Speed Racer reviewed

From AICN, [excerpt] I was hoping I’d enjoy the flick.

I did more than enjoy it. I’m amazed at what the Wachowskis have done with this film. It’s a kid’s film through and through, make no mistake. But it’s a kid’s film that succeeded in making me a kid again while watching it. My little brother was with me… he’s 17… not exactly the target audience for the movie, but he said he felt 5 years old again while watching the flick and that’s pretty right on.

The movie is fun and you can tell everybody in the film is having a blast.

The visual style, as witnessed in the trailer, is bizarre. There’s nothing like it. It’s like they figured out how to make celluloid out of melted down Sweet Tarts. You can see the Wachowski fingerprints here and there… in a slow motion shot or in a fight scene… but it’s stylistically about as different from MATRIX as you can get.

The real surprise for me was the incredible heart the film has. The racing is incredible, of course, but the quiet moments were literally a love letter to the family unit. Pops as played by John Goodman, Mom as played by Susan Sarandon, Spritle as played by Paulie Litt, Rex as played by Scott Porter and even Chim-Chim all have their own chemistry that feeds into a loving family.

Read full review here