Britain’s beloved cult comic, originally conceived by Jaime Hewlett and Alan Martin is brought to life in this zany 1995 film adaption. The story follows spunky anti-heroine Tank Girl (Lori Petty) who fights against the corrupt mega corporation Water and Power (W&P) which is run by the conniving Kesslee played by the brilliant Malcolm McDowell. The opening credits of the film directed by Rachel Talalay play homage to the original comic strips with a gnarly 90’s soundtrack put together by 90’s punk icon Courtney Love who was the lead singer of Hole at the time. The film and comic are influenced by punk fanzines, metafiction, and the cut-out collage art style making the story a surrealist and absurdist stream of consciousness that is feisty and fearless.
It is the year 2033 and a huge comet has caused mass devastation to the Earth, where there is no water and it “hasn’t rained in eleven years!” The water and power has become owned by a corrupt mega corporation W&P, and they are not Tank Girl’s only worry there are also Rippers, human eating creatures that lurk in the darkness. In her first appearance, Tank Girl appears over the horizon on a longhorn wearing green and pink goggles; they look like a psychedelic version of a Salvador Dali painting. Tank Girl (also known as Rebecca Bulk) narrates the film with plenty of spunk. Her sidekick Jet Girl played by the beautiful Naomi Watts is also a strong female character who is the exact opposite of Tank Girl. Jet Girl is soft-spoken, shy, and a highly intelligent mechanic who in the end embraces her own individuality making her just as brave as Tank Girl. The Rippers look somewhat like Power Ranger villains until they remove their armor revealing their mutant kangaroo qualities. The Rippers become excellent allies including sweet Booga who becomes Tank Girl’s love interest. Kesslee is conniving and sadistic mastermind who enjoys torturing his victims in pipes and sucking the water out of them when he’s done. After being gruesomely torn apart by rippers, Kesslee is given a cybernetic body with a terrifying holographic head. Trust me he gets what he deserves!
The film keeps the punk mise-en-scene and stylistic violence that made the original comics a cult phenomenon while adding a catchy musical number full of sexual innuendo and animated art montages from the comics. If you have never heard of Tank Girl the movie, it is easy to compare it to Scott Pilgrim vs the World as far as whimsical use of comic book imagery and sarcastic clever wit. However, Tank Girl is a fresh kick-ass female character who is spunky, feisty and unafraid of her sexuality and using violence in the name of justice. Plus her one-liners are fantastic: “It’s been swell, but the swellings gone down,” and “You gotta think about it like the first time you got laid, you just gotta say, daddy are you sure this is right?” the film is full of sexual innuendos and plenty of fun!
Recommendations of Films Based off Comics and Graphic Novels:
Based off of the Japanese body horror manga written by Junji Ito, Uzumaki follows the story of Kirie who begins to notice that her small town of Kurouzu is cursed by the spiral.
Based off of Junji Ito’s earlier horror manga series follows the story of Tomie who is the living embodiment of lust and jealousy, she lures her victims to fall in love with her. Their obsession becomes so great that they murder her…only she will not die. She can never die.
Based off of the original graphic novel by Julie Maroh, this film is raw and unnervingly follows the story of Adele (Clementine in the graphic novel) who falls for blue-haired artist Emma. Their relationship is tested when Adele begins to question her own sexuality. There are a few diversions from the original graphic novel, but both are equally fantastic.
The Soska Sisters, the directors of the cult slasher American Mary are set to direct Painkiller Jane. Originally a comic written by Jimmy Palmiotti and Joe Quesada is similar to Tank Girl as it has a very strong female heroine. The story follows Jane Vasko who is an undercover cop wanting to infiltrate the Fonti Mob, soon an accident causes Jane to gain superhuman regenerative powers. These powers lead her to being a vigilante. The film is not yet released but there is a 2005 made for TV film on Sci-Fi and 2007 series also on Sci-Fi to hold you over.
The story follows two teenage outsiders Enid and Rebecca dealing with life after graduation. Based off of the comic book by Daniel Clowes.
Based off the French graphic novel Le Transperceneige by Jacques Lob, the story follows a post-apocalyptic world ruined by a severe ice age. Survivors inhabit a massive train separated by class with the rich running the front and the poor at the end. Due to the elite class’s oppressive actions towards the lower class, the lower class begins a series of rebellions.
The Lazy Audience 