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Morceaux choisis de la script review :
"Simply put, for the most part, SPEED RACER kicks unholy ass. In this draft I've read, there's some mistakes that cut the flow of the action sequences, and it's too long, but what they got right, they got spectacularly right.
Some background here - as a kid, I adored SPEED RACER. I watched it voraciously after school. Speed, Racer X, Spridel, Chim-Chim, the Mach-5... it was all good. I especially loved how everyone-talked-like-this-giving-tons-of-exposition-without-taking-a-breath-for-minutes-at-a-time. I thought it was a pretty violent cartoon for children's fare - explosions everywhere, gunfights, carfights, fistfights, and a crazy-ass monkey. But as I grew older, I stopped watching. You're supposed to do that when you get older, by the way.
However, when I read this early draft, it took me right back. The enigmatic Racer X? Check. Spridel and Chim-Chim hiding in the trunk? Check. The Mach-5 jumping over cars to avoid certain death? Check. Trixie spotting the race from her pink helicopter? Check. Those insane car races with everything and the kitchen sink thrown in? Check. This film, as described by the script, comes straight out of the television show. This isn't some "re-imagining." It's not dark for the sake of being dark. It's the cartoon, in live-action, very much oriented towards family audiences. No long pieces of dialogue dripping with quantum philosophy here. For a 160+ page script (too long, but I'll get to that in a bit) it's mostly very tight.
It begins with young Speed Racer in school, which holds no real interest for him - only cars, racing, and especially his older brother Rex. Rex runs the cross-country rally circuit, a series of races that are known for their brutality and the cheating that seems to occur. Cars shoot grappling guns, blades pop from the wheels, and everyone does their best to see that their opponents don't even finish the race, much less win.
The world the Wachowskis have created here is obsessed with racing and speed, with vintage cars filling the landscape, and the races themselves are huge, physics-defying spectacles of rubber, steel, and smoke. It's very cartoony and colorful, and I look forward to seeing it on the big screen. The script is also very earnest. The love for the cartoon really shines through here - it's obvious the Wachowskis love SPEED RACER and treat it with great respect, taking it seriously and at the same time keeping the inherent camp and goofy comedy of the show. I knew they nailed the show when we got our first Spridel/Chim-Chim trunk scene. Racer X is also expertly handled. Anyone who has seen the show knows Racer X's secret, but the Wachowskis toss a change-up pitch and call into question that whole aspect of the Racer X/Speed relationship, and it's well done. They have made a genuine family film here - there's hardly any cusswords in it - and at the same time they don't play down the excitement, the cartoon violence, and the explosions that made the show such fun. There's a line or two that's a little questionable for young audiences, but I guess if Michael Bay can fit a whole masturbation gag into TRANSFORMERS, the Wachowskis can get away with it here. I hope they take it out, though, myself - it doesn't work and it takes away from the family-friendly atmosphere they have going.
Where the Wachowskis have issues is all the exposition. This was an issue in the MATRIX films and it's an issue here, even going so far as to cut into a race sequence with plot exposition flashbacks that totally mess with the tempo of the action. Also, much of the action doesn't happen in the script until the first rally race, almost at the midpoint. The script is entirely too long, however. This is a movie that needs to be a packed two hours, not two and a half. A lot of the front end needs to be edited down, but they still need to keep the characterization, which is very well done. The Racer family dynamic is terrific, done with real emotion and love. You truly care for the Racer family and want to see the best for them. The villains are appropriately hissable, but it's the races where the Wachowskis really shine. The Wachowskis have never had a problem writing great action setpieces. They just need to be careful not to undermine the action with too much exposition. And, at the same time, it's important plot information and needs to be there. I'm confident they will iron out the kinks, because these are really minor issues. Much of the script works like gangbusters."
Bon par contre c'est un gros fan du dessin animé original qui parle là.
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