Viewed – 24 Jan 2009  Blu-Ray

Another film to receive a critical mauling when released in the summer, and having watched it, I come away wondering what people found to fault.  This vibrant living, breathing live action cartoon is based on a long running Japanese TV series, and is a return to the big screen for Matrix Trilogy sibling directors Andy & Larry Wackowski. 

Emile Hirsch plays the young racing driver prodigy of the title, who’s mentoring by his elder brother in early years makes him strive to become the best race car driver of all time, spirited on by his racing obsessed family, headed by John Goodman and Susan Surrandon.  With the temptation of joining an all powerful racing promoter or sticking to his routes, Speed Racer must face all opposition to come out the winner. 

This very simple, kid friendly story works a treat in such a cartoon-styled world, and Emile is a perfect choice with his good looks and obvious charm.  Of course someone sitting down to watch this isn’t going to be expecting anything to really test the grey matter, as the pyrotechnics and the stunning visual imagery on display is the real meal ticket – and the Wackowski’s pull every trick out the hat to dazzle the senses and fuel the adrenaline.  Add to this a story that you can’t help but get caught up in, with some nice twists and turns (no pun intended), this is expertly crafted popcorn brilliance.

The Blu-Ray format was created for this kind of material, with the vibrant primary colours and retina-bleeding special effects – every shot, every crash and every pixel is displayed in pristine detail, but its also hard to figure if the stunning looks are down to the format or the incredible art design.  Either way, you will never have seen anything quite as jaw-dropping as this before, at least from a visual sense.  Yes the set up is simple, the characters stereotypes and its all a bit over the top and over long – but whatever some may say, I loved it.

Verdict:  5 /5