Punk Rock Feminism in the 90s or Genetically Engineered Kangaroo/Dog/Men are Good in Bed: A reflection on 1995′s Tank Girl.

Punk Rock Feminism in the 90s or Genetically Engineered Kangaroo/Dog/Men are Good in Bed: A reflection on 1995′s Tank Girl.

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The 1990s was a strange decade.  We saw the death rattle of the 80s with Guns n Roses, the birth and death of Ska in popular culture, and the birth of Mall Punk and Hot Topic with Green Day (just to name a few).  One big theme of the 90s was Girl Power, or “Grrrl Power” or “Riot Grrl,” whatever you want to call it.  This paved the way for Sailor Moon, The Powerpuff Girls, and No Doubt.  Combine those three and you pretty much have 1995′s Tank Girl, complete with a Gwen Stefani look-a-like in the lead role (Lori Petty).

Based on the much cooler comic from the UK of the same name, Tank Girl took a Cliff Notes/Paint-by-numbers approach to the film.  The film is odd, disjointed and full of many WTF moments (I’ll get to those in a second…).  Compared to the comic, Tank Girl is the Americanized bastardization of what seems to be a fairly brilliant comic.  All that aside, after a few beers, Tank Girl is quite enjoyable trash.

Top 5 Tank Girl “What the Fuck?!” Moments:

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1) A glass of Malcolm McDowell makes things go down a little smoother. What’s he doing in this flick? Cashing a quick paycheck, that’s what! McDowell somehow elevates the scenes he’s in, even though he’s on Auto Pilot.

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2) Did the prop department raid the Phantasm prop box? Yeah, they prettied it up a bit, but that’s the Tall Man’s weapon of choice for sure.

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3) How to Overcome Budget Constraints #387: Use animation in potential effects heavy scenes! All the main action set pieces that could involve any special effects are animated.  Poorly.

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4) In the Post-Apocalyptic future, during a water shortage, strippers will dance in sync . . . in water . . . to Bjork. Also, not long after this a random musical/dance number occurs.

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5) Sex with Kangaroo men is much better if you’re wearing MISSLE BOOBS. The sex with the weird stoner Kangaroo guy is weird enough, but why the Missle Bra? Oh yeah, they needed to introduce these for a plot point later in the film, stupid me!

Tank Girl has to be one of the weirdest pieces of Feminist films to come out of the 90s.  All the guys are horny douchebags, there is no redeeming male character, and the only redeemable male character is a Genetically altered Dog that was crossed with Kangaroo and Human DNA! I really believe the director (Rachel Talalay) had some issues with men.

Two things about Tank Girl will forever keep me from hating this film:

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1) Naomi Watts as Jet Girl (the only person to do solid work from here on out).

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3) and Ice T as a Gangsta Kangaroo Man!

So there you go.  Tank Girl is a fun movie given the right circumstances & alcohol levels.