Candy-colored and cartoony, this hip live-action adaptation of the beloved Japanese anime features Emile Hirsch (Into the Wild) as an up-and-comer on the race-car circuit. The kid-friendly film — which costars a twiggy Christina Ricci as Speed's girl, Trixie; Matthew Fox as his suave, champion big brother; and a touching Susan Sarandon as Speed's supportive mom — is visually arresting, thanks to creative direction by The Matrix's Wachowski Brothers. Still, it's hampered by a screenplay that runs out of gas, and the movie has one big race too many for Us. At 135 minutes, it's way too long for a flick with speed in the title!

This is a martial arts melodrama about honorable L.A. jujitsu master Mike Terry (the intense and charismatic Chiwetel Ejiofor), who enters the shady world of prizefighting to settle his wife (Alice Braga)'s loan-shark debt. Despite Ejiofor's powerful performance and the stellar cast (Emily Mortimer, Tim Allen,
Joe Mantegna), Redbelt plays like a generic Chuck Norris action flick — and writer-director David Mamet's famous clipped dialogue is no help. To DVD, chop-chop!

A superfit and sarcastic Robert Downey Jr. is the best reason to see this loud blockbuster (based on a Marvel comic). He plays hard-partying tycoon Tony Stark, whose life goes kaboom when insurgents kidnap him in Afghanistan. The foreigners insist Stark construct a new superweapon, thus providing materials for his finest creation: a suit that enables his escape. Voilà: Iron Man — and a movie franchise — is born. Gwyneth Paltrow deserves better than this throwaway role as Stark's assistant and elusive love interest. Poor thing must totter through the overblown finale in strappy stilettos!