TURBO KID (2015):

TURBO KID (2015):

"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.”

I wanted to like Turbo Kid a lot more than I did. It's a deliberate parody/homage to apocalyptic sci-fi of the 1980s like Mad Max. With water being scarce and sucked out of humans by an evil corporation, it's even got heavy shades of Tank Girl. The problem is that none of the characters feel developed, despite a great 1980s atmosphere.

The main character, The Kid, feels bland and unmotivated. They give you an origin story right in the middle of the movie after he meets the big villain Zeus. There they explain that Zeus killed The Kid's mother. They should have led with that, and had it fuel his character, instead of introducing us to him as a shy comic book geek obsessed with Turbo Rider comics.

The only interesting character here is Apple. She wants to be Turbo Kid's friend, and teaches him how to fight and be a friend. They begin to care for each other. She's the heart of this movie. Literally, if they didn't have Apple, I would have no reason to care for this movie, because the main character is such a depressed geek loner.

That's the problem with this movie. It tries so hard to make you identify with Turbo Kid, that it forgets what kind of 1980s homage it's trying to be. Sweet romance scenes are immediately followed by splatterhouse gore. Action moments that should feel big, are only sold short because the same beats keep happening. Without spoiling, I'll say scenes with any heart are robbed of importance because they keep mishandling Apple: 4 times.

It'd maybe be different if Turbo Kid led with its apocalyptic revenge story. As it is, the movie tries to sell you on the idea that he's a comic book nerd who incidentally finds a laser-shooting glove. I get it, but the one who really carries the movie is Apple. She makes him go out, and make friends and adventure, instead of living life as a lone scavenger...and he never really grows out of that, except for when they show his origin story in the middle of the movie.

I love homage movies to the 1980s. The sets are cool, and invoke the time period. But, the action is too mixed, and I didn't really connect with any characters besides Apple, because she is the only one who values friendship, heart, and battle skills. The only thing Turbo Kid has is a laser glove, and a comic book obsession...which might be cool if that's what you like, but it doesn't drive the plot.

As much as I wanted to like the atmosphere, I just couldn't get over how mixed the movie was in message and tone. Is it a horror movie? A coming-of-age flick? An apocalyptic action movie? An adventure? Beyond saying “Here's an alternate 1980s!” the film doesn't really seem to care what it is, or what happens in it. It's free on Tubi, but I have to say skip this one.