go speed racer, go speed racer, GO!

went to see the newest wachowski brothers creation speed racer today with a friend. can't really say i have been looking forward to seeing this movie when i first saw the trailer. it looked like it was dominated by CG, the characters looked corny, the lines cornier and well, quite boring actually. considering that this is another wachowski film didn't add points for me either. i remember thinking, what the hell got into them to take such a project. i mean THIS is what u guys do after doing the matrix and v for vendetta? needless to say, i was greatly disappointed.

i was on a date (? again) and part of the agenda was to watch a movie. since the friend i was with had already seen iron man, the movie i was waiting for to see, we had to choose one that neither of us have seen before. my last movie was "forbidden kingdom" so i had more choices to pick, him on the other hand, well, just "speed racer". i obviously wasn't excited but being the martyr that i am, went to watch it anyway.... i am so glad i did!

the movie was great!!! i swear i will never doubt the genius of the brothers wachowski ever again!!!! true i won't lie, the story is pretty basic and straightforward, but man, the graphics was phenomenal!!! the intensity was constant and the visuals was just captivating! the entire movie felt like a ride! like ur trapped in this cyber pinball machine and you're the ball. of course being the manga obsessed dudes the brothers are, they were faithful to the original japanese version of speed racer. the car, the characters (i enjoyed how they characterized spritle and chimchim, they were equally annoying in both the animation and the film.... as i said, very faithful), even the pose speed racer is famous for after he dismounts his car. set design and animation was also superb. parts of the film felt like u were reading japanese manga back in the 70's, when speed racer i think came out. the mix of retro with uber hi-tech was excellently done, something i actually enjoyed the most. so much so, i think i totally ignored my date during the movie (well, his fault!).

capping it all up, the brothers definitely did it again. the movie is action packed for the guys and has enough story and character evolution in it to satisfy the girls (add to that the serious man candy in the form of rex racer and mattew wolf... woof!). manga aficionados would appreciate the movie's homage to the original and those who have no memory of speed racer, well, they would be happy to know that us oldies had such cartoons that was definitely cool!.