Turbo KidEven after the end of civilization, unlikely heroes can inevitably rise up against villains. Turbo Kid is an action film infused with an amalgamation of Eighties nostalgia, self-aware comedy, and--surprisingly--copious violence and gore. A young scavenger known only as "The Kid" (Munro Chambers) struggles to survive in "The Wasteland", a post-apocalyptic alternate reality version of 1997. While reading a comic book about his hero, "Turbo Rider", he is approached by a bubbly pixie of a girl calling herself Apple (Laurence Leboeuf), who befriends the Kid--whether he likes it or not. After she is abducted, the Kid conveniently finds a hidden cache, containing the uniform and weaponry of his mythical hero. This gives him the power to save Apple and terminate the stranglehold that a local tyrant named Zeus (Michael Ironside) has over the Wasteland.
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The indisputable raison d'être for Turbo Kid is its unabashed and shameless embracing of tropes from Eighties-era kid movies, evidenced by a predominance of props like BMX bikes, Power Glove-looking accessories, and robots whose well-being is measured in "heart containers", a la "The Legend of Zelda". (Apple even bobs along in her bright pink hair and colorful makeup, recalling "Jem and the Holograms".) These bikes--which are all just a little bit too small for the adults who use them--are a deliberate send-up to films like Rad and BMX Bandits, despite the film having more in common with The Road Warrior. When the Kid discovers the remains of Turbo Rider, he dons the uniform which is designed to resemble the kind of uniform a BMX rider would wear in a professional circuit--it's even a striking red color with a prismatic stripe across the chest. Turbo Kid resembles the kind of movie a kid might rent from the local video store while kicking back on summer vacation, even with its copious violence and significant amount of R-rated language. The violence is cartoon-like; bad guys explode into bloody bits in absurd ways designed to elicit laughter (with a few notable exceptions). Turbo Kid is aiming to be the movie you heard rumors about as a kid--the kind your buddy claims to have rented that one time--one that was so cool because it didn't "pull any punches". The juxtaposition of two disparate styles makes Turbo Kid even more outrageous of a comedy, using a bevy of cliches and tropes of the era to fuel audience recognition. Turbo Kid boasts original music by synthwave band, Le Matos, cementing its aesthetic of a lost VHS (or Betamax) gem only recently rediscovered. (The song that plays over the opening credits is purposefully filled with absurdly positive lyrics--the kind meant to ramp up viewers at home so they will beg mom to go buy the corresponding action figures and play sets.) Turbo Kid belongs to a stylistic movement that revisits this retro style; long considered passe, it has experienced a renaissance of late--from video games like "Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon" and "Mother Russia Bleeds", to musical artists like Carpenter Brut and Power Glove.
Even beyond the props and the music, Turbo Kid goes to great lengths to feel like a retro flick through its characters and their dialogue. The Kid allies himself with a rough cowboy and arm wrestler with personal space issues named Frederic (Aaron Jeffery), who seems to be channeling Paul Hogan with his machismo and grit. That Michael Ironside is cast as the villain is a direct nod to his history of playing memorable bad guys throughout the Eighties, and his cronies--including a masked killer with a buzzsaw launcher on his arm, credited as "Skeletron" (Edwin Wright)--look like extras from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome designed with a toy line in mind. One scene where Zeus takes Frederic hostage has them exchange an assortment of verbal cheap shots at one another--the kind of dialogue that would belong in the Kid's "Turbo Rider" comic books. Munro Chambers is an astute casting choice for the Kid; he brings a quality that would make it very easy for kids to relate to him, and he is reminiscent of actors like Zach Galligan of Gremlins or Lance Guest from The Last Starfighter. Turbo Kid includes genuinely horrific scenes--like the Kid's flashbacks of the tragic fate of his parents; yet the film is at its best when it discards logic and splashes around obliviously in the proverbial mud puddle of silliness. Apple is crucial in this; her guileless and happy-go-lucky attitude keeps the audience from obsessing about the movie's anachronisms too much. Consider how the Kid makes use of duct tape as essential part of a scavenger lifestyle, useful for putting together anything--including forging a makeshift weapon (dubbed a "gnome stick" by Apple) or affixing a robot head onto a new body without the need of any inconvenient cybernetic engineering. One of the best examples of where goofy comedy trumps reality is when the Kid and Apple are camping, and they burn old VHS tapes to keep warm. (Note that despite living in a wasteland--one where water is ostensibly a rare commodity--trees still grow out of the ground.) Turbo Kid proudly wears its inspiration on its sleeve, and there are nods to other movies about dystopian futures, like Soylent Green--the Kid casually warns a local trader named Bagu (Romano Orzari) not to drink the water coming from Zeus, because "it's people". Even though nearly every narrative beat in Turbo Kid can be predicted, this is by design for the intended audience, which should expect something familiar and worn in--like dusting off an old jacket or a piece of BMX gear shoved in the corner of your attic--forgotten for years, but rekindling memories with its rediscovery.
