Torque Reviews

Made by people who realise how ridiculous and excessive the average Hollywood action movie has become, Torque revels in the glorious absurdities of the genre, while simultaneously poking fun at the outlandishness of it all (for other examples that adopt the same approach, see Con Air, the Charlie's Angels movies, and the more subtle & misunderstood Escape From LA). Make no mistake, this film is - intentionally - a shiny, multicoloured live-action cartoon that has as little to do with reality as the average press conference by the Bush Administration.

In this movie, every action set-piece breaks several different laws of physics. Bikes don't just crash in Torque - they explode into fireballs with such ferocity that anyone nearby is thrown twenty feet into the air. Chases through city streets are conducted at such intense speed that bystanders are blown over and car windows shatter. Product placement isn't sneaked into the background, but blatantly placed at centre-stage. Every male in the film is either handsome & slim, or bulky & menacing, while all the women are centrefold material. It's the kind of movie where a bad-ass like Trey (Ice Cube) somehow manages to lead a gang of outlaw bikers who control most of the crime in downtown LA, while refusing to deal drugs or have drugs sold on his turf. It's the sort of film in which the hero proves he's innocent of murder (when in fact his alleged 'evidence' would never stand up in court) and is promptly allowed to walk away without even giving a statement to the police, despite the fact that during the course of the movie he's stolen several vehicles, been responsible for the deaths of numerous bad guys, and caused an immense amount of property damage. It's not meant to be taken seriously for a second, and if you keep that in mind, it's a lot of fun.

Since all the characters are barely two dimensional stereotypes, the cast is hardly taxed, but do what they can with what they're given. Martin Henderson as the hero is bland, but not as wooden as he could have been, while Monet Mazir as his girl (and the world's most glamorous mechanic) is fairly spunky. Will Yun Lee (from Witchblade and Die Another Day) and Jay Hernandez draw the short straws as Henderson's sidekicks: they have so little to do that there seems no point having them in the movie, and you wonder why their characters weren't written out while the script was in development. Matt Schulze as chief villain Henry James is surprisingly low key, considering his cocky, swaggering turn in The Transporter, but still makes an effective nemesis. One of those actors clearly born to play bad guys, Schulze could become the Christopher Walken of the 21st century if he plays his cards right. In fact, none of the cast truly disgrace themselves, and the only false note is skinny Brit actor Max Beesley, bizarrely miscast as James's right-hand enforcer.

However, the movie's one star turn is provided by Jaime Pressly as China, James's girl. Even though she's only on screen for about 15 minutes throughout and has about five lines of dialogue, when Pressly turns up you can't look at anything else. And I'm not talking about the fact that she's undeniably easy on the eye or clad in barely-there leathers - this girl has star quality. With her face set in a permanent sneer amongst an explosion of piercings and tattoos, China is the Biker Vixen from Hell, and Pressly doesn't just steal this movie - SHE RULES IT... :)