By Illaria Dana

The film opens with a shot of water. It is not the water that we know. It moves like smoke, rolling on

itself. It is a moment of beauty. We learn that the setting “Turbo Kid” is a dystopia where many people

have died due to an unexplained explosion. The water is contaminated. Only the rugged, the lucky and

grotesque, the people with strong survival instincts, are alive.

The film centers around an adolescent boy who lives in a bunker. He scavenges, riding through

abandoned playgrounds, concrete jungles, mounds of dirt and weeds looking for tools and amenities. He

collects pink flamingos of the lawn decoration variety. He takes an old piece of gum, making a comical

face as he bites down, and uses it to hold up a poster of his idol – the protagonist of a comic book called

Turbo Man. He dresses like turbo man in a red helmet with a yellow star.

The movie is humorous and exaggerated. Its fight scenes are filled with obviously fake blood

spurting for a ridiculously long time and spits high into the air. We laugh when someone dies. Villains

exist in a gang that dresses like extras from “Mad Max” with bone headpieces and hockey pads. Picture a

gang who kidnaps and murders on stunt bikes. Turbo Kid meets a girl who shakes with enthusiasm

(causing more laughter) who we find out is a robot, a friendship model. He comes to love her, and their

only kiss is beneath a spray of enemies’ blood.

Turbo-kid

The plot involves revenge. It is revealed that the main villain who murders people to filter their

blood into drinking water is also a robot of the corporate variety. The villain says in the final dramatic

scene, “You made me. People made me. But my maker isn’t here. I am.”

With the beauty of the cinematography, the sincere and sweet romance (all questions about

portraying the lead female character as a friendship model robot placed aside), the awkwardness, gore,

and nods to the post-apocalyptic action movies before it, “Turbo Kid” offers an interesting emotional and

visual experience. One is repulsed while laughing. One is also forced to think about deeper themes.

Is the idea of a polluted world one we are comfortable with? Indeed, we live in a world where not

everyone has clean drinking water. When the villain is revealed to be a capitalist robot, what does this say

about our values? Violence is prevalent and exaggerated. Why do we as viewers laugh at this violence?

We are defined by our struggles. We have the help and love of friends. But we are alone in many ways,

including in how we decide what we want to do in this world. Are we comfortable with the world we

have been given, or is there room for us to help others and change the way the world works?