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Torque
Vroom!
From
start to finish, that's the sound you will hear on this ride
called Torque. Ford (Martin Henderson) has just come
back from Thailand after six months. Really, he wants nothing
more than his ex-girlfriend Shane (Monet Mazur), but he has
to make things right by clearing his name with the law. For
the purpose of "drama," that can't be easy.
Henry
(Matt Schulze) is the bad guy who wants his drugs back, and
Trey (Ice Cube) is the leader of the Reapers, a black L.A.
motorcycle gang, who welcomes Ford back into town at first,
but winds up chasing him down after a series of manipulations
takes the life of his younger brother.
All in
all, Torque is comparable to The Fast And The Furious,
with the hot babes, hunky men, unrealistic action, and of
course, tight bikes instead of cars. This flick could have
been toned down and been a little more realistic, but director
Joseph Kahn didn't play it that way. Everyone is so engulfed
in over acting cool and macho that after a while it turns
into more of an action comedy than action adventure movie.
Ice Cube is a gangster with a conscience (of course). He's
played other kinds of characters, but it gets harder and harder
to remember that.
Scenes
with the sidekicks and gang members play up more of the comic
relief, as both Jay Hernandez, and Will Yun Lee play out quite
successfully as Ford's best friends. Who would have thought
that it would be Will that ends up with the hot babes? Also
a stock character, Monet Mazur plays cold-hearted (to Ford)
tough chick and will not budge. But she seems to break too
early in the film, her cold persona quickly turning to a dependent
kitty in love again all too easily. Then again, she is
playing opposite Henderson, whose character drips of testosterone
so much, you couldn't possibly get any more sure of yourself,
again to the edge of comedy.
Let us
not forget our beloved FBI agents who totally do not fit,
wearing either a sports jacket, jeans, T-Shirt and converse
shoes, or a Niobi leather outfit rip-off. Being an FBI agent
that drives a Hummer has got to be good, and is well used
for poking fun. Torque does a lot of poking and making
small references to other teen culture films.
So now
we come down to the action of this movie. Unbelievable in
every aspect! If you can stand wire effects and CG work, you
are going to dig this. If there really is a bike that can
go 1-200mph in under 10 seconds, and you can accomplish this
in a crowded street, you will definitely dig this movie.
Here,
stunts are a big deal unlike F&F where you can easily
fake cars, but to do a person on a bike is a little trickier.
Overall the notion that super speed can be accomplished so
easily works on film better than you might think. Seldom is
the action so overbearing that you don't know what is going
on, and seldom is the story so complicated that you scratch
your head in confusion.
Okay,
never is the story that complicated.
The movie
is pretty straightforward, predictable but with an emphasis
on fun. A cameo appearances of Jesse James may add absolutely
nothing to the story, but says a lot to whom this movie is
geared towards, which isn't to the masses. It's to the young
guys and girls that love crotch rockets, fast cars, the fast
life, a good time, and of course, the tight leather.
Rating:
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