Tank GirlEven after the end of the world, girls just wanna have fun. Tank Girl is a post-apocalyptic punk sci-fi action comedy (and probably more) about a sassy and fiercely independent woman named Rebecca (Lori Petty), who tries to stay alive in the arid outback after a nuclear war. When Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell), the megalomaniacal head of "Water & Power"--a corporation bent on controlling all of the water in this irradiated Australia--sends his death squad to wipe out Rebecca's peaceful commune that has been squatting in the last of his uncontrolled territories, he ends up making a tenacious enemy with nothing to lose.
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Despite being a commercial failure when it released in 1995, Tank Girl has endured as a cult film. It certainly embodies a style of sci-fi movie flair consistent with the era, not to mention its production values and its sense of style. The garish fashion can be attributed to the narrative's punk aesthetic merged with an end-of-the-world scenario. But what makes Tank Girl emblematic of this is in its attitude, reminiscent of other pop culture "punks", ranging from Sid Vicious to Bart Simpson. Rebecca is a quintessential "riot grrrl", a take no guff mix of pixie sweetness and crass joie de vivre. It quickly becomes clear that the worst thing Kesslee could have done was to antagonize Rebecca; had he not done so, he would have probably continued to enjoy his dominion over the vast majority of the wasteland. But no, he had to go and shoot up her home, kill her boyfriend Richard (Brian Wimmer), kidnap a young girl from the commune named Sam (Stacy Linn Ramsower), and then imprison and torture Rebecca. Kesslee represents all of the evils of corporate malevolence, coupled with a sadistic animosity for anything that doesn't make him more powerful. He even condescends to Rebecca and tries to use her as bait to entrap the "Rippers", a group of semi-bestial warriors that have been waging a guerrilla war against the W&P. But Rebecca holds fast to her unflappable confidence in spite of Kesslee's oppression, and even befriends a fellow prisoner who she calls "Jet" (Naomi Watts) in the process. Rebecca and Jet are two diametrically opposed personalities; while Rebecca is boisterous, Jet is quiet and shy, although she is also a very skilled mechanic. (It is Jet who is fundamentally responsible for helping Rebecca escape Kesslee after his trap for the Rippers blows up in his face, and who helps outfit her eponymous tank.) Rebecca and Jet form a solid friendship which gives Tank Girl a stabilizing presence while it races along at a manic pace from one chapter to the next.
Tank Girl is adapted from an indie comic of the same name, written by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. The film maintains this vibe through rapid fire montages of comic book panels and animated vignettes of Rebecca et al, somewhat like Natural Born Killers. Cohesiveness is not a priority for Tank Girl, and the movie jumps from plot thread to plot thread like a kid whose been downing a fistful of pixie sticks. Yet this frenetic pace matches that of the protagonist, and compels the audience to experience this mad world from her perspective. Rebecca's nigh pathological fondness for her weaponry, squeaky voice, and penchant for violence has certainly inspired other characters like her, not least of which is the character of Tiny Tina from the "Borderlands" series of video games, or even Harley Quinn of "Batman" fare. As it happens, "Tank Girl" remains a popular cosplay outfit for comic book conventions today. The soundtrack for Tank Girl is laden with Nineties era music, including Björk, Bush, L7, and more. Comic book movies--especially those drawn from less mainstream and underground comics--were becoming a popular source for movie material in the Nineties, like The Crow. It's been said that what separates Tank Girl from many other comic book movies was that Rebecca wasn't portrayed from what is called a "male gaze", but as a thoroughly self-sufficient hero who doesn't need to be saved by a man. (It could be argued that Jet "saves" her after the Ripper trap backfires on Kesslee.) Yet Rebecca puts herself in harm's way to save Sam from an unsettling sex club called Liquid Silver, where she is accosted by a pedophile named "Rat Face" (Iggy Pop). She also gives encouragement to Jet and inspires her to stick up for herself against an unctuous lackey of Kesslee's named Sergeant Small (Don Harvey), who exploited his position as a prison guard to sexually harass Jet. Even though it may be a silly, disorganized movie, Tank Girl remains a popular film because of its style (which is now nostalgic for the Nineties) and its themes of empowerment and anti-establishment.
Recommended for: Fans of a high-octane sugar rush of rock music, punk style, black comedy, and outrageous antics born from the indie comic scene and era in which it was made. Tank Girl might be described as Mad Max meets Joan Jett, the latter of whom contributes a cover of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love", featured prominently during a musical number in the film.
Tank Girl is adapted from an indie comic of the same name, written by Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin. The film maintains this vibe through rapid fire montages of comic book panels and animated vignettes of Rebecca et al, somewhat like Natural Born Killers. Cohesiveness is not a priority for Tank Girl, and the movie jumps from plot thread to plot thread like a kid whose been downing a fistful of pixie sticks. Yet this frenetic pace matches that of the protagonist, and compels the audience to experience this mad world from her perspective. Rebecca's nigh pathological fondness for her weaponry, squeaky voice, and penchant for violence has certainly inspired other characters like her, not least of which is the character of Tiny Tina from the "Borderlands" series of video games, or even Harley Quinn of "Batman" fare. As it happens, "Tank Girl" remains a popular cosplay outfit for comic book conventions today. The soundtrack for Tank Girl is laden with Nineties era music, including Björk, Bush, L7, and more. Comic book movies--especially those drawn from less mainstream and underground comics--were becoming a popular source for movie material in the Nineties, like The Crow. It's been said that what separates Tank Girl from many other comic book movies was that Rebecca wasn't portrayed from what is called a "male gaze", but as a thoroughly self-sufficient hero who doesn't need to be saved by a man. (It could be argued that Jet "saves" her after the Ripper trap backfires on Kesslee.) Yet Rebecca puts herself in harm's way to save Sam from an unsettling sex club called Liquid Silver, where she is accosted by a pedophile named "Rat Face" (Iggy Pop). She also gives encouragement to Jet and inspires her to stick up for herself against an unctuous lackey of Kesslee's named Sergeant Small (Don Harvey), who exploited his position as a prison guard to sexually harass Jet. Even though it may be a silly, disorganized movie, Tank Girl remains a popular film because of its style (which is now nostalgic for the Nineties) and its themes of empowerment and anti-establishment.
Recommended for: Fans of a high-octane sugar rush of rock music, punk style, black comedy, and outrageous antics born from the indie comic scene and era in which it was made. Tank Girl might be described as Mad Max meets Joan Jett, the latter of whom contributes a cover of Cole Porter's "Let's Do It, Let's Fall in Love", featured prominently during a musical number in the film.