here he comes… here comes Speed Racer…

After a rather toxic day at work last Saturday (two big events that drained my energy and any sense of direction), Lorraine and I watched the Speed Racer movie at Megamall just to unwind and relive fond childhood memories (for me, that is… Lorraine claimed that she never watched one episode of the anime because she was busy playing with Barbie dolls and toy soldiers… uh… yeah).

When I heard the opening song, I nearly squealed with glee at the nostalgia the soundtrack brought. I still remember watching Speed Racer during my grade school years every week, waiting for the next adventure of Speed, Trixie and the rest of the gang. I loved Trixie in her cool helicopter, and how Speed would drive the Mach 5 and “save the day,” in more ways than one. It’s amazing that they used the original song for the movie, and I’m pretty sure SR fans loved it as much as I did.

The story is quite simple, actually, a regular hero fighting an evil villain who runs a big company, and the visual effects are intense, especially during the racing scenes, and we see Mach 5 does its magic, complete with the special buttons on the steering wheel and all. Too bad Speed wasn’t able to use the H button, or if he did I missed out that part. Trixie brought a little romance to the film, and even Sparky had a moment with Speed! But it was Spritle and Chim-chim who won the Funniest Characters Award. Their matching attires was a big plus too. Without them the movie would have been dull to the point of no redemption, but alas, the writer used them pretty well (although I can’t help but cringe every time the duo appear in a place they shouldn’t). And of course, the mysterious Racer X is there to help out (not so mysterious though, probably for the SR fans who knew his secret identity).

Overall it’s a great movie, if you’re a Speed Racer fan and want to relive childhood memories of singing Go Speed Racer Go and laugh as Spritle and Chim-chim get into trouble for being nosy beyond comprehension. You can’t expect a mind-boggling plot though, but who needs one when high-tech cars racing across dangerous routes is more than enough to keep you entertained?

I’m now in the process of looking for old episodes of the cartoon. Harhar.