Jamie Hankins (Charlie Sheen) is murdered by Packard Walsh (Nick Cassavetes) and the rest of his gang for getting too intimate with a girl he desires, Keri Johnson (Sherilyn Fenn) A mystical figure shows up without warning one day, a man who goes by the name of Jake Kesey. He has an invincible Dodge Turbo Interceptor, and hits it off with Kerri. People don't realize Jake is actually Jamie Hankins who has come back to avenge his death by killing Packard and his gang.
I am half and half on this movie. I did enjoy this movie very much in a B-movie type way, but I also feel they failed to execute on the potentially riveting storyline. It doesn't do nearly enough with the set-up and resorts to playing it safe far too often. Jamie was a man who was murdered, and it sure didn't seem like he was that angry about it. We get scattered flashbacks of Jamie's death that don't really amount to much, nor do they provide much emotion. Jamie kills Packard's gang in the most routine ways imaginable, all by car chaos. As a matter of fact, that's all it was really interested in. It felt like it was bragging by saying "Hey! Look at all these cool cars we are throwing your way, be in awe by it, and shut up" You got murdered bro, go nuts! On that note, the cars are indeed cool. We get a dodge turbo, a firebird, corvette, among others. The car chases are certainly exciting, but it gets redundant after a while when the storyline really begins to lack proper substance. The visuals are pretty dated, but still pretty neat, especially those flying lights. The abundance of plot holes can't be ignored. Why was there no conjecturing that Jake was Jamie? How did it take the sheriff so long to figure out what was going on? Charlie Sheen doesn't exactly give his best performance in this one. He's one of my favorite actors, but I'd be lying if I said he wasn't somewhat wooden at times. He was far too cool for a precarious situation that his character was in. I would have loved to see him be more conflicted and emotional, but we can't always get what we want, now can we? it's still Charlie Sheen, and I love him. Sherilyn Fenn is awful as the love interest. She couldn't emote very well, but she was pretty easy on the eyes. Her love story with Sheen is supposed to be very potent, but it fell very flat. Nick Cassavetes gives the best performance in the film as a ruthless gang leader. His menacing performance was quite riveting. Randy Quaid is amusing as the tough sheriff. The rest of the cast range from good to adequate.
MAJOR SPOILERS! Here are my thoughts on the anti-climatic ending. Jamie manages to kill Packard, and they gave the viewers a happy ending, but it's rather ambiguous as well. Kerri & Billy find out that Jake is Jamie, and Kerri & Billy ride off into the sunset together. Is Kerri gonna be dead as well, is Jamie gonna stay on earth? it left so many questions unanswered, and it wasn't very logical.
Final Thoughts: I almost forgot the amazing soundtrack. It has some classic 80's songs, if you love the 80's like I do. This movie is very enjoyable for what it is. It's a corny B-movie, but it could have been so much more. It had potential to be a suspenseful revenge film, but wound up being a cheesy 80's film. I can't complain too much. Cheesy 80's is just fine with me. Well worth a look, just make sure you temper your expectations
5.7/10
I am half and half on this movie. I did enjoy this movie very much in a B-movie type way, but I also feel they failed to execute on the potentially riveting storyline. It doesn't do nearly enough with the set-up and resorts to playing it safe far too often. Jamie was a man who was murdered, and it sure didn't seem like he was that angry about it. We get scattered flashbacks of Jamie's death that don't really amount to much, nor do they provide much emotion. Jamie kills Packard's gang in the most routine ways imaginable, all by car chaos. As a matter of fact, that's all it was really interested in. It felt like it was bragging by saying "Hey! Look at all these cool cars we are throwing your way, be in awe by it, and shut up" You got murdered bro, go nuts! On that note, the cars are indeed cool. We get a dodge turbo, a firebird, corvette, among others. The car chases are certainly exciting, but it gets redundant after a while when the storyline really begins to lack proper substance. The visuals are pretty dated, but still pretty neat, especially those flying lights. The abundance of plot holes can't be ignored. Why was there no conjecturing that Jake was Jamie? How did it take the sheriff so long to figure out what was going on? Charlie Sheen doesn't exactly give his best performance in this one. He's one of my favorite actors, but I'd be lying if I said he wasn't somewhat wooden at times. He was far too cool for a precarious situation that his character was in. I would have loved to see him be more conflicted and emotional, but we can't always get what we want, now can we? it's still Charlie Sheen, and I love him. Sherilyn Fenn is awful as the love interest. She couldn't emote very well, but she was pretty easy on the eyes. Her love story with Sheen is supposed to be very potent, but it fell very flat. Nick Cassavetes gives the best performance in the film as a ruthless gang leader. His menacing performance was quite riveting. Randy Quaid is amusing as the tough sheriff. The rest of the cast range from good to adequate.
MAJOR SPOILERS! Here are my thoughts on the anti-climatic ending. Jamie manages to kill Packard, and they gave the viewers a happy ending, but it's rather ambiguous as well. Kerri & Billy find out that Jake is Jamie, and Kerri & Billy ride off into the sunset together. Is Kerri gonna be dead as well, is Jamie gonna stay on earth? it left so many questions unanswered, and it wasn't very logical.
Final Thoughts: I almost forgot the amazing soundtrack. It has some classic 80's songs, if you love the 80's like I do. This movie is very enjoyable for what it is. It's a corny B-movie, but it could have been so much more. It had potential to be a suspenseful revenge film, but wound up being a cheesy 80's film. I can't complain too much. Cheesy 80's is just fine with me. Well worth a look, just make sure you temper your expectations
5.7/10