massive promotion in place. I still have some of the Hot Wheels models they put out. Despite the Wachowskis being fresh off hits such as the Matrix franchise; the film opened at number 3 behind the first Iron Man and the romantic comedy What Happens in Vegas. The film ultimately made just $43,945,766 in the US; with worldwide numbers bringing in just $93,945,766. The success of The Dark Knight later that summer made it so WB would take more than a decade to even attempt
another adaptation of a Japanese IP for families again.
That said, the film definitely found its audience on DVD; and over time, a cult following took hold. Looking back over the years, the film is no more absurd than other big-budget blockbusters at the time and since; and its influence has spread into other films. Some live-action anime stray too far from the source such as Dragonball Evolution; others don’t really understand how to make the material work in the medium like the Netflix Death Note or 2017 Ghost in the Shell. Even Alita Battle Angel, despite being an improvement in many ways; still felt less like anime to me and more like a dystopian YA film wearing an anime skin. With Speed Racer, however; there is a commitment to making an unapologetically absurd, retro-futuristic love letter to the famed anime, and the Wachowkis delivered that exactly. I’ve been advocating for this film ever since I was 16, and I will continue to do so. It’s not perfect, but it is an underrated film among their work.
