(PG) Emile Hirsh, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon, Christina Ricci

There’s a scene partway through the Wachowski brothers’ latest attempt to push cinema in a new direction, where Spritle (Speed Racer’s younger brother) and chimp Chim Chim pig out on every sort of sugary confection imaginable and go berserk. That’s the effect this film had on me — it is such a case of style over substance that you are in danger of slipping into a diabetic coma.

Speed Racer is the Wachowskis’ first attempt at a “family” movie, but I guess they don’t have children, because the first thing I would have advised was to ease off the sugar so as not to cause headaches.

A daring attempt at reinventing storytelling, the brothers have made what amounts to a live-action comic book with their adaptation of the of the classic Japanese cartoon MachGo, Go, Go, which was later translated into English to become Speed Racer.

Whatever you think of the Wachowski brothers’ Matrix legacy, they certainly created a visual style and set a benchmark.

With Speed Racer they have set a new benchmark, although the delivery is somewhat marred by a lack of commitment to the actual story and too much emphasis on shiny CGI environments and special effects.

The film centres on Speed Racer’s dream to become the best race car driver after the untimely death of his brother Rex Racer. To Speed, the two most important things in life are racing and his family. He is offered a lucrative deal by rival car manufacturer, Royalton, but turns it down in favour of the family business, incurring the wrath of the company’s maniacal owner.

In creating the racing action, the film employs computer animation that marries live action with computer-generated backgrounds with the cars capable of performing gravity-defying stunts on courses that make your average Hot Wheels set look tame.

The hyper-stylised set pieces are heavy on suspension of disbelief as the cars perform “car fu” with aerial battles for supremacy on the speedway: full-contact motor sport, best described as a combination of martial arts and Formula 1.

If there are themes in the film, they are to pursue one’s dream at all costs and that family are the most important relationships in your life.

The actors in this film have a somewhat thankless task as they are constantly upstaged by the hyper-real colour scheme and eye-popping special effects.

Susan Sarandon and John Goodman star as Mom and Pops Racer, with Paulie Witt as Spritle, Australian actor Kick Gurry as mechanic Sparky and Christina Ricci as Trixie, Speed’s always game girlfriend.

Emile Hirsh stars as Speed and, although much of his performance is upstaged by special effects, it’s his emotional journey which drives the film. Matthew Fox stars as the mysterious Racer X who enlists the help of Speed to uncover the corruption of the Royalton company.

Although the film is not totally successful, it is hard to resist the adrenaline-fuelled action sequences. Viewers are placed trackside with the Racer clan as they proudly hold their collective breath to get Speed over the finish line.

Adrian Drayton