Speed Racer (2008)
Average Rating: 5.1/10
Reviews Counted: 208
Fresh: 81 | Rotten: 127
The Wachowski Brothers have overloaded Speed Racer with headache-inducing special effects, and neglected to develop a coherent storyline.
Average Rating: 4.6/10
Critic Reviews: 47
Fresh: 14 | Rotten: 33
The Wachowski Brothers have overloaded Speed Racer with headache-inducing special effects, and neglected to develop a coherent storyline.
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Average Rating: 3.2/5
User Ratings: 376,630
Movie Info
The Matrix masterminds Andy and Larry Wachowski usher anime icon Tatsuo Yoshida's classic 1960s-era hit into the new millennium with this family-friendly story of a young racecar driver who takes on the mysterious Racer X in a custom-made, gadget-loaded speed machine named the Mach 5. Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) is the kind of driver that every wheelman wishes he could be: a born winner whose unbeatable combination of aggression, instinct, and fearlessness always finds him crossing the checkered
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Cast
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Emile Hirsch
Speed -
Christina Ricci
Trixie -
Susan Sarandon
Mom -
John Goodman
Pops -
Matthew Fox
Racer X -
Nicholas Elia
Young Speed -
Roger Allam
Royalton -
Melissa Holroyd
Speed's Teacher -
Paulie Litt
Spritle -
Ariel Winter
Young Trixie -
Benno Fürmann
Inspector Detector -
Hiroyuki Sanada
Mr. Musha -
Gian Ganziano
Everyman Announcer -
Rain
Taejo Togokahn -
Richard Roundtree
Ben Burns -
Peter Fernandez
Local Announcer -
Kick Gurry
Sparky -
Harvey Friedman
Harold Ledermann Announ... -
Sadao Ueda
Japanese Announcer -
John Benfield
Cruncher Block -
Nayo Wallace
Minx -
Valery Tscheplanowa
Russian Announcer -
Christian Oliver
Snake Oiler -
Sami Loris
Italian Announcer -
Moritz Bleibtreu
Grey Ghost -
Olivier Marlo
French Announcer -
Sean McDonagh
Celtic Announcer -
Ashley Walters
Prince Kabala -
Scott Porter
Rex -
Vinzenz Kiefer
Crew Chief/Sempre Fi-Be... -
Mark Zak
Blackjack Benelli -
Willy
Chim Chim -
Kenzie Lovelay
Chim Chim -
Julia Joyce
Blonde Pack Leader -
Clayton Nemrow
Race Announcer -
Ricky Watson
Race Commentator -
Brandon Robinson
Big Mouth -
L. Trey Wilson
Press Man -
Lauren Blake
Flight Attendant -
Cosma Shiva Hagen
Gennie -
Ralph Herforth
Cannonball Taylor -
Waldemar Kobus
Vinny - Cruncher Thug -
Max Hopp
Cruncher Thug -
Julie T. Wallace
Truck Driver -
Matthias Redhammer
Marvin the Cleaning Man -
Ecki Hoffman
Joel Goldman -
Stephen Marcus
Security Goon -
Art La Fleur
Fuji Announcer -
Peter Navy Tuiasosopo
Fuji Announcer -
Nan Yu
Horuko -
Paul Sirr
Dour Face -
Ramon Tikaram
Casa Christo Announcer -
Melvil Poupaud
Johnny "Goodboy" Jones -
Kad "Y" Taylor
Queen of Casa Christo -
Junior Sone Enang
Shark Driver -
Jana Pallaske
Delila -
Dari Maximova
Flying Fox -
Werner Daehn
Sempre Fi-Ber Leader -
Komi Togbonou
Thor-azine Leader -
Leila Rozario
Hydro-cell Driver -
Steven Wilson
C.I.B. Security Man -
Karl Yune
Taejo Body Guard -
Togo Igawa
Mr. Togokahn -
Jonathan Kinsler
Fuji Reporter -
Anatole Taubman
Fuji Reporter -
Ben Miles
Cass Jones -
Frank Witter
Security Official -
Megan Gay
Senior Race Official -
Corinne Orr
Grand Prix Female Annou... -
Joe Mazza
Nitro -
Joon Park
Yakuza Driver -
Ludmilla Ismailow
Denise -
Milka Duno
Gearbox -
Amira Osman
Count Down Tower Woman -
Jens Neuhaus
German Announcer -
Sesede Terziyan
Turkish Announcer -
Ill-Young Kim
Korean Announcer -
Yuriri Naka
Japanese Announcer -
Oscar Ortega Sánchez
Spanish Announcer -
Yu Fang
Chinese Announcer -
Narges Rashidi
Persian Announcer -
Andrés Cantor
Grand Prix Announcer
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Speed Racer Trailer & Photos
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.
Twelve-year-old boys should be wowed, but for the rest of us, it will depend on your appetite for eye candy.
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.
I love the look and the style and the spirit of this film.
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.
Speed Racer intends to convey a sense of heedless momentum, but it drags painfully.
The propulsive car-fu provides an exhilarating wow-factor.
This is Wacky Races powered by Enzo Ferrari and designed by Andy Warhol - candy-coloured carnage with a turbo-charged engine.
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.
What grounds the spectacle, pushing it beyond a two-hour ejaculation of sensation, is its yearning for innocence
Fellow critics mercilessly denounced this dazzling, visually inventive adaptation; one of the ten best films of 2008
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.
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.
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.
A flashy, colorful film that packs a ton o' fun into its fast-paced frame.
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.
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.
Maybe it's all flash and little substance, but there's no denying the appeal of that flash....
The Wachowskis blur the definition of "children's film" as much as the original cartoon challenged Western perceptions of "children's television".
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.
The appeal of this frenetically-paced fantasy is probably limited to 10-year-olds, gamers and fanboys.
This is fairly simplistic anti-corporate fare, told in a way that occasionally defies comprehension as well as gravity. Impressionistic is the word.
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.
Audience Reviews for Speed Racer
Super Reviewer
Super Reviewer
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- C.I.B. Security Man: I'm sorry to disturb you sir, but do you know these people?
- Speed: [leans over to see his family and a very angry Pops Racer] Yeah...
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- Speed: Get that weak shit off my track!
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- Trixie: Was that a ninja?
- Pops: More like a nonja, terrible what passes for a ninja these days.
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- Mom: I don't go to watch you race, I go to watch you make art.
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- Racer X: No, he's going to be the best... if they don't destroy him first.
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