Tank Girl (1995)

Tank Girl (1995) It’s great to see Ice-T (as a creature half human and half kangaroo!), Malcolm McDowell and above all Naomi Watts (with glasses and black hair!). And it’s a mega-pleasure to discover Lori Petty! But I hear this is her best role. So, apparently, there’s no point in discovering her entire filmography.

The sad thing is, it’s another film where good actors have been swallowed up by a lousy film. Yes, indeed, just because it’s considered a Cult Film doesn’t mean it’s necessarily good. There are a couple of good moments, but there are also some of the lamest scenes I’ve ever seen in cinema. If this film is punk, then it’s one of the worst creations of that movement.

Note that Rat Face is played by Iggy Pop!

Here’s the most negative review I’ve ever come across: “Really bad! Probably the worst film I’ve ever seen.”

Tank Girl is a film I’ve wanted to see for a long time, and then I don’t know, something held me back, like I was pretty sure it wasn’t going to be terrible. And, alas, I was not wrong.

There are only two or three good aspects to this film, which prevent it from being really ultra-bad. On the one hand, there’s a sense of humour. While on the whole it remains conventional and sometimes clumsy, there are a few amusing sequences. Then there’s the casting. The actors are all very good, and above all, the Petty-Watts duo really sparkles. The two actresses complement each other very well, and their colourful roles, especially Petty’s, give the whole thing a bit of a boost, even if it doesn’t help the disjointed nature of the story.

I’ll also remember the soundtrack, even if its omnipresence and the choice of often very rock songs don’t help the whole thing’s ‘messy’ character. Note the presence of Björk’s ‘Army of Me’, also featured in Snyders’ “Sucker Punch”, and you can certainly find quite a few points in common between the two films, apart from the humour, such as the importance of the female characters, the importance of the soundtrack, and the script construction. The problem is that while this isn’t a problem in Sucker Punch, it’s a major problem here. The plot is a complete mess. It’s all over the place and every five minutes you feel like you’re in another film. The basic subject, water, is quickly sidelined, and we’re treated to a funfair attraction that’s as appealing on paper as it is poorly handled in reality. Tank Girl is a mess from start to finish, with a story that fits on a postage stamp. It’s very regrettable, but it’s hard to keep going all the way through despite the pace.

As for the form, it’s not great either. The film looks really shoddy (although the budget was decent), with shoddy sets, unexciting photography and a futuristic atmosphere that often smacks of pasteboard and cheap props. It’s boring, and you’d have to be a very nice viewer to support this aesthetic work, which is weak to say the least. Even the integrated comic strips are nice, but they don’t fit in very well with the rest. If anything, these plates that blend into the film are perhaps the best thing that ‘Tank Girl’ has to offer those who like the drawings, but not the film.

To tell the truth, Tank Girl is a kind of crazy whirlwind, in which some may feel at ease, but which, underneath the hype, hides a lot of emptiness and neglected material. Fortunately the cast, and especially the two lead actresses, are there to motivate us, but it’s really not enough.

The film’s biggest fans must think it’s excellent, incredibly funny, the admirable offspring of the comic strip’s zany, no-holds-barred universe. They must think that Tank Girl’s unfailing humour, no-holds-barred script and superb sets and costumes make it a marvel, something as explosive and enjoyable as a shell fired from their favourite punkette’s big gun! Incidentally, Lori Petty must love this kind of role, I think, and must even be quite like that in everyday life. In any case, there’s a good chance she won’t be very different in real life!

Unfortunately, I’m not one of the enthusiasts. I think it’s probably more an adaptation of a comic strip of poor quality that doesn’t even amuse, it’s so lowbrow.

It’s a relatively ridiculous film with some botched action scenes, and I can understand those who find the lead actress annoying for trying too hard.

I also found this review: “I have to admit that I watched the film for the sole reason that Courtney Love did the soundtrack (it features a sample of “Drown Soda” by her band Hole). As for the film, I didn’t like it at all. However, the trailer didn’t necessarily inspire confidence in everyone, at least not as much as the casting, which persuaded people to give it a go anyway… which was a mistake.”

It’s not always pleasant to give such a low score, but what can you do with a film that’s so hard to watch and so painful to watch that you want to fast-forward through many scenes? Perhaps if it had been animated throughout, along the lines of the inserts that serve as transitions between scenes, the delirium would have worked for me, but it didn’t work at all here. The film is absolutely ugly, but it’s fair to say that it fulfills the desire to be naff and cartoonish. The story is on the same level. The problem is that, in the end, it’s not funny at all, and I found myself completely unmoved by this succession of nonsense.

Someone wrote: “The only good thing about it is that it rocks! There were times when I was completely focused on the music, so uninterested in what was happening on screen that I fully appreciated bands like Portishead.