SPEED RACER (2008)

I almost skipped seeing SPEED RACER after reading the reviews in the newspapers. I am glad I did not! MOVIE CRITICS base their reviews on alot of the other garbage that circulates the movie theaters these days and may not understand POP CULTURE as I do. Being an animation historian and Biographer, I have a different take on films like this and understand where this film is coming from, growing up on the classic cartoon series. The Wachowski brothers (THE MATRIX) also understood what made the series work for millions of children as MACH A GO GO and clearly had fun with the film! Perfectly cast, I am happy to report my son and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It is not quite as good as IRONMAN and it certainly will win no Academy Awards BUT if you loved the series, you will definitely enjoy the film! Going in, I was expecting the ONE STAR film the newspaper reported about. What I saw was good family morals being displayed by the RACER family and the BEST role I have ever seen JOHN GOODMAN (POPS RACER) in! SPRIDAL was played by an actor that looked like he was right out of THE LITTLE RASCALS. He had a unique look and he was very funny! Usually, Hollywood casts cute, unlikeable kids in a role like this. CHIM CHIM was played by a real Chimp (Not a bad CGI character) and he was GREAT as well! SPEED and TRIXIE were perfect! All of the actors were. The score featured all of the original suites from the series, just rerecorded by an orchestra (I have the original soundtrack from JAPAN on CD). I guess what I liked most about the film was what SPEED and his family stand for...STAND UP for what you believe in and don't let anyone stop you. Too many of today's heros have a darkside and are sinister instead of heroic. The Warchowski brothers could have easily have taken that route BUT they chose to represent the show and the characters as they were..heroic and likeable.