Speed Racer joins pantheon of memorable sports movies
1960s TV icon offers thrills for new generation
I took a chance Sunday afternoon.
At around 5:45 p.m. I sat down in a movie theatre and prepared myself to be taken back 40 years.
Soon on the screen appeared in live action mixed with computer animation an updated version of a childhood favorite: Speed Racer.
Let me say I was apprehensive about paying $9, plus more than $10 for a large soda and popcorn, to watch the flick. Too often, movie remakes, especially ones of legendary television shows, often misfire.
This one didn’t. Believe me, your money will be well spent
Why am I discussing it here in the sports section? I’ll get to that in a little bit.
First, some background on the subject.
For most people my age, Speed Racer was a daily afternoon favorite, one of many imported to this country from Japan in the 1960s. Yes, it was kitschy and simplistic.
For instance, the opening theme song is both exhilarating and agonizing at the same time.
However, despite that it held my generation’s attention for many different reasons.
First, it centered around one of most exciting of all sports: auto racing. Second, the show featured the coolest of all TV cars: the Mach 5. Third, a recurring character, Racer X, was the ultimate in Zen. He knew he was best, so did his foes, and therefore he never had to win to prove his superiority.
Besides, there were numerous cool automobile crashes in each episode. To paraphrase another television character of the 1970s: they blowed up good!
Could the movie’s creators translate onto the silver screen? They not only do, but, in fact, take it all to another level.
So why I am talking about it here? Because the 2008 version of Speed Racer accomplishes what any good sports movie does: it takes you into the action and makes you forget your watching a scripted event.
While sitting through it, especially the racing scenes, I got the same feeling I did watching “The Natural,” “Remember the Titans,” “Hoosiers” and the original “The Longest Yard” (skip the Adam Sandler remake).
All those held my attention because I cared about the characters and their fate, even if I knew the outcome would be a positive one.
Besides making an exciting movie, the creators also have done some intelligent tweaking.
Here Racer X, like in the original, is the title character’s long-lost brother. However, in the cartoon he was someone who ran away when his father prohibited him from racing, and then trained himself to be the best in the world.
Here, he fakes his own death and gets cosmetic surgery in order to assume the masked identity as a way to fight corruption within the racing, industry. By movie’s end, one senses the elder Racer boy feels remorse for deceiving his family, something that was never discussed in the original series.
Other aspects of the TV show are also kept, such as Pops Racer, the family patriarch and automotive genius, being a former wrestling champion still capable of tossing bad guys around the room.
Speed’s girlfriend Trixie remains a martial arts expert and trained helicopter pilot. This time around, though, she’s also an accomplished race car driver in her own right.
Of course, there’s Speed’s younger brother Spridle and his pet chimpanzee, Chim Chim. The original versions were so obnoxious that I actually hoped as a child that they’d be killed off in some way.
The new duo can be a little grating, but they do come to Speed’s aid at appropriate times. Spridle also fires off a well-known and appropriate hand gesture to the movie’s villain.
The 21st Century Speed Racer also assumes the mantle of an old-style cinema hero; the lone crusader battling an evil system. In the end, his triumph not only brings down the criminals, but frees the souls of those who were under its control.
In making “Speed Racer,” the producers, the director and the actors have provided a new generation a chance to get drawn into a world mine enjoyed every weekday afternoon. Also, they once again have proved that when done right, sports heroes often make the best movie ones as well.
Greg Ford is the sports editor for C&S Media, Inc.
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