Long ago, at the dawn of motorcycle pictures, a critic who had been working for only four months encountered a film named "Hells Angels on Wheels" (1967). It was about a war between motorcycle gangs, and its cast included an actor named Jack Nicholson, whom the critic did not even name, although he found room to mention Adam Roarke, John Garwood and Sabrina Scharf. The critic, observing that "sometimes good stuff creeps into exploitation pictures just because nobody cares enough to keep it out," made the following points:
-- "The characters are authentically surly, irresponsible, mean, coarse and human."
-- Sabrina Scharf "makes you wonder how she keeps her makeup on while raising hell with the angels."
-- The "accomplished camera work" includes "one shot where the camera moves in and out of focus through a field of green grass and then steals slowly across one of the big, brutal cycles. The contrast has an impact equal to David Lean's similar shots in 'Doctor Zhivago' (remember the frosty window fading into the field of flowers?)."
-- "The film is better than it might have been, and better than it had to be. Take it on its own terms and you might find it interesting."
Reader, that young critic was me. The film's director was Richard Rush, who went on to make "The Stunt Man." The young cinematographer was "Leslie Kovacs," who, under his true Hungarian name of Laszlo, went on to shoot "Five Easy Pieces" with Jack Nicholson, and 50 other films, including some of the best-photographed of his time.
Today I went to see "Torque," also a motorcycle picture. Whether it contains a future Nicholson is hard to say, because the dialogue is all plot-driven and as sparse as possible. But the characters are surly, irresponsible, mean and coarse, if not human; the actresses keep their makeup on; and the look of the picture is certainly accomplished. I use the word "look" because the cinematographer has been joined by squadrons of special-effects and animation artists, platoons of stunt men and covens of post-production wizards.
I enjoyed the two pictures about the same. I'd rate them both 2 1/2 stars, meaning this as faint praise, but praise nevertheless. As genre exercises they are skillful, quick and entertaining. There is a difference, though. "Hells Angels on Wheels" was frankly intended as an exploitation picture by everyone involved, who all hoped to move up to the A-list and make better films (all except for the producer, Joe Solomon, whom we will get to in a moment). "Torque," I fear, considers itself to be a real movie -- top of the world, man! Although it's been kept on the shelf for nearly a year by Warner Bros., reportedly to avoid competing with "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "Biker Boyz," that is a marketing judgment, not an aesthetic opinion. I suspect no one at Warners has an aesthetic opinion about "Torque."
I spent some time with Joe Solomon once, to profile him for Esquire. I liked him immensely. He wasn't too big to involve himself personally in the smallest details of a production, as when he demonstrated how ice cubes could be used as a perkiness enhancer. He was never happier than when producing motorcycle pictures, and his credits included "Angels From Hell," "Run, Angel, Run," "Wild Wheels" and "Nam's Angels."
What has happened between 1967 and 2004 is that Hollywood genres have undergone a fundamental flip-flop. Low-budget pictures are now serious and ambitious and play at Sundance. Big-budget exploitation work, on which every possible technical refinement is lavished, are now flashy and dispensable and open in 3,000 multiplexes. Little did Joe Solomon suspect that he was making the major studio pictures of the future.
Now as for "Torque." The director is Joseph Kahn, who started by directing music videos and moved to this project, I learn, after long months of frustration trying to get "Crow 4" off the ground. The first three minutes convince us we are looking at a commercial before the feature begins. Then we realize the whole movie will look like this. It's flashy, skillful work -- as much CGI as real, but that's the name of the game.
The plot is about a biker (Martin Henderson) who has returned to Los Angeles from exile in Thailand. The leader of a rival gang (Ice Cube) thinks he killed his brother, and wants revenge. The two gangs clash in a series of elaborate stunt and effects sequences, including a duel between two sexy women. A Hummer is tossed into the air and spun like a top before crushing a sports car. One motorcycle chase takes place on top of a train, and then inside the train; we would care more if it were not on approximately the same level of reality as a Road Runner chase. One of the bikes is "built around a Rolls-Royce jet engine." It goes so fast it makes parking meters explode. The final fight sequence is so extravagantly choreographed that the props work together like a speeded-up version of a Buster Keaton sequence.
The film is better than it might have been, and better than it had to be. Take it on its own terms and you might find it interesting. Or did I say that already? One hopes that the filmmakers understand that "Torque" must be seen as the first step on their artistic journey, not its destination.
Copyright Ebert Co. 2004
