When I heard that the Wachowski Brothers would be re-imagining Speed Racer I was as you would assume... skeptical. Would it be all green screen? Would there be a real Chim Chim or would they use Jar Jar's simian cousin? Would there be extended scenes of Speed Racer with his mouth gaping wide, seemingly eternally stuck in a 3 second space of time, like a dust ridden Tecmo Bowl game on the first generation Nintendo (the trick is to take out the game and blow on it).
I was thinking that this was the Wachowski's first attempt at an adaptation but then I had to remember they wrote V for Vendetta which was of course taken from the graphic novel. And the Matrix trilogy which was a Neo-Sci mashup of Star Wars, Julius Caeser, and the Bible. Et tu Cypher?
But with the recent casting of Christina Ricci (Black Snake Moan) as girlfriend Trixie and Matthew Fox (Lost) as Speed's older brother, Racer X, this might be good. I am not too sure that Emile Hersh is the best choice. A little to much brooding and not enough acting in Lords of Dogtown. I am guessing that Shia LaBeouf was too busy waiting for a phone call from Steven Spielberg.
Only time will tell. And with a release date of May 9, 2008 time is all we have.
