Results tagged “manga” from Mooneyverse

Anyone who grew up the late 80s or the early 90s will surely remember this that theme song.

Coming home after school and watching this was a treat I used to enjoy on a weekly basis. I used to wonder how Racer X could always show up in the nick of time and I always wondered if my dad's old Ford Fiesta could flip itself if it were racing.

The show, the characters, the style of animation and the story were some of the first anime I had experienced. It really cracked open my imagination. As I grew older I began to appreciate the original 60s series more as nothing could quite match what it essentially was: one of the primary reasons that anime and manga is so popular in western pop culture today.

So fast forward from the early 90s to 2008. What good driving movies have we had?

Or rather, since well put together driving scenes are such a rarity, which movies have we had that truly put pedal to the metal?

Fast and the Furious, Matrix Reloaded, The Italian Job, Deathproof, Ronin, Batman Begins, The Bourne trilogy, Casiona Royale and maybe a few more. Comment below if you disagree with my choices.

Speed Racer takes what these movies have done, rips them to shreds and blasts by them in a pace of colourful wonderness.

Produced by Wachowski Bros, this is one movie that strives to stay true too the original anime and it does it brilliantly. From the moody, post conversation style glares, to the delightfully mixed array of characters and all that lovely hi-def colour.

Emile Hirsch fits the bill perfectly as Speed. He looks just like Speed, seriously, from his hair too his mannerisms, Hirsch pulls of the act very well.

But it's not just Hirsch- the entire cast is fantastic. Notable perfomances by John Goodman and Susan Sarandon as Pops and Mom are a treat to watch. Matthew Fox is also a joy as Racer X.

While the story is simple, good versus evil and cheaters never win being the two main themes, it is carried well enough by the actors for the audience to really get behind Speed.

This is not the Matrix and this is definitely not V for Vendetta, it is a family movie for everyone to watch.

Extremely colourful, a feast to watch and great fun for all the family Speed Racer is out in cinemas nationwide.

Just don't try and flip your car after seeing it....

Contrary to popular belief that Dragonball Z and everything that goes with it isn't important, too anime is quite frankly rubbish.

Without it there would be no Pokemon, Yu-Gi-Oh, Full Metal Alchemist or Naruto. And it could be said that without it there may have been no Matrix or various other anime-influenced Hollywood blockbusters.

The Dragonball franchise was an enormous factor in popularising anime in the west and is now set to get its own movie, aptly named Dragonball.

Due out in Spring 2009, the movie looks set to follow the King Piccolo saga. According to IMDB, the plot goes something like this:

"

The story begins with a young humanoid boy named Goku, who discovers that he was sent to Earth to blend in and destroy our population but instead elects to protect it from an oncoming alien onslaught bent on dominating the universe and controlling the mystical objects.

"He seeks out upon his adoptive grandfather Grandpa Gohan's dying request to find the great Master Roshi and gather all seven Dragon Balls.

"Of which he has one, in order to prevent the evil Lord Piccolo from succeeding in his desire to use the Dragon Balls to take over the world. And Goku's quest is to obtain the mystical Dragonballs before Piccolo does"

Goku's actual origin is almost identical to Superman's. Both are sent to Earth in a space pod as babies, both of their home planets are about to explode at this time and both have incredible, god-like powers. But other than that, both couldn't be further apart.

Justin Chatwin stars as Goku and if anything is to be right about this movie, he'll have to play him as Sean Schemmel played him in the animated series- funny, hungry, absent minded and underdog hero.

James Wong (Final Destination, The One, The X-Files) heads up the project as Director James Marsters, formerly of Buffy fame as Spike, is playing Piccolo and Chow Yun-Fat is playing Master Roshi, Goku's teacher.

While the initial reception from fans has been one of dismay and disgust, if done right, Dragonball could well be the long awaited breath of fresh air the franchise is waiting for.

Dragonball is set for a Spring 2009 release.