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Speed Racer Is a Slog

Posted May 9, 08 11:33 AM CDT in Arts & Living 

(Newser) – The Wachowski brothers’ Speed Racer is a flashy ride that would be great for kids—if it weren’t “like C-SPAN set in an arcade,” writes Carina Chocano in the Los Angeles Times. Endless, aimless dialog, she says, dominates the “juvenile and hermetic” pastiche about a Grand Prix driver avenging his brother's death in a futuristic world that looks like the inside of a pinball machine. 

The New York Times’ AO Scott agrees: “When it comes to storytelling, Speed Racer has nothing in common with its title.” Scott admits “there may be a perverse integrity” in the Wachowskis’ approach—focusing “relentlessly on visual style while dispensing almost entirely with credible emotion or intelligible narrative.” And Joe Neumaier offers New York Daily News readers a way to enjoy the film: “Trying to follow the plot is like reading toy instructions on Christmas morning: Skip it, and just look at the pretty lights.”

Sources Rotten Tomatoes, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, New York Daily News

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Actors Emile Hirsch and Christina Ricci, stars of "Speed Racer," appear onstage during a taping of MTV's "Total Request Live" Monday, May 5, 2008 in New York.   (AP Photo/Jason DeCrow)
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows actor Emile Hirsch as Speed Racer in a scene from the action adventure "Speed Racer."   (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Entertainment)
This image released by Warner Bros. Entertainment shows actors Emile Hirsch, left, as Speed Racer and Christina Ricci as Trixie in a scene from the action adventure "Speed Racer."   (AP Photo/Warner Bros. Entertainment)
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