Honest to Murgatroid, I’m not sure what to make of this:
On the one hand, the Wachowskis seem to have rebottled that Matrix lightning. Much like The Matrix looked like a comic-book come to life, Speed Racer really looks like the live-action version of a Japanese cartoon. The question remains, though: Is that a good thing? Not sure, but I can tell you this much–any movie with a kid and a monkey pointing at each other from the trunk of a car doesn’t bode well.
(Also, something about this reminds me of an Elvis movie. Especially that exchange where John Goodman, as Speed’s dad, says "You think you can drive a car and change the world?" and Emile Hirsch’s Speed fires back with "it’s the only thing I know how to do, and I gotta do something." Just replace "drive a car" with "play a guitar," add some girls with beehives, and this might as well be Speedway.)
What say you, PopWatchers? Is this a hit of candy-colored genius or the makings of a spectacular car-wreck?
Comments (1-30) of 69
Car-wreck or not, i’ve been waiting for the big screen treatment of ‘Speed Racer’ since i was a kid.
i’m excited, haters be damned!! (sticks tongue out at them)
The Elvis film that you thought about was 1966’s “Spinout”. Secondly I think that the Wachowski brothers knew that the movie had to be done campy because can you honsetly see it done in a normal fashion? I can’t.
*honestly
okay, I gotta say I’m a woman who watched speed racer in the 60s and hated the Matrix and I would go see this.
When I first heard of the idea for this movie I thought it was idiotic. But…the trailer actually made me interested, and I never even liked that cartoon.
I may be looking at this from the POV of my 9 year old son, but it looks way cool. More from my POV, it looks like a craptastic combination of camp and zongo F/X. Yeah, I’ll be there.
I think we have 2008’s version of Dick Tracy. Holy bright colored motifs, Speed!
I’m so torn by this. On one hand it looks so cool but then you see a kid, a monkey and John Goodman with that ridiculous hair and moustache and think ” Oh lord, here we go again.”
But I’ll still probably go see it.
Au contraire! The kid and the monkey in the trunk is the very reason I would see this. That, and a sleek, primary-colored Christina Ricci. Vroom.
Err…I’m not sure what to make of this (speaking as an old viewer of the original cartoon and an anime fan). It certainly looks cool and campy, but it doesn’t give me goosebumps like I thought it would. I can’t say it’ll suck but I’ll keep my expectations low.
If only they had found a way to CGI their mouths to take up half their face when they talked.
Egh…I don’t even know if I’ll Netflix this one. Where’s Matthew Fox? 
I’m excited to see the Korean pop singer, Rain’s US movie debut! He’s the guy about to punch Speed. I hope he isn’t the one throwing the damned ninja stars. No good ninjas…
kinda reminds me of transformers. lots of action and THE WORST dialogue ever. but who goes to see a movie like this who cares about dialogue (that is NOT a cut-down, relax). i for onw will not go to see it because it looks TOO fake, but it reminds me of japanamation, and that is very surreal, so i guess they accomplished what they wanted to do.
Matthew Fox is at the end. I don’t know if it will be “good,” but it will definitely be entertaining!
Are you folk unfamiliar with Spritle and Chim-Chim?
I think this looks awful, and I’ll blame it all on the special effects. Maybe it’s the computer I’m watching it on, but the cars look like something out of Tron (and for people out there who like Tron, I don’t mean this in a nice way). I can’t believe this movie got made. And Christina Ricci with a flapper hair cut? Next summer won’t be setting any box office records.
i dont care what anybody says: this movie LOOKS super-awesome-cool!!!
Been a Speed Racer fan for a long, long time … I am SOOO there when this movie comes out.
I’m confused. How come their words match their mouth movements when they speak?
From my perspective: so far, so good. And I echo Janine; it’s Spritle and Chim Chim for crying out loud. Remember there was always a healthy dose of melodrama in the cartoon. Action/camp; it looks to be close to right on target.
Matthew Fox was at the very end, in profile. YAY Matthew Fox!!
I agree completely with Stephanie T. The tone for this movie HAS to be silly (look at the source). Who the heck wants a “Speed Racer” movie that takes itself seriously? It would be like all the boring military stuff in “Transformers” …namely the worst parts of that movie.
This looks seizure inducing lame.
This looks seizure inducing lame.
I only recall the TV cartoon when I was really little and would be home playing sick from school. It’s all vague…yet somehow this trailer brought a lot of it back. I think it looks great. And perfect casting with Matthew Fox playing Racer X.
I loved the cartoon and was very excited that it was going to become a live action movie. When I saw the trailer, my excitement was gone. It looks too colorful and crazy, like a computer pinball game. It also sadly reminded me of the chase scene at the beginning of SW: The Clone Wars, which is not a complement. The car flipping 360 degrees in the air??!!?? Just because you CAN do something with technology does not mean that you should. I hope I am wrong, but I doubt it.
I don’t know! It looks insane! Possibly in a bad way! I think I’ll go see it anyway!
It SHOULD remind you of an Elvis movie. “Viva Las Vegas” and 007’s gadget-filled Aston Martin in “Goldfinger” were Tatsuo Yoshida’s inspirations for “Mach Go Go Go” (aka “SPeed Racer”).
Emile Hirsch is damn pretty and I would pay to see him in anything, even if it happened to the remake of Glitter.
On a related note, this Speed Racer trailer is a straight up hot mess.
This looks fantastic, it captures the vibrant cartoonish nature of the show perfectly and the cheesy over the top melodrama seems to be there too. This is going to be a goofy good time.
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