Seen Speed Racer? It is better than you heard...actually, it is a ton of fun and a nice tribute to the spirit of the original cartoon series. For me, it was never about Speed Racer himself, however. Much like G.I. Joe's Snake-Eyes or Micronauts Acroyear, show me a stoic tough guy in a mask and I'm sold. Racer X is tricky to get right (In the cartoon you are bombarded with his identity at least thirty times an episode- "little does Speed know that the mysterious Racer X is actually his long lost brother Rex, who went missing and reappeared as the mysterious Racer X, in actuality Rex Racer, the long lost brother of Speed...") but I thought Matt Fox did a great job and the translation from white spandex to black leathers was perfect. I used a "12 marvel studios daredevil figure and re-worked the jaw line to make him resemble Fox, and then adapted an old wolverine marvel studios jacket (re-tailored and colored)and some pants from a cy com colossus figure. The boots were generic black engineer boots and the gloves came from a 12" darth maul. The goggles were custom made. I added a base of thin plastic with a stand and a small Mattel replica of his car, the Shooting Star. A pity the movie didn't do better, I would have loved to see more of Racer X, especially with the whole Jason Bourne/James Bond/Batman/Nick Fury vibe they had going.
