The new PG-rated "Speed Racer" will be a nightmare for parents of very young children. It runs two hours and 10 minutes and makes virtually no sense as a story.
Some critics might find the extremely hyped-up editing and psychedelic colors to be an entertaining throwback to the druggy movies of the late 1960s and early '70s, but I think most parents will come out of the film with their ears ringing and with bloodshot eyes.
Like too many other Hollywood directors, the Wachowskis don't appear to know what it is like to organize and supervise a movie outing for kids.
To give "Speed Racer" such a grotesquely padded running time, with the knowledge that theaters will add on another 15 or 20 minutes of commercials and movie trailers, shows a complete lack of consideration for the adults who will have to stick it out with their 5- or 6-year-olds.
The movie arrived on almost 3,000 screens in this country Friday, accompanied by a blitz of toy and food product tie-ins, so millions of kids have been brainwashed into thinking they must see "Speed Racer" this weekend.
At a press screening in Manhattan earlier this week, it was hard to gauge the reaction of the preteens who were in the crowd.
The movie is so loud and so ugly that it rolls right over you, blocking out everything around you in
The weirdest part of "Speed Racer" is the way that the many races are presented. The cutting is so fast and we jump from car to car so quickly that you can never really tell who is in the lead.
The movie reminded me of my one visit to a big NASCAR competition 30 years ago. Ten or 15 minutes after the race started on the oval track in Dover, Del., I couldn't tell who was winning and my ears were ringing from the noise.
But, at least at a NASCAR race, there is a scoreboard on the track that gives you a chance to get your bearings.
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