Tank Girl

1995

SF elements

post-apocalypse; evil organisations

Review

It is 2033, several years after a comet hit the earth, and it hasn't rained since. The evil Water and Power control nearly all the water resources -- except for a small area in Australia. They capture one of the last free people, and try to torture her into working for them. But she escapes by stealing a tank, teams up with the Rippers, and fights back.

That plot summary sounds like the usual generic post-apocalypse stuff. But this is great fun. You never forget it is based on a comic book character, because almost subliminal cartoonish flashes are used constantly -- at one point the whole film turns into a cartoon. This works very well, helping the whole of the action, plot and characterisation keep its OTT adult comic book feel.

Lori Petty is great as the irrepressible Tank Girl, refusing to be crushed by the cruel chief of Water and Power [Malcolm McDowell]. And there's a wonderful poetry-spouting leader of the Rippers (genetically engineered kangaroos). [I previously said that Ice-T played this character, but was gently corrected by an emailer thus: Ice-T wasn't the poetry spouting leader. He was the angry one who originally was a cop .]

Rating: 3.5

[ unmissable | worth watching | passes the time | mind candy | waste of time | unfinishable ]