Movie adaptation of a British comic book. It's 2033--Earth had been hit by a giant comet 11 years before. It wiped out most of civilization and (somehow) caused it never to rain again. Water is in very short supply and evil Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell) is hoarding it all and controlling it. He's attacked by the Rippers--a gang of mutant man-animals (don't ask). He also attacks Rebecca (Lori Petty) and destroys most of her friends. She vows revenge. That's (sort of) the plot.

The original comic book was great. Tons of sex, nudity, violence, strong aggressive women and a stubborn refusal to take itself seriously. The movie tries to recreate that--and it succeeds! The nudity is gone and sex and the violence were toned down but the strong female characters remain. It all starts out with a great opening song and cartoon images from the comic book shoved in your face. Then Rebecca orders her boyfriend Richard (Brian Wimmer) to strip at gunpoint! Then it starts to get strange... There is a plot but the story keeps taking detours with STRANGE (but fun) dialogue, a loud aggressive alternative soundtrack, animated sequences and even a show stopping song and dance number! This all somehow fits together and the movie never stops moving. Set designs are incredible--filled to the brim with pop culture. Director Rachel Talalay deserves credit for keeping this all together.

The acting is great--McDowell goes over the top (enjoyably),Naomi Watts is fun as Jet Girl and Petty is just beyond belief as Tank Girl. Loud, aggressive, snapping off one-liners left and right and a STRONG female character who never stops fighting. Just great all the way! United Artists had no idea how to market this picture (it IS difficult) so it bombed but it acquired a cult following. This isn't for everybody (a lot of critics hated it) but I loved it. A 10.

Best exchange: Tank Girl asks the madam of a whorehouse to sing. The madam asks, "What song?" Tank Girl responds, "Let's Do It by Cole Porter, 1929." The madam: "I HATE that song".

That is my opinion of course. I noticed before sitting down to watch Tank Girl that it has got a bad reputation for being a Hollywoodised bastardisation of the cult comic. As someone who has a lot of fondness for the comic and as an admirer of Malcolm McDowell, I found Tank Girl neither a good or terrible movie. More the disappointing but sort of watchable neck of the woods.

I do give it plaudits for the colourful visuals, the upbeat soundtrack and decent performances from most of the cast. Lori Petty does have some cringe-worthy one-liners but I did find her surprisingly credible, and while Ice-T has some irritating moments he has moments where he is also fun. The best performances however come from Naomi Watts and especially Malcolm McDowell who is over-the-top but in an enjoyable way.

However, the script is pretty awful. The one-liners are enough to make you cringe, the humour is stale and it also lacked the sassy black-humoured feel of the comic. The story has a great concept but for me suffered from being too unevenly paced(mostly rushed) and predictable with many moments of dumbness, a couple of limply paced scenes such as the musical scene at the Rippers' base and a few too many moments where it steers off track.

Characters are a mixed bag. Tank Girl and Kesslee are fun enough, but Jet and Sub Girls are not as interesting personality-wise as they were in the comics and the Rippers more often than not are annoying. Another big disappointment is the direction, which is flashy but also too muddled, never knowing whether it is trying to handle a satire, comedy or futuristic action. Consequently the black, sassy humour could have benefited the satire and the comedy, but seeing as they were missing the humour to me seemed flat, and the more action-like parts looked clunky.

Overall, I was willing to judge it on its own terms and to form my own opinion, but while I don't think Tank Girl is as bad as people say and I have seen far worse movies there wasn't really anything especially outstanding about it. 4/10 Bethany Cox

The world has been devastated by a comet and most of the water is gone. Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell) and the Water & Power Corporation control 95% of the remaining water. Rippers are mysterious mutants killing and pillaging without leaving a trace. Rebecca Buck (Lori Petty) live in a small isolated community. W&P attacks and Rebecca is taken prisoner. She befriends scared mechanic Jet Girl (Naomi Watts). They try to use Rebecca as bait for the Rippers. Jet Girl musters up the courage and steals the jet to join her. She steals a tank and becomes Tank Girl. They discover that her young friend Sam was sent to work in the sex club Liquid Silver. After a failed rescue, Tank Girl and Jet Girl stumble upon the Rippers' hideout. They turn out to be mutated kangaroo-human supersoldiers.

Tank Girl may be the lead but I love Jet Girl. Lori Petty is possibly the perfect Tank Girl. She has the great irreverent energetic wildness. This is a campy comic book movie. It doesn't get campier than kangaroo hybrids but this movie won't be restrained by that. It is broadly amateurish and unrelenting cheesy. It's no masterpiece but it's awkwardly fun. Jet Girl does put this over the top for me and it's probably the first film I noticed Naomi Watts. It's likely years later that I realized that it was Naomi Watts after she got big. It also has some good music. There is simply nothing like this movie.