Fancast: The Big Picture

Speed Racer: Do you remember the pod race in Star Wars: Episode I - The Phantom Menace? The first time you saw it, wasn't it completely awesome? Only in subsequent viewings do you realize it's way too long and adds barely anything to the meandering plot that it starts to get frustrating. Imagine if that pod race was twenty times more colorful and the film had actually built this up as the climax of the whole adventure. That would change the whole perception of it, to bring back all the excitement and none of the Jar-Jar.

A rainbow-bright visual cacophony (cacopticry?) of frenetic kinetic energy (even moreso on IMAX), Speed Racer has obviously set the Wachowski Brothers free from the drab color scheme that shackled them in The Matrix trilogy, Also serving them well is the liberation from the need to have a logical story arc of any kind, which hindered that same trilogy. This is a bang-zoom special-effects orgy that's trying to show that these guys can be fun and freewheeling.

Yet it still manages to feel dour and overdramatic at times, and it's certainly a bit too long at 2 hours and 15 minutes. There are a couple of instances of profanity that parents might twitch over, but it'll likely serve to make kids love it even more. Adults may be a bit hard pressed to follow what's going on during the big racing scenes, since everything moves so fast and frantically, but even if kids are in the same boat, they're probably more likely to say "I gotta see that again!" rather than the grown-up response of "I need some aspirin."

Honestly, once your eyes and brain get used to the visual assault, it becomes easier to weather, and the two big races are pretty fantastic to watch. The actors playing everything completely straight does help heighten the excitement level. Emile Hirsch is so good that he can take a role Speed Racer and remind us that, yes, actors can still bring a hint of subtlety to movies this bombastic. Matthew Fox is also surprisingly good as the dark and mysterious Racer X, Speed's biggest rival who becomes his trusted ally in the fight against the corruption of Royalton Industries, one of the chief race-fixers ruining the sport. Paulie Litt as Spritle, the wacky little brother, had the potential to be pretty annoying (as these roles often are), but having a chimpanzee partner in crime helped a lot, and his fantasy butt-kicking dream sequences help keep him on the fun side.

The bottom line is that Speed Racer is a good time, although not the complete thrill ride it wants to be. That said, you really can't go wrong when you have John Goodman beat the tar out of a ninja. That's brilliant cinema.

Watch the Speed Racer trailer.
Watch a clip of Racer X vs. a ninja!
Watch the Racer family work together to rebuild the Mach 5.
Watch a clip of the exciting Grand Prix race.
Watch a sneak peek behind the scenes.
Watch an interview with Matthew Fox.
Watch interviews with the cast of Speed Racer.
Watch the red carpet premiere of Speed Racer.
Check out the music video for the new Speed Racer theme.

What Happens In Vegas: Cameron Diaz and Ashton Kutcher get drunk in Vegas, get married in Vegas and strike it rich in Vegas, but when they try to split up, they are forced by Judge Dennis Miller to actually be married for six months if they're going to keep the money they won. Cue the competition for each of them trying to get the other one to violate the terms of the marriage and to screw them out of their share of the jackpot. Kutcher puts popcorn in his pants and pees in a sink. Rob Corddry is in it, however, and he's great.

Watch the trailer for What Happens In Vegas...
Watch interviews with the cast.
Check out what happened at the premiere of the film.

Redbelt [watch the trailer]: Chiwetel Ejiofor gives a centered, compelling performance as a modern-day samurai struggling to maintain his honor in a world determined to devalue it. It's David Mamet doing a martial arts movie, which in Jeopardy is filed under Things You Never Thought You'd See for $400. The full review is here. (expanding nationwide)

Watch the trailer for Redbelt.
Watch a different preview for Redbelt.