The 80s is arguably one of the most influential decades of movie history. Films such as Star Wars, Indiana Jones, and Back to the Future have often been credited as the inspiration of many directors of today's generation. One film series in particular pretty much kicked off the entire post-apocalyptic film genre, Mad Max. Created by George Miller, Mad Max was a series of movies that followed titular hero Max and his adventures in a post-apocalyptic Australia,usually meeting with thieves who are oppressing a certain people and then fighting them in several gun fights, brawls, and car chases. The Series overall while having varying degrees of quality has been a mainstay in pop culture, kicking off many more movies about nuclear wastelands.
This brings me to Turbo Kid, a 2015 Canadian sci-fi action comedy made to mimic the over the top action films of the 80s, Mad Max especially. Synth heavy music dominates the soundtrack and the effects are purposefully cheesy. While the movie may not be perfect, it certainly is an entertaining adventure.
It's the distant future of 1997, atomic war has devastated the world, what few remains of civilization there are live their lives as Scavengers and Barbarians. Add in the fact that a water shortage is leaving the world thirsty and the one person who controls the water is a mad tyrant, the World is not a very happy place.
The Film stars Munro Chambers as "The Kid", A scavenger and comic book lover who looks up to his idol, the superhero Turbo Rider. He leads a simple life of collecting junk, selling the junk, and then getting his small rations of food and water. One day, he meets a slightly insane girl named "Apple"(played by Laurence Leboeuf) who follows him around believing him to be his best friend. The two get involved in a series of incidents that has them end up getting pursued by the leader of the civilization, Zeus (played by the underappreciated Michael Ironside). In order to combat Zues's forces, The Kid takes on the persona of the Turbo Rider, to end the oppression caused by the warlord.
The Story does feel generic, hitting beats that can be seen from a mile away. However, where the movie does excel is in its characters. While the acting is (purposefully) cheesy, the characters really do start to grow. Laurence Leboeuf's portrayal of Apple is charming and genuinely funny in some parts and with a twist midway through the movie, Her character gets deeper and you start to feel for her even more. Another should be given to the previously mentioned Michael Ironside, of Total Recall fame. His performance is so over the top but not too much to where it belittles his character, even though his actions in the movie is mostly played for laughs.
Speaking of laughs, the movie's comedy is hit and miss. There are some jokes and actions that made me laugh, while others were..OK at best. Most of the comedy comes from action, more specifically the heavy amount of gore in the film. Many heads and body parts get cut up, usually with heavy sprays of blood. While Gore in movies can go overboard sometimes, mainly using it for shock value, This movie uses it well, The setting in the film is built well enough to make the gore seem like the kind of action that would occur in their world. The fight scenes could have been handled better though, with some of the hand to hand combat looking extremely cheesy.
But in a way, that's the whole point of the movie, to be cheesy. The world, the characters, the story, the action all is made to mimic the cheesy feel of 80s action films. It wont leave you with any lasting message or theme. Its main goal is to entertain and to that end, I genuinely enjoyed the movie. I can easily recommend it to any fan of action movies, and sci-fi movies, especially if you enjoyed 2014's similar film "Kung Fury".
3/4 stars: Check it out.
