Posted on: Friday, May 16, 2008
'Speed Racer'
By Roger Moore
McClatchy-Tribune News Service
Rating: PG for sequences of action, some violence and language.
What it's about: Idealistic, independent young driver battles long odds to foil the cartel of evil, cheating racing sponsors.
The kid attractor factor: Eye candy galore, based on a cartoon and starring Emile Hirsh, Christina Ricci and a cute chimpanzee.
Good lessons/bad lessons: "Cheaters never prosper."
Violence: An awful lot for a children's film.
Language: Gratuitous profanity peppered here and there.
Sex: None, despite the presence of Christina Ricci.
Drugs: None, unless you count poison.
Parents' advisory: It's childish enough to be attractive to young children, but the plot demands many a tedious argument-discussion-explanation scene, when all most kids want is more chimp moments. Fine for 9 and older.
