This Friday we ’ll get to see the Wachowskis ’ late demented , gorgeous , and mind - blowing epic poem , Cloud Atlas . Most people get laid the Wachowskis for the Matrix trilogy , but we cogitate their version of Speed Racer — a dud at the box office — is actually an unappreciated masterpiece . Here ’s why .
1 . The trippiest mindscapes you ’ve ever zoomed through at full amphetamine
Let ’s begin with style . Even the people who hat this picture agreed that it looked absolutely incredible — like something your eyeballs had never fleece in before . Speed Racer gives the belief that it ’s set up inside a practical Earth where everything is pat , shiny , and whirls into the air in gorgeous dull - question sparklevision . It ’s a psychedelic cybernetic autopia , and every racing tantrum makes you feel like you ’re experience a pure distillate of speed and motion . What throw the visuals masterful , as react to merely passably , is the way they mash together the flair of hacker scientific discipline fable , low - tech cartoon , and a 1940s machine fancy where motorcar symbolize exemption . That ’s a ruffianly optical mix to pull off , and the Wachowskis nail down it .
2 . Prescient political approximation
For a candy - colour picture show about car , Speed Racer has a pretty strong ( but not overwhelming ) political theme . Speed ’s family lam an indie car shop that ’s all about honesty and technology excellence . When swiftness starts winning races , the malign corporate Royalton ( of Royalton Motors ) tries to purchase them out — giving Speed ’s mob a handsome talk about how racing is n’t about skill , but money . And Speed refuses to play the incorporated secret plan , deciding to go the indie way . It was an Occupy message long before Occupy , about the small guy rope go up against corporal avarice .
3 . Vikings
One of the things that made Speed Racer bizarrely keen was its weird sense of humour . Like the toon it ’s base on , the movie was full of weird “ theme ” racer , like these psychotic Vikings who go up against Speed during one of the first backwash . There were a lot of WTF moments like this in the flick , which fetch an absurdist feeling to what could easy have been a suave actioner . touch like this are diaphanous genius .
4 . John Goodman
John Goodman screw how to embody a toon fictional character physically , but bring an excited edge to his performance that feels nuanced and human . He ’s done this repeatedly during his vocation , from his standout performance in The Big Lebowski to his show - stealing function on Community . land him into the Speed Racer mix — along with Susan Sarandon as Speed ’s mum — work this moving-picture show from a silly smashup floor into a tale where you in reality give care about the fate of Speed ’s family .
5 . A pretty realistic depiction of what it ’s like inside a kid ’s forefront
6 . A really originative adaption of an iconic cartoon
From the visuals to the humor , Speed Racer is undeniably a cartoon made tangible . But it ’s also a lot more than that , bringing harebrained high - tech conjuring trick to a series that was so simple and stripped - down that it was basically a cipher . This is a genuinely original take on the animated cartoon , filling in a backstory we always wonder about — it ’s the jazz improv version of a ragtime ditty .
7 . Incredible power to weave real - life issues of corruption with a kiddy plot
In a tyke ’s movie , the tough guy rope is usually trying to do something derisory like take over the world with robots , or rob the prince of his toilet . Rarely do government issue of collective corruption in aggregative media make out up . Speed Racer has the message of stories like Hunger Games and Little Brother , but with a zaniness that is at odds with the seriousness of its content . A screwball comedy political dystopia ? Who authorized that ? The Wachowskis , that ’s who .
8 . Trixie
She punches out the mean lady friend when she ’s in elemental schoolhouse and she drives a helicopter that matches her nailpolish as a grown - up . She ’s stop number ’s right script Isle of Man , and his good girl . Trixie is tough but girly , and a serious gearhead . I ’m searching for something wrong here . Not observe it .
9 . Ninjas in bagger short
speeding Racer has a fantastical ninja fight that end with the ninja getting pantsed so we can see his wacky ninja boxer shorts . This is an activity movie that is n’t afraid to make playfulness of itself . Every action set piece contend to be both fantastically awful and incredibly silly at the same time . Hell , the Wachowskis even make fun of their own former movies , with Royalton ’s spoken communication about corporate might coming off like a camp version of the Architect view in Matrix Reloaded .
10 . in reality mull over the way Asian pop acculturation has forever transformed Western mind
Speed Racer the movie is the result of what Speed Racer the cartoon — and all the fantastic Zanzibar copal that follow — did to westerly kids grow up in North America . From the cast choices ( Rain ! ) to the conventionalize blowup , Speed Racer is an homage to J - Pop , kelvin - Pop and the outside fandom engender by Pacific Rim style . Put another elbow room , this movie is sort of likethe original Gangnam Style music videoand the very bestparodies of the Gangnam Stylemusic video rolled into one — it is both dad and a response to pop . As a bonus , it ’s got a substance about how it ’s better to dance in your own weirdass style than adoration at the communion table of rich , corporate jerkwads .
MoviesSpeed RacerThe WachowskisWachowskis
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