Film Reviews

Torque

• Rating:
• Director:
• Starring: Adam Scott
• Details: US / 83 mins / (12PG).

Filled with more testosterone than you'd find in an international rugby squad, 'Torque' is an outrageously over the top action flick, reminiscent of 'The Fast and the Furious', and last year's appalling 'Biker Boyz'. With a plot that appears to have been drafted by a six-year-old, the action follows Ford (Martin Henderson), a bad ass biker who's just returned to his hometown of Barstow, California. Aside from trying to win back his girl - biker chick extraordinaire, Shane (Monet Mazur) - our boy has also managed to get on the wrong side of local hoodlum and gang leader Henry James (Matt Schulze), thanks to his reluctance to hand over some of the latter's drugs. One convoluted plot twist later and Ford's being fingered as the killer of the little brother of another gang leader, Trey (Ice Cube in all his second hand Mack Daddy glory). And yes, that means that bad things are going to happen.
A film which manages to makes its close living relatives appear sleek and refined in comparison; 'Torque' is action movie-making by numbers, a shambolic collection of dated stunts and idiotic characters, bound together by the flimsiest of narratives. Even the actors look vaguely embarrassed by some of the lines they're asked to utter here, while Ice Cube riffs off his most predictable screen persona for the umpteenth time. The good news? It only lasts 83 minutes, so if you're unfortunate enough to find yourself at the mercy of 'Torque', the pain will be over soon. Though not soon enough for some.

Review by Garreth Murphy