Go. Speed Racer, Go!

Pictures from the new movie. [Link]

Racer, says producer Joel Silver, has a trump card — or two, actually — in Andy and Larry Wachowski, the gadget-happy siblings who were huge fans of the TV series, one of the first Japanese cartoons to make it to the USA.

"The effects are beyond belief. We called it 'car fu,' because it was like kung fu with the cars," Silver says. "We couldn't have made this movie until right now."

But effects, he says, take a back seat to the Wachowskis' true love of the old series: the cars, costumes and message.

"It obviously has a present-day aesthetic to it," Silver says. "But it's still a great yarn about family and not selling out. That's an important message to the (Wachowskis) and why we all connected to the show."

The Mach 5 looks right.