TURBO KID (review)

Review by Joshua Gravel

So there I was getting set for an evening of movies.

I was coming downstairs with a stack of VHS tapes to watch. I had BMX Bandits, 2019 After The Fall Of New York, Class Of Nuke ’Em High, and a bunch of other Italo-Post-Apocalypse, B-action, and Troma gore fests when I must have fallen and hit my head pretty hard…

At least I think that’s what happened as that is the only way to describe the crazed electro future past hallucination that is Turbo Kid.

Turbo Kid takes place in the apocalyptic wasteland that is 1997 where wars and pollution have wiped out most of mankind and left the remaining few to scavenge the Earth in search of usable supplies and clean water.

The Kid is one such scavenger, finding what he can trade for water while also building his collection of Turbo Rider comic books and toys.

One day the Kid meets a strange and enthusiastic girl named Apple who declares him to be her new friend and immediately attaches a tracking device to him. While scavenging one day Apple is kidnapped by the evil overlord Zeus to take part in his blood sports. While fleeing the Kid stumbles across the resting place of the real Turbo Rider and now armed with his suit and weaponry Turbo Kid sets out to save Apple and along with the Cowboy, also known as Frederic the Arm Wrestler, they will set out to take down Zeus and his main henchman Skeletron.

This is hands down the most fun I’ve had watching a film all summer and by far the best of the recent wave of eighties throwbacks.

The crew of Turbo Kid really put their research time in and mined numerous genres for a wealth of inspiration and visual cues, this film is so ripe with references to other films that barely a scene goes by without one.

The three director team of François Simard, Anouk Whissell, and Yoann-Karl Whissell present a fully formed homage that also operates as it’s own entity in a way that most homage’s fail to do, the story and characters may seem simple on the surface but there is depth and emotion where there needs to be and over the gore and laughs everywhere else.

The visuals are stunning as they found some great locations to approximate a wasteland while the synth score comes off as genuine and natural to the film unlike in some other recent films that just shoved a synth score in for retro points.

And it’s also worth noting that Jean-Philippe Bernier who shot the film also did the score along with Jean-Nicolas Leupi as Le Matos. Along with the look and feel of the film the acting was perfect for what Turbo Kid was meant to represent, a great blend of awkward and well timed over acting sets the perfect tone for the story.

Not bad for a film that started as T Is For Turbo, an ABC’s Of Death contest entry.

If you can’t tell I am recommending that you check this film out as soon as possible as Turbo Kid is destined to be one of my favorite films of the year!