I'll begin by confessing that I'm not much of a comic reader so perhaps my being a stickler for plot progression as opposed to really neato animated bits is a byproduct of that. Maybe if I'd spent some time cruising the local comic shop I might have enjoyed Tank Girl more.

As is the theme with this month's video picks, the world of Tank Girl has endured an apocalyptic event. That is, a big ol' meteor has struck Earth and now water is very scarce. In fact, water is so scarce that it now equals power. Enter Rebecca/Tank Girl (Lori Petty) and her merry band of water thieves who refuse to bow down to The Man, who in this case is Kesslee (Malcolm McDowell), the head of "Water and Power".

Since deviates and rebels must be made to pay, the good folks at WaP take a notion to destroy this den of bohemians. Being an oddly-coifed, but attractive woman, the WaP goons decide to take Rebecca hostage.

Bad move.

Before the movie is through, Rebecca has acquired a tank, a female pilot sidekick, and a slew of Kangaroo-guy mutant friends. Oh, and she's killed a lot of WaP goons. There is the standard, child in trouble subplot, but it's not allowed to get in the way of a couple of dances, a few fights, and some really silly stuff.

As Rebecca/Tank Girl, Lori Petty is, at times, charmingly goofy, but at other points the flightiness seems a bit forced and takes the place of... again... plot development. Perhaps I'm trying to make a movie of a comic story, but then again.... isn't that what the makers of this film were supposed to do?

DROOL FACTOR: The sight of Brian Wimmer stripping is pretty darn special.

GROSS-OUT FACTOR: The thought of carnal relations with a Kangaroo-guy is enough to make a girl queasy.

STRONG CHICK FACTOR: I'm split on this issue. While on one hand Rebecca is a take charge kind of girl, she doesn't seem too bright. Sure she takes on the baddies, but she seems to lose focus far too frequently and you begin to wonder when she'll wander back to the plot.

-- Linda M. Najera

Tank Girl is currently available on video.

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