Tank Girl
With Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, Naomi Watts, Ice-T, Don Harvey, Reg E. Cathey, Scott Coffey, Jeff Kober, Iggy Pop, and Ann Cusack.
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The year is 2033, and a cosmic accident has made water the scarcest commodity around and reduced civilization to rubble. Kesslee, the evil head of the Water and Power Company, promptly shows how evil he is by smashing all his glass wall maps in a momentary rage, then ordering one of his stooges to walk barefoot over the shards. After insulting his minion for following his orders, he pierces the guy’s back with a gizmo that drains the water from his body into a glass, then gulps the liquid with relish. Here we go again, I thought.
I have no idea what Tank Girl cost, but it looks and feels appealingly low-tech. When filmmakers don’t have a fortune to spend on fancy effects, there’s more opportunity for them to exert their ingenuity: for my money the artisanal details found in these sets and costumes are worth a lot more than the computer-generated effects of Jurassic Park and True Lies–movies that are too busy dumping high-priced goodies into our laps to worry about giving them personal touches. Tank Girl is silly enough to turn postapocalyptic punk into a fashion statement, but smart enough to do it with verve and style; it’s a workmanlike goof, but in personality and attitude it feels more up-to-date than any film loaded with expensive effects turned out by the big boys.
What they find is a band of half-men/half-kangaroo mutants known as the Rippers (among them Ice-T and Jeff Kober), the film’s loveliest conceit and creations. Suggesting a cluster of furry 60s dopers, they speak in stoned raps and beat poetry; and without ever coming across as wimps, patriarchal or otherwise, they’re like Cowardly Lions (another possible reference to The Wizard of Oz is a scene in which one of the villains melts). If there’s ever a sequel, I hope the Rippers turn up in it more quickly; once they’re on duty to these sassy women, Tank Girl can do no wrong.
