Fun Kids' stuff.
Turbo Kid
Grade: B
Directors: Francoise Simard, Anouk Whissell, Yoann-Karl Whissell
Screenplay: Simard, Whissells
Cast: Munro Chambers (Bailey’s Billion$), Laurence Leboeuf (Trauma)
Rating: Unrated
Runtime: 93 min.
by John DeSando
Come back with me to experience the funky world of ’80’s sci-fi, a time big color and action heroes frequently young like the Turbo Kid (Munro Chambers) in the film of the same name. As a teen, he is initially just a post-apocalyptic survivor scavenging parts for devices that amuse him and help him survive.
However, life even in the wasteland is dynamic and changing. Turbo meets cute with Apple (Laurence Leboeuf), whose joie de vivre is a bit overdone but almost a necessary antidote to the bleak post-apocalyptic 1997 (Imagine that!). Hey, I just thought of one thing better in 1997 than 2015--no cell phones. Who would have guessed I'd be so happy without that convenience.
The bad guys and girl our two heroes meet are straight out of Mad Max with their battered jackets and faces, nicely contrasting the fresh innocence of Turbo and Apple. Then there's the blood spurting all over the place as bodies are subjected to circular saws and ray guns of a sort. Anyway it's fun with tongue firmly placed in cheek, really Saturday morning cartoon-like.
I need to mention the impressive good guy, Frederic (Aaron Jeffery), arm wrestling champ, tall and scruffy with a fetching Aussie accent. His smile mitigates the mayhem and his ironic lines are evocative of another swashbuckler, Indiana Jones. The bad guy, Zeus (Michael Ironside), needs to reappear in the sequel. I hope there’s one.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
