‘Rally Road Racers’ Review – Borrowed Beats And Easy Feats

Rally Road Racers poses a unique dilemma on multiple fronts: an ultra-talented voice cast that all sound out of place, beautiful racing sequences contrasting with consistently off-putting facial and movement animations, and a good message left to die in the dust by a film that’s too concerned with speeding on to the next race. The film is built on oddities, and it doesn’t take long to fall apart completely. Even still, this is a kids movie, first and foremost, and the colorful visuals and consistent squeaks and squeals will be more than enough to keep them entertained.

The film opens on its strongest note: a dusty, orange-hued rally race through the desert that introduces our villain, who is a fancy English toad, as a force to be reckoned with. We then get another introduction immediately after, this time for our big-eyed, plushy hero, Zhi. These two introductions, happening in rapid succession, set a tone for the film that it never dares to break. Fast and unbothered, even by its own story. This is a no frills ride, for better or worse, depending on who you are. As pure entertainment for kids, this works. The humor is constant, the soundtrack is loud and recognizable, and the animation is bombastic and bound to hold any child’s attention. But for the adults taking their kids to see it, the line is drawn a lot further to one side than it could’ve been.

While it isn’t difficult to just distract children, the best, most timeless animated movies are recognized as such because they simultaneously entertain and tell a story that anyone could latch onto, in a manner that everyone can relate to, or at the very least understand. This is where Rally Road Racers makes essentially all of its mistakes. The story is very undercooked, shamelessly borrowing in bundles from the likes of Cars and Kung Fu Panda. The character arc for J.K. Simmons’ mentor character, Gnash, is a one-to-one re-run of Doc Hudson’s, all the way down to his action-packed past and how he wants to move on from it. There are little differences, sure, but the similarities are impossible to ignore.

The humor is almost all borrowed, too. Mistimed musical numbers and heavily outdated pop culture references dominate an experience that feels like it doesn’t quite know what it wants to be. Regardless though, the jokes, just like the story, are easy, and it seems as if that was the cardinal goal here. You’ve seen all of this before. Though I do want to give credit where credit is due, this movie isn’t completely listless.

Aside from that strong opening race, there is an extended sequence done in a hand-drawn style. Fully in black and white and sporting shaded, scribbled details, the scene feels out of place in the best way possible. On top of that, the slapstick nature of the film on the whole deserves some credit, as well. It commits to that over-the-top nature. But aside from a few of these stylistic triumphs, I struggled to find much at all redeeming or unique about this adventure. It can hardly be called its own thing.

As a result, I struggle to give Rally Road Racers many positive points at all in the end. It could definitely serve as a fun night out for children at the movies, but even in that case, there are better options out there right now. Recognizing the well-known voices is enjoyable, as are the few breakthrough sequences that breathe life into the film. But otherwise, this race isn’t one worth running for the average moviegoer. Rally Road Racers is too busy trying to emulate other successes to find itself, and even if there is something in here, it’s buried well beneath the gobs of unfortunate decisions wrought from a clear desire to play it extremely safe.

Rally Road Racers will debut in theaters beginning May 12, 2023 courtesy of Viva Pictures. 

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oRR2hvpmD4E]