“Shunned” is exactly the word to describe the response to Speed Racer at the time. Not only did it come off the two Matrix sequels, which raised questions in the popular imagination about the Wachowskis’ abilities as filmmakers, but the movie arrived in theaters on May 9, 2008… one week after Iron Man arrived and launched the MCU and six weeks before The Dark Knight hit screens.
Between the competition from those two genre juggernauts and the mixture of utter sincerity and over-the-top visuals, it’s no surprise that Speed Racer lost the box office race of 2008. But Hirsch never doubted the work that he and his co-creators did.
In particular, Hirsch had faith in the siblings who wrote and directed the film to help him see the vision. “I got it from the moment I read the script,” he recalls. “The way the Wachowskis write makes it clear, and I understand what they mean, without any irony. You watch the Matrix trilogy, and Keanu Reeves is giving this very sincere performance. There are a couple of comedic moments, but overall there’s this sincerity in his performance. My instinct was to gravitate toward that tone, because that’s clearly what they like.
“You look at Speed and he’s this pure, sweet-natured person. There’s no blasé way to play Speed. If you were to try to be ironic or winking, the scene would feel off. So I had to be all the way in it. I wasn’t doing anything crazy, like making everyone call me ‘Speed’ or anything. But in terms of purity of vision, I knew his heart and I never called it into question.
“That all comes from the script. Lana and Lilly wrote it in such a way that you could understand even the Grand Prix scene with all the moments of Speed’s life coming together into a beautiful whole.”
Of course, it didn’t hurt that there were some physical parts of the movie, despite all the crazy digital effects on screen.
