Speed Racer

Amid the overly earnest tone, (almost) squeaky-clean humor and familiar messages about teamwork and integrity is the rare film family that's as strong at the start as they are by the end.

You have to be 12 to like it, and I have to say there is little or nothing here to remind us why we were all quite so excited about The Matrix.

Twelve-year-old boys should be wowed, but for the rest of us, it will depend on your appetite for eye candy.

Even the target audience of 10-year-olds might get jimmy legs sitting for a punishing 135 minutes as the Wachowski brothers projectile-vomit their cotton-candy dreams all over the big screen.

Given that Speed Racer itself is basically an elaborate commercial, the anti-corporate message inevitably rings hollow.

Behold the racing stripes and lipstick so red they’d make Technicolor blush, and live-action performances (by almost everyone but star Emile Hirsch) reaching for the transcendently unrestrained hysteria of action anime.

The Wachowskis’ style is very distinctive, and while The Matrix series is far grittier than Speed Racer, they share the same belief that good people and love are the answer to changing the world for the better.

It’s a cinematic sugar rush.

While I wouldn't go as far as to say Speed Racer is a masterpiece, it is a supremely good time.