Review of Turbo Kid (2015) by Joshua S — 29 Mar 2016

An energized ball of retro glee, Turbo Kid is an earnest and satisfying adventure yarn with a lot of cheese. Set in the post-apocalyptic year of 1997, a comic-loving boy scavenger stumbles across a mysterious girl, a suit of armor with an attached energy weapon, a band of murderous raiders, and a new destiny.

Turbo Kid is obviously influenced by Mad Max, but it also resembles an early Peter Jackson movie with Troma levels of comical gore and humor along with a dash of Terminator. In fact, B-movies of the 80's and early 90's are the primary flavor here, but it manages to have a cute narrative that almost feels Spielbergian.

This movie is often compared with Kung Fury, but it manages to be the superior film by being more than just a collection of 80's references and over-stylized CGI. Munro Chambers inspires as the titular hero and Michael Ironside has quite a bit of fun doing his best Lord Humungus crossed with Dennis Hopper's villain from Waterworld.

Yet Laurence Leboeuf makes Turbo Kid work as well as it does with her weird, adorably naïve, but tough take on the manic pixie dream girl trope and manages to overcome its limitations by being a truly fun and interesting character.

Her deadpan seriousness sells many of the absurd moments of the movie and highlights its true strength - heart. There's not an ounce of cynicism to be had anywhere and it ends up being a better genre film than one would imagine based on its title or low budget.

A sure cult favorite and a must see. You have the power!