Recommended for: Fans of a nostalgia-driven action film that merges self-aware comedy and over-the-top gore with deliberately cliche characters from Eighties-era video rental gems. Turbo Kid is a bit like the illegitimate offspring of Solarbabies and something from the Troma catalog of exploitation flicks, and has a very specific audience in mind--one that probably already knows what those movies are.
Even beyond the props and the music, Turbo Kid goes to great lengths to feel like a retro flick through its characters and their dialogue. The Kid allies himself with a rough cowboy and arm wrestler with personal space issues named Frederic (Aaron Jeffery), who seems to be channeling Paul Hogan with his machismo and grit. That Michael Ironside is cast as the villain is a direct nod to his history of playing memorable bad guys throughout the Eighties, and his cronies--including a masked killer with a buzzsaw launcher on his arm, credited as "Skeletron" (Edwin Wright)--look like extras from Mad Max Beyond Thunderdome designed with a toy line in mind. One scene where Zeus takes Frederic hostage has them exchange an assortment of verbal cheap shots at one another--the kind of dialogue that would belong in the Kid's "Turbo Rider" comic books. Munro Chambers is an astute casting choice for the Kid; he brings a quality that would make it very easy for kids to relate to him, and he is reminiscent of actors like Zach Galligan of Gremlins or Lance Guest from The Last Starfighter. Turbo Kid includes genuinely horrific scenes--like the Kid's flashbacks of the tragic fate of his parents; yet the film is at its best when it discards logic and splashes around obliviously in the proverbial mud puddle of silliness. Apple is crucial in this; her guileless and happy-go-lucky attitude keeps the audience from obsessing about the movie's anachronisms too much. Consider how the Kid makes use of duct tape as essential part of a scavenger lifestyle, useful for putting together anything--including forging a makeshift weapon (dubbed a "gnome stick" by Apple) or affixing a robot head onto a new body without the need of any inconvenient cybernetic engineering. One of the best examples of where goofy comedy trumps reality is when the Kid and Apple are camping, and they burn old VHS tapes to keep warm. (Note that despite living in a wasteland--one where water is ostensibly a rare commodity--trees still grow out of the ground.) Turbo Kid proudly wears its inspiration on its sleeve, and there are nods to other movies about dystopian futures, like Soylent Green--the Kid casually warns a local trader named Bagu (Romano Orzari) not to drink the water coming from Zeus, because "it's people". Even though nearly every narrative beat in Turbo Kid can be predicted, this is by design for the intended audience, which should expect something familiar and worn in--like dusting off an old jacket or a piece of BMX gear shoved in the corner of your attic--forgotten for years, but rekindling memories with its rediscovery.
Recommended for: Fans of a nostalgia-driven action film that merges self-aware comedy and over-the-top gore with deliberately cliche characters from Eighties-era video rental gems. Turbo Kid is a bit like the illegitimate offspring of Solarbabies and something from the Troma catalog of exploitation flicks, and has a very specific audience in mind--one that probably already knows what those movies are.