Speed Racer is the young, hotshot kid that’s going to shake up the world of racing. With the help of his loving family and hot girlfriend (?), he’ll be able to stop the stock scheme of some villain and change the face of race car driving forever. Will Speed find the will to defeat some evil corporate schmuck? Since this is intended to be a kid’s movie, yes, you bet he will! Why We Love It: Dick Tracy + Sin City + The Matrix + The Wizard of Oz + Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory + Wall Street (yes, that Wall Street) + whatever visually eye-titillating movie you can think of = Speed Racer. This film is totally “cool beans,” and that, while featuring flavors of those movies listed, is its own colorfully bombastic beast.

Besides The Incredible Hulk, I can’t think of another summer release that has me more puzzled than Speed Racer. The first trailer looked like it could be a cute, fun diversion. The international trailer upped the ante a bit by adding more plot and action. But this music video on MySpace just makes me ill.

One of the least talked about films of 2008 up to this point has been Speed Racer, and I’m not really sure why.