The original cartoon is crap - by today's standards. Looking at it from the POV of the
time it was made, it was highly innovative, even daring. (One of the very first anime painted and filmed in color, too!) Mind you, it didn't always
succeed at what it was trying to do. (In this regard I'm speaking more of the original
Mach GO GO GO! Anime and the animation style in general.)
On the American Speed Racer dub - I've actually had the chance along with several other people at Anime Weekend Atlanta a few years ago to speak with Peter
Fernandez, who voiced Speed and Racer X. Did you know he also wrote the opening (American) theme song lyrics? He also mentioned that although they tried to
work with translations, sometimes the script translations wouldn't arrive in time, so they just had to "wing it" on a best guess of the story so
they could get the episode in the can and ready for broadcast! If plots and dialogue seemed weird, then that was a big reason for it. It's also the reason
for some of the goofy names - a character might be named something weird because it was the easiest, quickest thing they could come up with that fit the mouth
movements and that they could consistently remember during voice recording without having to think too hard about it!
That they managed ANYTHING coherent out of that ball of chaos is amazing!
Still, it's hard to look at through adult eyes and not cringe at times. But still, if I can remember my 6-7 year old self, I can enjoy it. Even through my
adult perspective, there's still a lot to enjoy, if for different, somewhat ironic reasons.
The movie - I can only agree about the Wachowskis making the film live up to our nostalgia, rather than going solely for simulation of the original source
material. They've balanced that knife edge and fully delivered! The action is incredibly fast paced, but
somehow, they never lost me the whole time. I knew exactly what was going on, and where. No shaky-cam, thank god. But the camera, swoops, dives, and zooms.
There are no comic "panels" like the HULK movie, but you get the sense of them sometimes with overlays of one perspective of the scene versus
another. They even found a way to do manga-like SPEED LINES in the context of a film that works! Remember that post a few weeks ago when I said that the world
of Speed Racer was batshit crazy? Well it is. And trying to portray it as anything LESS than batshit crazy would never have worked. There are NO pretensions
that this is our world in any way whatsoever. And that's why the whole thing works as well as it does.
The film is, above everything else, sincere. It doesn't try to maintain any sort of ironic distance from the material, and it doesn't try to reinvent
things radically. They even kept the goofy names! (Inspector Detector! Snake Oiler! Cruncher Block!)
They even have BOTH the American AND Japanese series opening themes laced through the music of the end credits! And the main music is rife with themes pulled
from the original.
There's very good review from AICN by "Moriarty" that captures a lot of what I'm trying to say. Here's a few quotes:
Quote: Let's talk about the heart of the film first, because I've read a few reactions now where people dismiss this as a hollow experience. Bullshit.
It's feather-light, but it's not hollow. The thing that drives the film's narrative is the natural dynamic that exists when you are a parent
watching your children come of age and start to figure out who they are and what they have to contribute to the world. When you're a parent, one of the
things that you feel most strongly when you think of your children is potential.
Quote: Here, the strongest emotional material in the film comes from Pops (John Goodman) and Mom (Susan Sarandon) as they watch Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) find his
place in the world of racing. What impressed me was the way the film treats the races as an extension of what's happening with the characters, not as a
simple excuse for lots of sound and fury. These races are not interruptions in the narrative... they ARE the narrative. Speed Racer's only half-alive
until he climbs into that car, and once he's out on the track, that's when we see who he really is.
Quote: Have you see those images in the trailer where there's a strange ghostly red car on the track that the Mach 5 slides into? Well, that's because Speed
ends up leaving everyone else behind. As far as he's concerned, there's no one on the track with him except for Rex, and the Wachowskis externalize
what he's feeling as he tries to break his brother's record. Right away, that one prolonged sequence sets up just how far the Wachowskis are willing
to push the cartoon vocabulary of their film, and it also sets up just how close-to-the-surface they're willing to play the emotional material.
Quote: (They) understand that cartoons speak a different language than live-action films, and thanks to the way they play with technology in this film, they've
finally shattered the laws of physics convincingly enough that this film speaks that cartoon language fluently. This isn't "trying" to be a
cartoon; it is. And anyone who criticizes it because it's not "real" enough misses the point completely.
Quote: Special note must be made of the work by composer Michael Giacchino, who once again proves himself to be one of the most savvy guys working in feature films
today. The way he weaves hints of the original SPEED RACER theme into his exhilarating score is nothing short of magic, and he gives this film its heartbeat.
The visual style may be outrageous, but that wouldn't matter unless it was accompanied by the right sonic support. Giacchino knows how to lay it on thick
without overwhelming, and he also knows when to use a feather touch.
(By the way - Giacchino is the same composer who did the music for The Incredibles.)
So there you go. If I have only ONE slight nitpick, it's a technical, geeky one. The Mach 5 was really only used for one race! Granted, that one race takes
up the majority of the middle part of the film and is where the majority of the "cool stuff" happens. Otherwise, they used that new "Mach
6" car for the beginning and end races. I understand why they did it though. The beginning and end races are on specialized, smooth "stunt"
tracks and require specialized vehicles. Not unlike the difference between Road Rallys and Indy/Formula 1 Cars. The Mach 5 is the "all purpose" car
and is perfect for the continental road race, and the Mach 6 is the specialized "track car" which still looks enough like the classic Mach 5 that
it's an update and respectful homage at the same time.
This movie had me feeling like that 7 year old who first watched Speed Racer. Considering that I'm a fairly cynical middle-aged guy now, that's more
than just a little bit impressive.