I never saw the Japanese animated series and went into Speed Racer as a pure novice. I also am not of a fan of racing. Notwithstanding I enjoyed the film as a piece of enjoyable entertainment as it chronicles the rise and grit of Speed Racer and the Racer family as they combat the evils of a world built on bribery, consumerism, and sponsorships. While much of the story's finer subtleties may have been lost on me, the film is very easy to understand. It's not Hamlet but is better than some of the mindless entertainment churned out these days in Hollywood. Part of the credit goes to the actors who give their roles enough attention to take them seriously for the most part. Emile Hirsch is fine in the title role. Matthew Fox is really rather good as Racer X. John Goodman gives an acceptable performance as Pops Racer and Susan Sarandon the same as the mom. I really enjoyed the performance of Roger Allam as the heavy. He could ooze with dialog with the best. The directors achieved more importantly a film that is visually stunning and stylistic in its own right. I didn't like all of the innovative things they did. The constant scenes overlapping became tiresome after awhile. But the races had a surrealistic look that made them oddly quite compelling. Speed Racer isn't trying to be taken too terribly serious. After all it is based on an animated series! But it does give the audience a lot of bang for its buck and captivated me the entire time. The biggest annoyance for me was the kid playing Spritle - I just didn't find him cute at all. Not one bit.
