In a post-apocalyptic wasteland in 1997, a comic book fan adopts the persona of his favourite hero to save his enthusiastic friend and fight a tyrannical overlord. In Wasteland's vast and barren deserts of scrap and debris in a post-apocalyptic 1997 where water is the new currency, the reclusive orphaned scavenger and die-hard comic aficionado known only as the Kid, barely manages to survive, trading relics of a bygone time for food and water. Living constantly under the sadistic monarch Zeus' heavy thumb, the Kid who struggles to lay low, is utterly unprepared for the unforeseen encounter–let alone, friendship–with the lively and free-spirited, Apple, who can't take no for an answer. However, only when Apple falls into Zeus' hands will Kid realise that his beloved Turbo Rider's newly-found high-tech justice-enforcing gear is meant for a true hero sworn to defend those in need. Will the skittish Kid step up to truly become the Turbo Kid? I really wanted to like this movie. The trailer hit all the right notes for me and I was psyched to go see it. Turbo Kid played one weekend in my town and I missed it. Luckily Netflix came along and made it available. I will not say it is a waste of time, just a waste of potential. Here is where spoilers may dwell. I thought it had a decent opening, following this lonely kid as he scavenged a post nuclear apocalyptic landscape. The walkman cuing up the 80's montage song was funny, but like the kid who collected artifacts from a bygone decade that's all this movie really does. It takes from all the BMX movies, the post apocalypse movies. Definitely Zombieland with his list of survival rules. I don't need all that nostalgia without a payoff. Turbo Kid gets some life when Apple shows up. An oddly cheery blonde female who isn't quite right. Leboeuf steals the show with her character. Not much of a show to steal but it's hers. The script was solid when it centered around this young odd couple. Where the writing failed this project was nearly everything that wasn't them. The Aussie/Kiwi Cowboy was very out of place. He seemingly maintained the peace in this "village" that was under the thumb of a cycloptic warlord. Zeus, yep his name is Zeus and he is portrayed by Micheal Ironside who is what you would expect. No let down there. The settings are not well established at all. This town/village is never shown or established in a competent manner. I know, I know, B-Movie here. That does not excuse a lack of fundamentals in story telling. Weather it's a comic, a game or a movie. You still need to set the stage for everything to play out in. So it's a hodge podge really. Then there is the splatter. Which really I think is another weak link. The gore for the most part is not exciting or all that grotesque. It's just kind of there. The laser blasts are well done. Turbo Kid eviscerates quite a few baddies and that all looks good. All the cross section, dissections are clunky. Like bad 70's samurai movies. I know, I know B-Movie. But you have to have some consistent effects work to get some thrills. These are not thrilling effects. From the mid point on the film becomes predictable and follows all the tropes of the movies I assume they are paying homage to. When the girl is captured and the Kid comes to the rescue. Later on the Kid and the Cowboy are surrounded and she (Apple) comes to the rescue. So on and so forth. It has feeling and that is it's best quality. I'm not a teen or twenty something so I need a bit more than that even in a B-movie schlock fest. Turbo Kid has the coherence of the Toxic Avenger and that is what broke the spell for me. It worked when I was naive but I have more discerning tastes now. I think this could have been a solid film had they focused mostly on the couple and had the rest of the story and characters run through them. Oh well not a total waste. Set laser to meh. Most people looking at or having seen this movie would probably not know of the days back in the 1970's when you could load up as many friends as you could get into a car or it's trunk and go see dusk to dawn films that included a lot of movies of the genre.<br/><br/>I am sure most of you look at a movie like this with it's late 70's flare and really wonder "Why did they bother?" <br/><br/>This film Is for the most part hooky but is has it's good old school charm.<br/><br/>If you are able to just sit back and take this film for what it is and it's time line feel, you will get a kick out of it.<br/><br/>If you like B rated movies of the 70's and 80' you will get a kick out of this. The film is, in that sense, the ultimate fan film since it monotonously aggregates previously existing scifi/fantasy tropes. Rejoice, Gen X viewers, for now you can uncritically enjoy your childhood's junk food culture just because you're looking at the past through the rose-colored lenses of the future.
Virjaeme replied
326 weeks ago