Speed Racer: Review By XSSIV

Speed Racer could have been a great pic. We could have seen an upscale version of the old cartoon. A present-day tale that would seed a great franchise.

Instead, the producers and director of the film got too high on their own supply and vomited up a psychedelic steaming dung surprise...

Clearly trying to keep within the cartoonish campiness of the original animation, the pic really tries too hard and the resulting mess is virtually unwatchable.

The story is decent. The execution, though, is fatally flawed.

What this pic needed was the same basic story, a less campy and far less freakish execution. What you would have been left with is an eminently watchable film that acknowledged its DNA and could have even had a few "cartoonish" moments without all the crazy drug trip imagery.

This thing screams for a "franchise reset" along the lines of Hulk.

Bring it on.

NEXT!