Napping at Red Lights

I grew up around cars.  My father used to lull me to sleep as a child with a trip around the block in his dragster.  I spent many weekends during my youth at the racetrack.  So it’s no surprise I like television shows with great cars and, as a kid, liked a cartoon about a boy and his car – Speed Racer.

But in reality, I haven’t watched a Speed Racer cartoon in ages.  In fact, I’d forgotten all about the Mach 5 and Speed, Trixie and the gang until I heard that the Wachowski brothers, the duo behind the Matrix trilogy, were bringing the ‘60s Japanese anime to the big screen in a live action feature in May.

At the time, I was intrigued by the resurrection of a childhood favorite.  After seeing the two new international trailers just released, I am a lot more that intrigued.  I am eagerly anticipating the May 9 release date.

At let me tell you, from what I saw in the trailer, this movie isn’t the cartoon of my youth.  Wow!  If the trailers are any indication this movie is going to be action packed with a Mach 5 that will blow your mind.

And the characters are not stuck in the ‘60s either.  In fact, the Racer universe seems a bit futuristic and very colorful.

I’ve followed the casting news for the movie, but wasn’t sure how the actors where going to fill the shoes of the cartoon images.  Let’s just say, hats off to the casting and wardrobe because I was blown away the resemblances.

Emile Hirsh is perfect for the role of Speed, right down to the spit curl on his forehead.  Although Speed is a little older than I remember in the cartoon.  And Christina Ricci looked great as Speed’s loyal girlfriend, Trixie.

The Speed family is rounded out with John Goodman as Pops, Susan Sarandon as Ma and Paulie Litt as little brother Spittle.  Although we didn’t get to see him in the trailer Scott Porter will play Speed’s older brother, Rex and Kick Gurry will fill the shoes of the quirky mechanic, Sparky.

But we did get a look at Speed’s one-time nemesis, Matthew Fox as Racer X.  (Loyal fans of the series might have a question here.  But I don’t want to spoil the movie for newcomers, so let’s just say you’ve got to watch the movie to understand).

In the movie, Speed is going to team with Racer X to win the Crucible, a dangerous cross-country race that took the life of Rex.  But Speed has to do more than avenge his brother; he must defeat the rich and powerful Royalton (Roger Allam) who is behind the fixing of races and the plan to stop Speed at all costs.

This summer is going to be a very popular summer at the theater.

Are you looking forward to the Speed Racer movie?