Speed Racer is a movie based on the popular 1960s Japanese anime series of the same name. The movie stars Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer whose older brother Rex (Scott Porter) died in a racing accident a decade ago.
The race cars in Speed Racer are beautiful like candies
The movie opens with flashback of Rex’s racing days mixes with Speed Racer’s attempt to beat Rex’s record at a race. After the flashback is over, it is learned that Rex is killed in an accident in The Crucible race many years ago. When Speed becomes popular despite having not won a Grand Prix just yet, Royalton (Roger Allam), the owner of Royalton Industries pays the Racer’s family a visit. Royalton makes Speed a lucrative offer. After considering, Speed pays Royalton a visit only to reject the offer, angering Royalton while he learns that Royalton has been cheating and fixing races all the while.
When he does not qualify for the Final Grand Prix after Royalton’s effort to him out of the races, Speed with his Mach 5 joins Racer X (Matthew Fox) and Taejo Togokhan (Rain) to enter The Crucible in order to expose the Royalton’s dirty business. Since his family does not support him to enter The Crucible as that’s very dangerous race where his brother is killed, Speed and his girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) fool his dad by telling him they are going on a skiing holiday.
Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch) and his supportive girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci)
As Pops Racer (John Goodman) and Mom Racer (Susan Sarandon) find out about Speed racing in The Crucible, they want him to leave the race but eventually show him their full support. When Speed wins The Crucible together with Racer X and Taejo, Taejo betrays them by not exposing Royalton’s secret.
Horuko (Yu Nan), Taejo’s sister comes to find Speed in order to give him a special access card which will allow him to gain a wild card entry into the Grand Prix race since her brother, Taejo is not interested in the race and she feels ashamed of his family’s wrongdoing.
In the end, Speed manages to win the Grand Prix with his new Mach 6 car and Royalton is exposed. Quite a happy ending and predictable plot but the movie is just awesome with the candy-like buildings, landscapes and cars. Speed Racer reminds me of colorful movie The Cat in the Hat but with a mixed of Hanna-Barbera’s popular animated series, Wacky Races with everybody trying to whack everyone’s else during the race. Maybe since Hanna-Barbera is absorbed into Warner Bros. in 2001, they incorporate Wacky Races into Speed Racer.
Overall, the movie is wonderful to watch as besides the never-seen-before stunning visual effects, it has its amusing moments especially with Paulie Litt as Spritle, Speed’s younger brother and his chimpanzee pet, Chim Chim.
In an animated world of Andalasia, Giselle is a beautiful young woman who lives in a forest dreaming of her one true love, singing along with the birds, rats and other animals. Prince Edward hears her singing and they fall in love immediately and plan to wed the following morning.
Prince Edward’s step-mother the queen who is also a witch wants the threat to her crown removed so she plots a scheme to get rid of Giselle. On the day Giselle is supposed to wed Prince Edward, Queen Narissa disguises as a wicked old woman who pushes Giselle down a well where she enters the ‘real’ world of New York.
In New York, Giselle (Amy Adams) meets a divorce attorney, Robert Philip (Patrick Dempsey) who is about to become engaged to Nancy (Idina Menzel) and his 6-year-old daughter.
Prince Edward kneeling down in front of Giselle
A lot of funny moments happen between the time Giselle waits for her prince charming, Prince Edward to rescue her. As the story goes on, both Robert and Giselle unconsciously fall in love with each other.
In order to stop Prince Edward from finding his true love, Giselle, Queen Narissa sends Nathaniel (Timothy Spall) to the real world to stop them by giving her poisoned apple. After Nathaniel fails in numerous attempts, Queen Narissa comes to the real world in her last attempt to break up the couple.
When Queen Narissa finally manages to poison Giselle, only true love’s kiss can wake Giselle up. Prince Edward tries to kiss Giselle several times but to no avail. When Robert kisses her, it takes awhile before she wakes up. Thereafter, sparks by her angers, Queen Narissa turns into a blue dragon and kidnaps Robert. She climbs up the building to the highest floor. Giselle kills the queen with Prince Edward’s sword in order to save Robert from certain doom. Edward returns to the animated world with Nancy and Giselle stays in New York with Robert and his daughter and they all live happily ever after.
Overall, it’s a humorous romantic film with great laughters throughout the movie. Though fairytale does not happen in real life, it does not need to be complicated. In one occasion, Giselle manages to bring a couple back from the brink of divorce and reunite the couple to the once lovey-dovey state they were in.
Moral of the story:
Don’t fall in love with anyone and get married after one day
Have as many dates with each other in order to understand each other
All relationships have problems and hardships - it’s worth it to face all the problems and hardships for the good return, just like a business and its ROI… LoL!
