Surely the Wachowskis’ Speed Racer failed at the box office and with most critics for many reasons. Having said that I think all of these reasons are variations on the theme of failure to meet audience expectations.
Several audiences were built into Speed Racer. First, there were fans of the original cartoon. Second there were fans of the Wachowskis. And finally there were the people targeted by the multi-million dollar advertising campaign that preceded the film’s release. Each of these groups was ultimately disappointed in there own way.
Fans of the cartoon were turned off by the more serious under currents the film had to offer. Fans of the Wachowskis, those that hadn’t jumped ship after Matrix Revolutions, were disappointed Speed Racer wasn’t the Matrix sequel they were always hoping for. And the advertisements for the would film inexplicably led parents to believe the two and a half hour visual calliope that is the Speed Racer movie was intended for children. This group was surely the most outraged.
So right from the start the only people who were going to like Speed Racer at first blush were the people who didn’t have a relationship with the cartoon, and liked the Matrix sequels, and left their children at home. And yet even this thin demographic was mostly disappointed in the film.
There are people in the world who can watch Susan Sarandon weep over the death of their child and, if not enjoy, appreciate that film. There are people who can watch children fling monkey chips at cartoonish bad guys and enjoy that film. And there are people who watch a film where every character is inexplicably a kung-fu adept and we can enjoy the hell out of that film. But rare is the person who can enjoy a film where all three of these elements get smashed together.
I Speed Racer to be a near perfect film with a theme so beautifully inspirational, I am compelled to name it as my all time favorite film. Speed Racer is the only film that has been able to overcome my irrational four year old self’s love of Star Wars. At least so far.
Speed Racer teaches us how to live life well, and it does so while making the argument that art can triumph over money.
Speed, Rex, and Spritle are not different characters in this incarnation of the story. They are the same character occupying different spots on the same story arc. And each character represents a necessary but insufficient ingredient one must bring to a well lived life.
Spritle is joy. Without taking joy in life or in art, the will to create is quickly worn down and the reasons to continue turn to hollow ash. Joy is at the ground of why we do the things we do in the first place.
Rex is sacrifice. Nothing great can be accomplished without sacrifice. Often those who dare to be great sacrifice too much, and sometimes many of us are afraid to sacrifice enough. Rex shows us, when he refuses to announce his presence to his family at the end of the film, that the required sacrifice cannot be glossed over or neglected. Anything worth doing will come at the expense of something else worth doing.
Speed is the mind that balances the other two. It would be overly simplistic, I think, to make the claim Speed’s genius alone defeats Royalton Industries. Anyone wishing to take on the unassailable might of money must have allies. Genius by itself ends up in a paupers grave (see Amadeus). But Speed takes our breath away.