Speed Racer

Superfluous scenes slow the overlong Speed Racer almost to a halt, writes Michael Dwyer

SPEED RACER

Directed by Andy and Larry Wachowski. Starring Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Matthew Fox, Susan Sarandon, John Goodman, Roger Allam, Paulie Litt, Scott Porter, Kick Gurry, Benno Furmann, Richard Roundtree, Ashley Walters, Rain PG cert, gen release, 135 min  **

SOME words of wisdom from Speed Racer: "A car is a living, breathing thing. You can hear her talking, telling you what she needs." These nuggets are passed from ace driver Rex Racer (Scott Porter) to his little brother Speed, a boy already so obsessed with racing that he fantasises he's driving his desk at school. Special effects assist the illusion.

Visual effects and computer- generated imagery abound in Speed Racer, which employs bold primary colours and ultra-bright lighting in its hyper-stylised look, suggesting a hi-tech reworking of trippy 1960s screen psychedelia.

The storyline is substantially less ambitious or interesting. When Rex is assumed dead after an accident during the epic Casa Cristo 5000 tournament, Speed is determined to compete and win it when he grows up. He is played by Emile Hirsch (who is fresh-faced and engaging after the intensity of Into the Wild).

Speed's dad, Pops (John Goodman), designs a state-of-the art Mach 5 for him, while Mom (Susan Sarandon) provides moral support, rather pretentiously comparing Speed's talent to that of a painter or composer - "I go to the races to watch you make art." Completing the family is Speed's precocious, gluttonous kid brother Spritle (Paulie Litt), who engages in wacky misadventures with pet chimp Chim-Chim. An amiable Australian (Kick Gurry) helps out as a mechanic. And Speed gets doe-eyed looks from his childhood sweetheart Trixie (Christina Ricci), who has her own helicopter. It's pink.

Speed rejects a sponsorship deal from the oily owner (Roger Allam) of a multi-national corporation headquartered in a vast industrial complex in the city of Cosmopolis. Inevitably, the company responds to this rebuff with a dastardly scheme to put Speed out of the tournament. However, Inspector Detector (Benno Furmann) is investigating corruption in the racing business, and the purportedly mysterious Racer X (Lost actor Matthew Fox after a rare shave) is on Speed's side.

The movie is based on a 1960s Japanese manga series that spawned a hit anime TV show dubbed for international consumption. It apparently was a great favourite of brothers Andy and Larry Wachowski when they were children, so much that they chose it as the basis for the first film they've written and directed since the Matrix trilogy.

They over-stretch the material, a crucial error that's not uncommon in summer blockbusters and awards season contenders. Here they have padded out a wisp of a storyline to a patience-testing two hours-plus. Speed Racer is slowed down, at times almost to a halt, in superfluous scenes of soul-searching about whether or not Speed will compete in the grand finale, even though any viewer of any age knows for certain that he will.

Speed Racer is a strange brew of old and new. The dialogue features creaky old exclamations ("Holy canoly, Speed!"). There's a distinctively retro look to the domestic suburbia sets. And the music has the simple, bubbly bounce of a 1960s TV sitcom theme.

In sharp contrast is the dazzling futuristic appearance of the sloping, curving and dipping racetracks on which the drivers travel at dizzying speeds. That prompts the sensation of being a passive spectator at an elaborate videogame played on a huge cinema screen.

The imaginative visuals - among them flashbacks that begin as still images before they move - and the gravity-defying stunts are arresting. And you'll believe a car can fly, although we've known that since Steve McQueen took the wheel of his Mustang in Bullitt 40 years ago, and without any special effects.