Tank Girl (1995) – Film Review

Director: Rachel Talalay
Cast: Lori Petty, Malcolm McDowell, Ice-T
Certificate: 15

By Roger Crow

The summer of 1995 saw the arrival of a couple of beloved British comic book conversions. Judge Dredd was a big budget epic which boasted some fabulous production design, a fine cast and a mis-cast Sly Stallone as the eponymous lawman. Sadly it failed to match the satirical brilliance of its source material and killed any sequels.

The lower budget Tank Girl was a mish-mash of Mad Max and every generic post-apocalyptic fantasy adventure aimed at a 15-plus market. Lori Petty looked great as the wild and wacky heroine whose zany schtick gets on the nerves after about two minutes. Years before her star-making turn in Mulholland Drive, Naomi Watts is a more interesting sidekick as Jet Girl, whose vehicle of choice is of course an aircraft.

“Pinballs around”

Best of all is a scenery-chewing Malcolm McDowell, who looks like he stepped straight from the set of Star Trek Generations. Leeds’ favourite big screen bad guy had of course been doing the evil villain thing for 25 years by the time he accepted a nice pay cheque for this so-so adventure.

As the murderous head of the evil Water and Power, he’s quite happy to drain his incompetent lackeys of their blood and water, and drink the H20.

Helmed by Rachel Talalay, who went on to become one of Doctor Who’s most reliable directors, she has trouble finding the right tone. Is Tank Girl funny, sexy, insane, lovable or just certifiable? Maybe all of the above, but the tone just pinballs around without really gelling.

A Busby Berkley-inspired musical number would have probably had Cole Porter turning in his grave, but the soundtrack is not without merit. At least it featured Bjork’s magnificent ‘Army of Me’, and ‘Big Time Sensuality’. As a side note, the production designer was Catherine Hardwicke, who went on to helm the first of the Twilight blockbusters.

“Trying too hard”

By the time the rippers turn up, kangaroo-human mutants crafted by the much-missed effects genius Stan Winston, things start to settle down, probably because the first hour is trying too hard to be energetic, it’s exhausting more than entertaining.

As 1995 was the point when pioneering CGI was in its infancy, the mix of live action and a holographic McDowell is pretty awful.

Almost 30 years on and Tank Girl is ripe for a reboot. The fact Margot Robbie made Barbie work, and was planning a version pre-Covid bodes well as there is a great Tank Girl movie somewhere, but this isn’t it.

However, the commentary by Talalay and Petty is well worth a listen as director and star break down the wild and woolly shenanigans.