Speed Racer

First off, and this is a tangent but... BEING LIBERAL IS NOT THE EQUIVALENT TO DOING SOMETHING WRONG. ABSTINENCE EDUCATION AS A NUMBER 1 PRIORITY HAS BEEN PROVEN TO FAIL AND WE SHOULD REDOUBLE OUR EFFORTS AT PROMOTING IT? HAVE YOU NO LOGIC WHATSOEVER?

With that note I begin my little talky talk about Speed Racer. I've heard so many bad reviews from around me that truly, I was feeling very skeptical. All such thoughts disappeared the moment I stepped into the movie theatre *albeit a little late; Damn* The sequence I caught was quite cute and in some ways an homage to the original SR series from Japan. Just a quick background flashback, the original Speed Racer was from the 60s and was really the first successful Japan to USA anime crossover. It was based on a manga and was basically about, to quote wikipedia: "a teenage boy with superior skills (in this case, racing skills) facing unreal adversity through a multitude of villains" and it really was every boy's dream, to be like Speed, defeating enemies and winning the race. I has some love for this cartoon as a child and that was why I was so excited that it was coming over to the BIG screen.

Speed Racer the movie, on the other hand is done by the Wachowski Brothers, the same people behind V for Vendetta and the Matrix series. On a little side note, the music was done by Michael Giacchino, and was truly amazing. The movie itself was a riot of colour, with brilliant action sequences and a cast that really were as they were, each and everyone of them cast perfectly. Homages abound with the "fights", though I use the term loosely, and the truly hyperkinetic action of the races. Rain's appearance was a little Huh? and I though Susan Sarandon's appearance did take some of the shine away from the other actors who were competent, if not great and the villian *who was also in V for Vendetta* has crystalised in my mind as the quinessential British villian.

There are naturally some problems, some problems that are sure to be a deal killer for some people. Chief among them is the whole cartoony look of it all, YES, it is effectively a live action cartoon, no one for any minute doubted that and to fault the movie for it is idiocy. It has a plot that occasionally slips into typical American melodrama, which is typical but not unexpected and is really the only flaw I can think of. I feel however, if you can enjoy a cartoon, you can and will enjoy Speed Racer.

I loved Speed Racer, it appealed not only to the kid in me, but the action fan in me, and anyone who even has a shred of the need for speed in them should watch this movie. The fact that the movie kept me in the "zone of interest" where I believed and enjoyed the movie the whole time is a testament to the Wachowski brothers' film making ability.

Go Speed Racer, GO!