Summary
In 1997, after the Apocalypse, one comic book fan finds out that being a hero means acting like one to save their elvish platonic girl friend from the likes of an evil water baron.
Nostalgia Made for this Millennial
I know that this is a real first world problem but a lot of nostalgia flicks are nostalgic for a time in which I never lived or, at the very least, remember. I love a good 80s feeling movie, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t remember the 80s first hand really so, to me, the music, movies, and fashion of the 80s are as throwback as the 60s.
Turbo Kid is one of the few movies that plays up nostalgia for an era in which I actually did grow up and experience pop culture. The early 90s.
Coming of Age, Age 12
The Kid is a typical movie protagonist in his story arc. He goes from being a boy who mostly runs away from his problems. This tactic has served him well in this post-apocalyptic wasteland. However, once he makes friends with Apple, a spritely excitable and scary elfen girl, he realizes that not all things can be out run. With the help of a cybernetic ally enhanced arm wrestling cowboy The Kid dons a space age blaster glove and confronts the evil water baron who killed his family.
Ok, so maybe it’s not typical in it’s particulars but the broad strokes are pretty standard. Character starts weak and flawed. Character is exposed to conflict and mentors/allies. Character confronts their flaws. Character ends movie as a more complete person. Pretty standard stuff really.
Where this movie shines is in its surface only treatment of anything resembling an emotional plot point or thematic core. It delves briefly into moments of friendship, family, and personal loss, but only briefly, before heading into another round of nostalgic shots, props, plot points, and of course, stomach-churning laughter-inducing violence. Normally, this would be a strike against a film on the old Michael-Opinion-Meter but not this time.
“Turbo Kid” is a film that knows its appeal is in the blending of Saturday morning cartoons style plot with 'Mad Max’ style setting, and slasher flick violence. Because of this, it doesn’t spend any more time o developing deep character connections than a typical kid’s super hero show. No one watches TMNT and thinks, ‘I just didn’t buy it that Leonardo and Rafael really cared that much about each other.” If that is the kind of connection you are looking for from “Turbo Kid,” prepare to be disappointed.
That isn’t to say that the film doesn’t make you care about the characters at all. It does. In fact the main character I ended up feeling connected to is the one character I thought would be the most annoying.
That’s a pretty impressive feat. Most movies that feature a talkative, annoying, yet lovable sidekick really land more on the annoying side than the lovable one. At first, that is what I thought this film was falling into as well but as the movie progressed I really found myself drawn to Apple, the flighty, pixie-like, elf who accompanies Turbo Kid on his adventures.
Another huge highlight of this film is its gore effects. They are 95% practical and look great. Way better than I was expecting and way gorier too. What this movie gets right about these sorts of gore effects in this kind of movie is that it plays as a gag. The violence never made be feel like it was exploitation. I only found myself laughing out loud at the difference between what I have come to expect from movie violence and the gore in this film.
Verdict
I really liked this movie. I actually watched it twice in the same week and that is pretty unusual for me to do. I suppose if you are a bit older this movie might seem childish and violent but for those who grew up in the late 80s and 90s this movie will make you want to grab a bowl of cereal and some pop tarts as you remember how fun it is to be a kid.
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