With the slick, bombastic intro slowly building towards an orgiastic climax, I expected this movie to be moving and transfixing along the lines of "Senna"—but ultimately, it's a lot of sound and fury signifying nothing.
As the expertly-edited intro credits fade to the narrative about a two-generation Irish driving dynasty, there is little here to keep the interest of a viewer who isn't already familiar with—or better yet, a superfan of—these Irish road warriors. Ear-splitting audio effects sharply intercut the standard talking-heads interviews, and I began to question whether Liam Neeson's sturdy- but-sonambulistic voice-over work wasn't hampering the narrative, as I struggled to understand why I should care about this particular family over any other Irish motorcycling daredevils.
The odd crash excites, but the crash footage is oddly bloodless and, as much as the filmmakers try to demonstrate what the thrilling reality of driving a back at such a breakneck speed is like, there's isn't much evidence of what happens to the human body during one of these high-speed disasters.
Much like the toothless "Formula 1", this is a great documentary, if you already follow the subject, and get aroused simply by the noise and thunder of engines and exciting footage. Unlike its spiritual cousin (and, I suspect, inspiration for all moto-docs since) "Senna", this film lacks the heart and effective explication of the sport to casual viewers that creates a memorable, moving documentary. Rent "Senna", unless you're an Irish Moto fan.
