TORQUE (2004) - Movie Review

Director: Joseph Kahn
Starring: Martin Henderson, Ice Cube, Monet Mazur, Jaime Pressly, Adam Scott, Will Yun Lee, Jay Hernandez, Matt Schulze, Max Beesley, Fredro Starr, Justina Machado, Christina Milian.
Genre: Action, Comedy, Crime
Writer: Matt Johnson
Runtime: 84 min
Rated: PG-13 for violence, sexuality, language and drug references
Buy This Movie: Blu-ray (Amazon), DVD (Amazon), Amazon Prime Video, Apple TV

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Synopsis:

When biker Cary Ford (Martin Henderson) discovers some motorcycles filled with crystal meth, he stows them away. But it turns out that villainous gangster Henry James (Matt Schulze) has plans to recover his drugs. James frames Ford for the murder of Junior (Fredro Starr), the brother of Trey (Ice Cube), who heads the Reapers, a notoriously malicious biker gang. Ford goes on the run in an attempt to clear his name, while the FBI and multiple groups of motorcycle-mounted marauders chase after him.

Review:

Ateempting to cash in on the success of 2001's "The Fast and the Furious", the 2004 biker action film "Torque" was ravaged by critics and tanked at the box-office. After twenty years of actively avoiding it, I decided to give it a watch. What I discovered was a typical early 2000s B-movie, but also a fun, tongue-in-cheek ride.

Shot and edited like an extended music video or commercial, the film is light on plot, which is really just an excuse to parade sexy women, cool dudes and slick bikes. You could watch this on mute, and still get everything you need from it. It's flashy and outrageous, with sleek designs and eye-popping visuals that form what can only be described as a hyper-cool Matrix-like alternate reality.

The acting can be summed up as actors saying lines. It's not good, but it's not really painful, either. Then again, you're not really watching this movie for the actors. You're here for the bikes and all the wonderful stunts they get to perform, which is where the movie truly shines. There are some fantastic chases throughout, impressively choreographed and executed, and inventively shot. It's hard not to admire the care that was given to every single frame of this movie, an art largely lost today when a lot of films, especially the made-for-streaming ones, look muted and dull, regardless of their budget.

Where the fun eventually breaks breaks down is when the filmmakers inexplicably decide to use excessive CGI to augment the action. Remember, we're talking about early 2000s CGI, which wasn't great, especially in a movie that only had $40 million to spend. The use of digital animation is so extensive in the climactic chase sequence that it looks like one of those badly dated 1990s CG cartoons. How could anyone watch the end result and think it looks good enough for the big screen ? It doesn't even look good on a small screen.

When it comes to the basics of filmmaking (story, characters, acting etc.), "Torque" is not a good movie. But if you're just looking for some ridiculous action and dumb fun, then look no further. It knows what it is and never pretends otherwise. It's also really short, clocking in at around 80 minutes before credits, so it never really wears out its welcome.

SCORE: 6/10