Turbo Kid ? 4 out of 5
How do I even start with a review of Turbo Kid? How about the NSFW Red Band trailer? Sure, we can start there because I have no
ideas on how to create a working opening paragraph. Note: If you don?t like blood and all around gross
gory stuff you probably shouldn?t click play on the video.
Heck, while I?m at it, let?s watch the original short that
this film was spun from.
 |
| The Kid is wearing a helment...which makes him more responsible than 99% of all Harley riders. |
In the future world of 1997, the world has become a
radioactive wasteland and the human race barely clings to life. A loner young man who obsesses over a comic
book named The Kid (Munro Chambers) finds his world thrown for a loop
when he meets an odd young lady who calls herself Apple (Laurence
Leboeuf). When Apple is kidnapped by a
local murderous tyrant who calls himself Zeus (Michael Ironside), The Kid must
find his inner superhero and team with a gruff cowboy named Frederic (Aaron
Jeffery) in order to save Apple and bring down Zeus? empire of evil. And it gets very bloody along the way!
 |
| It's such a wasteland that the cover of Dianetics has even stopped erupting. |
Turbo Kid combines some amazing things to craft a really fun
and entertaining (and bloody) comedy.
The film takes one part Grindhouse gratuity and mixes it with what the
80s thought the 90s were going to be like and the ridiculous excess of that era's
sci-fi. The movie succeeds
overwhelmingly with feeling like it was lifted directly from the over-the-top
70s and 80s cheesefests that came out and it makes the film extremely fun.
 |
| This henchman of Zeus' is named Skeletron and that's just a kickass name. |
 |
| His codpiece is far less kickass, however. |
 |
| While the BMX chase scene isn't as awesome as anything in Fury Road, it's still very amusing. |
One thing I really enjoyed in this film was the emphasis on substance
with its style rather than vacuous flash.
The film feels like 80s excess and 70s Grindhouse without having to
actively parody this style. The film
abandons adding in film scratches or editing mistakes in order to create this
satirical feel and rather presents the film as a fun and loving representation
that is honoring this style rather than mimicking it. Tarantino making poor film stock quality gags
in Death Proof work for what he was making but seeing that this film doesn?t
try to copy the aesthetic feel of a Grindhouse but rather has the spirit of it
living inside the story.
 |
| "I have the power that is different from another power so I don't get sued!" |
The performances in the film are very good and really help
keep the film from becoming a gimmick.
The characters aren?t the deepest but the performances make these people
fun and easy to invest in. While it?s a
given that Ironside would be awesome as the film?s bad guy (because Michael
Ironside is awesome, it?s a scientific fact), one thing that surprised me was
how good Munro Chambers and Laurence Leboeuf were as The Kid and Apple, respectively. Both are very entertaining but they also had
a really strong chemistry that made their friendship the focal point of the
film and turned all the comedy and gore into icing on the cake.
 |
| Apple comes off strange but that kind of strange that you can't help but love. |
 |
| We should all be so lucky to have an awesome last name like Ironside. |
This movie clearly isn?t for everyone due to the reality
that this film is gory as hell (I think I mentioned that a few times). The film loves its gore gags and the blood
fountains are abundant in the running length.
While a weirdo like me finds these gags that involve lots of blood and
horrible things happening to random henchmen and organs being pulled out of
people?s body by bikes to be great dark comedy, some might find this
horrifying. Don?t worry, that?s
okay. It?s just means that you aren?t
completely broken like I am. You might
enjoy the more innocent gags of the film?which, coincidentally, I found these
parts to be the weakest moments of the film because they were so painfully
unfunny and felt like throwaway sequences after some brilliant use of gross out
bodily harm humor.
 |
| True addiction is continuing to smoke even after you lose a hand. All addicts take note. |
Turbo Kid is one of those fun, unique films that can only
exist in a time that has the internet.
While the movie feels like it belongs with all the other odd and cheaply
made sci-fi films of the late 70s and early 80s, the premise is too self-aware
and too out-there to belong with them and can only really exist in a time where we
can crowd source such insanity (because a studio wouldn?t take the risk). While the film may fumble with some of its
more G-rated humor, the story is rich satire that is filled with gory fun, cool
characters and a great synth-based soundtrack that really sells the fantasy of
what the 80s films thought was in-store for the future in the 90s.
 |
| This is the first thing you see on the film and it immediately sets the tone perfectly! |
No comments:
Post a Comment