new, supple and bold.

Of course, the success of their Matrix franchise justified a certain degree of autonomy. But Robinov and for that matter his boss Alan Horn should have written into the contract that Speed Racer had to clock in at 90 to 100 minutes long — the average for kiddie pics these days — and not the absurd 2 hours, 15 minutes length it is now.

In addition, the pic should have been “aged up” more: everyone including the studio complains it plays too young and limits its audience by appealing mostly to little boys. And then there’s the cost, said to have climbed as high as $185M (though Warner sources insist it’s $125M).