I have distant and blurry—but very fond—childhood memories of the old original Speed Racer cartoon. Based on those memories, the show was about a family of people who all talked very fast (with their lips never quite matching up with the words they were saying) and drove very fast and had crazy adventures. Oh, and there was a monkey. So when I first heard the Wachowskis, of all people, were making a live-action adaptation, I really didn't know what to think. But I was intrigued. I've been following the various ads, clips, and trailers for the movie the past couple of months and I've remained really unsure about the movie. It appeared to be highly stylized, cheesy, and even deliberately fake-looking.

Now, having seen it, I can confirm that it is indeed highly stylized, cheesy, and deliberately fake-looking. Watching this movie is like staring through a kaleidoscope while it's being spun at about 200 miles per hour, and you're on a sugar high. It's Willy Wonka and the Automobile Factory. It's childish, ridiculous, and over-the-top. It's also thrilling, tense, moving, hilarious, and all-in-all the most pure cinematic joy I've experienced in some time. Oh, and there's a monkey.

I was sold on Speed Racer after the first fifteen minutes or so, which consist of a brilliant racing sequence wherein our titular character (yes, his first name is Speed and his last name is Racer), played by Emile Hirsch, performs mind-blowing stunts on the track while we slowly learn in flashbacks his family history. By the end of the race, they've managed to build things up so that I was actually genuinely moved. And the race is exciting, too.

And what do we learn? That we're in some weird, candy-coated near future, and that the Racer family lives for racing. Father John Goodman builds the cars and manages his kids' racing careers, while mother Susan Sarandon sees racing as an art and is unflaggingly supportive of everybody. Speed's girlfriend Trixie (Christina Ricci) is just as supportive as his Mom, and even rather creepily lives in the same house with all the rest of the family. Little brother Spritle (Paulie Litt), along with his pet monkey Chim Chim, watches Speed eagerly from the stands, or sometimes tags along in the trunk, and looks up to his brother—the same way Speed looked up to his older brother, Rex (Scott Porter). One dramatic night, Rex left the family and later died in a mysterious racing accident. It's Rex's ghost that Speed is really always racing against.

Speed has succeeded Rex as the Racer family racer, and everything's going great for him. And things only seem to be getting better when Mr. Royalton of the fantastically rich and successful Royalton Racing shows up to offer Speed a cushy spot in his organization. But then Speed's naive eyes are opened to the dark underbelly of racing, and he gets pulled into a dangerous world of secret back room deals, where money is king and life is cheap. Can he fight and race his way back out into the light? And just who is the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox)?

Although in many ways, Speed Racer is a kids' movie (it's generally easy to follow who the good guys are and who the bad guys are at any given moment, just by looking at them), the plot is actually rather complex, involving lots of business schemes and corporate intrigue, and jumping back and forth through time to slowly reveal more and more of the history of the Racer family, which is alternately tragic and joyful. In fact, the film is more a family drama than an action movie—although there is certainly plenty of exciting action, including the many eye-popping, breath-taking racing sequences, and a few memorable fight scenes, the best of these being the one that ends with John Goodman shaking his head sadly and saying, "What passes for ninjas these days." Brilliant!

Visually the movie is insanely bright, colorful, and busy, with lights always flashing and everything and everyone in constant motion. Occasionally it's a bit overwhelming, but mostly it's just exciting. Almost every scene makes use of green screen, with the characters obviously inserted over weird futuristic backdrops. This gives a sort of dreamy, cartoony feel to everything that happens in the movie, and perhaps made me more receptive to the film's occasionally corny sensibility.

But corny or not, there's no denying that Speed Racer is 100% high octane fun from beginning to triumphant end. It's a perfect popcorn movie for the start of the summer, and well worth a trip to the theater.

Image via FirstShowing.net