Biker Cary Ford
(Henderson) is framed by an old rival and biker gang leader for
the murder of another gang member who happens to be the brother of
Trey (Cube), leader a feared biker gang. Ford is now on the run
trying to clear his name from the murder with Trey and his gang
looking for his blood. Thanks to
IMDB.
CRITIQUE
What does the word
"torque" actually mean? According to the dictionary, it's "the
measure of a force's tendency to produce torsion and rotation
about an axis." With that cleared up, let's begin the review.
First off, I didn't
think Torque would be as bad as it is. I've heard it's bad,
but I wasn't prepared for the lame plotline, the dull characters,
and the stupid dialogue. Part of me wanted to see the film's
action highlighted in the theatrical trailer, plus the film
appeared to look somewhat better than Biker Boyz,
the other Fast and The Furious only-it's-about-motorcycles
spin-off of sorts. Both Boyz and Torque opened in
theaters on January to the same paltry box office performance
($21M total), yet were released one year apart. Well, I didn't see
the former, though I hear it's a bad film, but it's safe to say Torque
is a good example of what's wrong with most Hollywood films today;
storytelling is dead.
Torque tells
a C-movie story about gangs and wrongful doings. Its cast of
characters have the vocabulary of, well, they don't have any. They
speak in very generic terms, and usually about every five minutes or so there'll be a silly line like, "I
live my life a quarter-mile at a time." (The funny thing about
this line is that it's been quoted to death in other reviews. I
just thought I should quote it once more.) The weak dialogue makes
the characters, well, weak. The script doesn't have to offer much
originality either, taking cues from other films whenever it needs
to. Characters are one-dimensional, and the rekindling romance
between Ford and former girlfriend Shane (a good-looking Monet
Mazur) doesn't go anywhere interesting.
Moreover, Torque
works more like a music video, but this comes to no surprise since
director Joseph Kahn's background is in music videos. Yes, the
film looks pretty cool, but there's no substance to it. Special
effects, crazy stunts, and mad camera angles are not enough to
present a film. It's very apparent the filmmakers didn't want viewers to
take this film seriously in the first place, and no one can, of
course. But that's a stupid excuse to make a film if you ask me,
especially if the film is so bad it's not even funny.
The acting is also
not very theatrical, but granted this is not a showcase of talent.
Still, I've seen Ice Cube act much much better, specifically in
1997's Three Kings. Martin Henderson (The Ring)
doesn't have great presence, but does okay. Mazur (Just Married)
does a good job here with what she's given to work with, but the
rest of the supporting cast doesn't contribute much at all. I had
a laugh at the opening credits when the name John Doe flew by, the
actor portraying Sheriff Barnes.
THE VIDEO
Warner Bros. presents
Torque in 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen. The colors look all
glossy here with great emphasis on yellow and red. They're
well-saturated and bright. Definition looks pretty good, and the
print image doesn't show any flaws. There is some edge
enhancement in a few scenes, but I did not see any compression
artifacts. Black levels are good. A very good presentation
overall.
THE AUDIO
Warner Bros. presents
Torque in English 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround Sound. All
dialogue, no matter how insipid most lines sound, is clear and
easy to understand. Front speakers deliver great definition and
range. The most impressive aspect of this presentation, however,
is the reinforcement of the sound effects. Rear speakers are
hard at work creating a surround sound experience that suits the
film, yet the auditory experience doesn't make it easier to get
through the film without getting distracted by such thoughts as "did I leave the oven on?" or "shouldn't the dishes be
cleaned?" Well, overall this is a pretty good audio
presentation.
THE EXTRAS
Among the "hot
features" listed on the back cover are two "cool" commentaries,
but I beg to differ. The commentary by the cast, namely
Martin Henderson, Will Yun Lee, Monet Mazur Jay Hernandez, Matt
Schulze, Adam Scott, Fredro Starr, Justina Machado and Dane
Cook, is not without a fun moment or two, but nothing important
is learned from it.
The second
commentary by director Joseph Kahn and the creative team,
including screenwriter Matt Johnson, director of photography
Peter Levy, editor David Blackburn, production designer Peter
Hampton, visual effects supervisor Eric Durst, supervising sound
editor Tim Gedemer and 2nd unit director Gary Davis, is more
technical and somewhat more informative than the first track,
but ultimately is not interesting. Skip 'em both. I just didn't
care for their comments is all. However, at least Kahn
acknowledges the film for what it is and doesn't try to convince
otherwise.
There is also a
Storyboard/Scene Comparison featurette that shows two
sequences from animatic rendering through final edit. It's
somewhat interesting. Rounding out the extras is a music
video for Lean Low by Youngbloodz.
The
84-minute feature is organized into twenty chapters.
The discs come in an Amaray keepcase with no paper insert.
FINAL THOUGHTS
I really just have one
thought left: Don't bother with Torque if you can watch The
Fast & The Furious again. As for the DVD edition, video/audio
quality is very good but the extras are pretty forgettable.
