Speedracer is to me what Iron Man was to a lot of people- pure entertainment. No, Speedracer does not have much complexity or depth but I would argue that it is not a movie about ideas or characters- it is about aesthetics. The movie has a unique vision never before put to screen. Yes, it is a candy-colored world with child-like imagination but the movie is not innocent. It is not a Spielberg world where everything is childlike. There are some chillingly violent scenes in Speedracer that are almost too bizarre. In one scene, a henchman’s finger is shredded by neon colored piranhas. Other scenes on the death race are equally eerie.
One might make the claim that this is damaged art, like Sydney Lumet’s The Wiz but I’d say that Speedracer is too intentional. I feel that the directors achieved exactly what they set out to do, and that is to put a unique cinematic vision to screen. From the source material one can gather that they were not trying to make a profound movie.
No, I cannot defend this on an intellectual level, but I loved watching the movie. And I cannot think of another movie like it. That is why I think it is great.
~Kristen Gorlitz