Review of Tank Girl (1995) by Michael A — 09 Jun 2012

I think this is the perfect example of an idea that worked better as an animated movie. Problem for this live action film is there are numerous animated sequences within the film which prove without a doubt that animated was definitely the way to go.

Credit where its due Lori Petty did a good job as the unhinged off the wall 'Tank Girl' with her ticks and facial madness. The film suffers from lack of originality and poor visuals throughout but Petty does manage to hold it together with her seductive emo like appearance and cute one liners.

This film suffers much like 'Johnny Mnemonic' (both 1995) in the fact they both show the usual unimaginative distopian future run by evil companies (or people) with the same types of ideas. 'Tank Girl' is much more obviously comicbook orientated with in your face flashy bizarre styles, fashions and attitude but the overused apocalyptic future thing lets them both down and always comes across as cheap n tacky looking if not done right.

Plot is basic and McDowell simply isn't much of a villain. There is never much of a threat going on, nothing to engage you and nothing to treat your eyes. The 'Rippers' (mutant kangaroos) also look pretty terrible and more like something from a bad 'Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles' sequel but I did quite like the hologram idea for McDowells's villain towards the end, nice effect surprisingly.

As said before the animated sequences are far superior to the rest of the film, maybe a reboot is in order.