Go!Background: Speed Racer is a film adaptation of a Japanese animation from the 1960s that became particularly popular in the US. It follows the adventures of a young automobile driver called Speed, who races his Mach 5 car against other speedsters, with the help of his family...
This film adaptation is directed by the Wachowski brothers, who created The Matrix trilogy, and they have assembled an eclectic cast, including: Emile Hirsch, Christina Ricci, Lost's Matthew Fox, John Goodman, Susan Sarandon and Shaft's Richard Roundtree.
Review: The trailer is a queasy combination of day-glo visuals and computer graphics, giving everything the look of a live-action Mario Kart meets Dr Seuss. It's certainly a faithful representation of the anime source material, so any fans of the cartoon will be excited. The story seems pretty slight, as it's the visuals and production design that dominates everything here.
Prediction: Outside of Japan and America, Speed Racer isn't particularly well-known, so that might a problem. However, the Wachowski brothers have plenty of fans and the retina-jazzing visuals alone should persuade a few people to give this a whirl.
It has potential to be a high-octane roar of sugar-rush excitement, but equally it could be a headache-inducing onslaught of visuals with no storyline/characters to grab hold of. Judged purely on the trailer, I have to say I was underwhelmed but definitely intrigued. I'm sure the Wachowski's have crafted something that will at least provoke a strong reaction. But, good or bad? Too early to tell...
HD 480P (63 MB)
HD 720P (85 MB)
HD 1080P (124 MB)
