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Featuring an endless spiral of camerawork, a veritable eruption of colors and a fully-clothed chimpanzee is the live-action version of the classic cartoon "Speed Racer."

For Speed Racer (Emile Hirsch), a name is more than just a moniker; it is both a profession and a state of mind.

Driving at an inconceivable velocity is all he has cared about for his entire life, and his passion for the activity always comes through unconditionally while he zooms down the racetrack.

However, his motivation is not merely about thrills. Besides promoting the name of Racer Motors, run by his father Pops (John Goodman), Speed also wants to live up to the memory of his late older brother Rex (Scott Porter).

Once he catches the eye of entrepreneur E.P. Arnold Royalton (Roger Allam), he gets the offer of sponsorship from the vastly wealthy man and it seems that he can write his own ticket, but the young driver knows that signing with Royalton Industries will come at the price of his integrity.

Naturally, the businessman is not about to let Speed get away with turning him down, and his underground connections in the World Racing League do everything to make things more difficult for the Racer family.

Nevertheless, with the help of the mysterious Racer X (Matthew Fox), Speed will show his enemies what racing is all about in his unique vessel, the Mach 5.

Hirsch is fine as the determined, family-minded hero, looking just right behind the wheel of the Mach 5.

Goodman is in great form as gruff but lovable Pops and is given the perfect harmony with Susan Sarandon's matronly charms as Mom Racer. Christina Ricci is more than agreeable as Speed's girlfriend, Trixie, an exuberant sort who is almost a match for her boyfriend on the track, besides being an accomplished helicopter pilot.

Fox is unpredictably effective as the dark and cagey Racer X (nicknamed "the harbinger of boom"), especially since he often is masked (for reasons known to cartoon viewers).

A pleasing amount of comedy comes from Kick Gurry as Speed's inelegant Aussie mechanic Sparky and Paulie Litt as Speed's kid brother Spritle, a candy addict who manages to get into all kinds of trouble with his pet monkey Chim-Chim.

With "Matrix" creators Andy and Larry Wachowski helming this project, one can expect only the most amazing special effects. There is no disappointment as the brothers use the magic of high-definition video to create a resplendently (almost blindingly) colorful universe that pays tribute to the original Japanese anime "Mach GoGoGo," in addition to green screen technology, which allows them to shape multidimensional racetracks that resemble some kind of M.C. Escher/Hot Wheels group effort.

The amount of movement is immeasurable, with characters' heads frequently doing double duty as screen wipes in between the action of racing.

Complaints are few in terms of the visual world (the Mach 5 could not be better realized with features such as the familiar jump jacks and the new self-replacing tires), but there still are discrepancies.

With the target audience being children, there are numerous facets that are too cartoony. Some are fun, like Spritle and Chim-Chim's sugar-fueled joyride on a golf cart while playing air guitar to "Free Bird," but the inclusion of ninjas, gangsters and somehow Vikings will have non-fans puzzled as to the need for such gratuitousness.

A few choice adult moments may leave some questioning the pitch toward kids as well. Still, the kaleidoscopic climax will assuredly leave one and all cheering fervently.

Despite its inconsistencies, the movie is an absorbing, pedal-to-the metal journey, which offers a fine acclimatization of the original fast-paced cartoon with dialogue that is much easier to understand than the oddly dubbed American version of the show.

So, to paraphrase the chorus of the theme song, "Go (to) Speed Racer, go!"