Speed Racer

I'm not sure I watched the original "Speed Racer" cartoon or not, but I can't help but feel like I have. Maybe it's because that darn theme song can be so hard to get out of your head. If you are not aware of the show (and most everyone is), you probably hear the "Speed Racer" mentioned in every other sentence. It's one of those characters that has permanently engrained itself into pop culture for all time. Now the Wachowski Brothers have brought this popular cartoon that is credited for bringing the world of anime into full focus onto the big screen in a live action version that is bursting at the seams with the most vibrant colors imaginable. In short, "Speed Racer" is a visual splendor to behold, and also kind of an endurance to sit through. At over 2 hours, this movie is way too long. I usually don't complain about the length of a movie, but I can't resist bitching about it here because I kept yawning in the 2^nd half and checking my watch. When I check my watch during a movie, then that is NOT a good sign.

"Speed Racer" starts off innocently enough as we see Young Speed (Nicholas Elia) daydreaming about someday being a great racecar driver like his brother Rex (Scott Porter). Speed comes from a family weaned on race cars and building them. His father Pops (the always dependable John Goodman) runs Rex's race team along with Speed's brother Sparky (Kick Gurry), until Rex ends up walking out on the family and their cars. No real reason is giving by Rex to his dad, but he warns Young Speed to not believe all the bad things that people are going to end up saying about him. Soon enough, Rex is slammed with a bad reputation that is not really of his own doing, and he later perishes in a tragic car crash which haunts the family to the point where Pops won't go into his garage to do any mechanic work.