Speed Racer (2008)

All Critics (210) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (81) | Rotten (127) | DVD (31)

Amid the overly earnest tone, (almost) squeaky-clean humor and familiar messages about teamwork and integrity is the rare film family that's as strong at the start as they are by the end.

May 29, 2013 Full Review

William Goss

Film.com

Top Critic

Twelve-year-old boys should be wowed, but for the rest of us, it will depend on your appetite for eye candy.

October 18, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Tom Charity

CNN.com

Top Critic

Even the target audience of 10-year-olds might get jimmy legs sitting for a punishing 135 minutes as the Wachowski brothers projectile-vomit their cotton-candy dreams all over the big screen.

October 18, 2008 | Comments (2)

Peter Travers

Rolling Stone

Top Critic

I love the look and the style and the spirit of this film.

May 12, 2008 | Comments (8)

Richard Roeper

Ebert & Roeper

Top Critic

Speed Racer creates a timeless, visually seductive world suspended somewhere between the pop '60s and the sci-fi future. Its biggest disappointment, strangely enough, is its raison d'être -- the races themselves.

May 12, 2008 Full Review | Comments (2)

David Ansen

Newsweek

Top Critic

Speed Racer intends to convey a sense of heedless momentum, but it drags painfully.

May 9, 2008 Full Review | Comments (4)

Christopher Orr

The New Republic

Top Critic

The propulsive car-fu provides an exhilarating wow-factor.

November 2, 2012 Full Review

Stephen Carty

Flix Capacitor

This is Wacky Races powered by Enzo Ferrari and designed by Andy Warhol - candy-coloured carnage with a turbo-charged engine.

October 14, 2012 Full Review

Ali Gray

TheShiznit.co.uk

The filmic side effect of eating an entire bowl full of sugar, Speed Racer is designed entirely with one audience in mind, and despite it's best efforts it's not going to appeal to anyone else.

March 30, 2011 Full Review

Joshua Starnes

ComingSoon.net

What grounds the spectacle, pushing it beyond a two-hour ejaculation of sensation, is its yearning for innocence

August 26, 2009 Full Review

Fernando F. Croce

CinePassion

Fellow critics mercilessly denounced this dazzling, visually inventive adaptation; one of the ten best films of 2008

February 27, 2009 Full Review | Comments (10)

Fr. Chris Carpenter

Orange County and Long Beach Blade

Cut from car to driver to announcer to audience and over and over again, ad nauseam. Such pretty racing scenes, so little to actually see.

November 14, 2008 Full Review

Jeffrey Chen

Window to the Movies

You have to be 12 to like it, and I have to say there is little or nothing here to remind us why we were all quite so excited about The Matrix.

October 18, 2008 Full Review

Peter Bradshaw

Guardian [UK]

The brothers swamp the fragile story and characters with such a deluge of CGI tricks and elaborate action sequences that it proves hard to care about the humans on screen.

October 18, 2008 Full Review

Mike Goodridge

Screen International

A flashy, colorful film that packs a ton o' fun into its fast-paced frame.

October 18, 2008 Full Review

JoBlo

JoBlo's Movie Emporium

You can feel the kids in the audience tapping their feet, waiting for more action. So, let's just give the kids what they want: fast-paced excitement, wrapped up in a colorful package.

October 1, 2008 Full Review | Comment (1)

Kit Bowen

Hollywood.com

The arty blockbuster has arrived, and it's as flashy, accessorized and auto-erotic as can be. Which creates a strange sensation indeed, that it's not just the cars that are smoking, but those Wachowski brothers as well, and whatever's in their pipes too.

September 22, 2008 Full Review

Prairie Miller

NewsBlaze

Maybe it's all flash and little substance, but there's no denying the appeal of that flash....

September 15, 2008 Full Review

John J. Puccio

Movie Metropolis

The Wachowskis blur the definition of "children's film" as much as the original cartoon challenged Western perceptions of "children's television".

August 22, 2008 Full Review

Shane Burridge

rec.arts.movies.reviews

And here we have a prime example of why studios should not be funding the creations of The Wachowski Brothers. While visually dazzling, the film's paper thin plot and the cheesiness of its actors are a huge disservice.

July 13, 2008 Full Review | Comments (3)

Wesley Lovell

Cinema Sight

The appeal of this frenetically-paced fantasy is probably limited to 10-year-olds, gamers and fanboys.

June 13, 2008 Full Review | Comments (2)

Vicky Roach

Daily Telegraph (Australia)

This is fairly simplistic anti-corporate fare, told in a way that occasionally defies comprehension as well as gravity. Impressionistic is the word.

June 13, 2008 Full Review | Comments (2)

Margaret Pomeranz

At the Movies (Australia)

An overlong and downright boring story, with its plodding family scenes interspersed between the action sequences, makes Speed Racer a bit of a flooded engine.

June 13, 2008 Full Review

Pauline Adamek

FILMINK (Australia)

• 1. C.I.B. Security Man: I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but do you know these people?
  2. Speed: [leans over to see his family and a very angry Pops Racer] Yeah...
  – Submitted by David R (8 months ago)
• 1. Speed: Get that weak shit off my track!
  – Submitted by Cameron D (12 months ago)
• 1. Trixie: Was that a ninja?
  2. Pops: More like a nonja, terrible what passes for a ninja these days.
  – Submitted by Justin M (17 months ago)
• 1. Mom: I don't go to watch you race, I go to watch you make art.
  – Submitted by Cornelius T (20 months ago)
• 1. Racer X: No, he's going to be the best... if they don't destroy him first.
  – Submitted by Jeff V (23 months ago)

There are no discussion threads for Speed Racer yet.