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Reviews
Torque (2004)
The Fastest and Most Furious (minor spoilers)
If at first you succeed, try again. That seems to be Neal Moritz's motto, anyway, when it comes to the movies he chooses to produce. The formula that made The Fast and the Furious such a surprising hit in the summer of 2001 has been tried several times since then, with varying degrees of success.
Torque, it appears, will be more successful than most attempts to capitalize on the formula. Not only does Torque not flinch from the inevitable comparisons to The Fast and the Furious, it invites them. From the opening sequence, in which our hero Martin Henderson (The Ring, Windtalkers) throws a beatin' on two drag racers-one a big bald dude and the other a lean tattooed hombre driving a yellow car-it is plain that this movie is out to prove that no matter how tough, fast, and strong street racers are, bikers are tougher, faster, and stronger.
The plot, such as it is, involves Henderson's character Ford returning to Los Angeles after six months in Thailand, where he fled to avoid being framed as a drug dealer. Seems Henry James (Matt Schulze, Blade II, The Transporter) had hidden crystal meth in the engines of the two motorcycles he had asked Ford to watch for a few days. Ford panicked, hid the bikes and the drugs, and ran. Now he's back, because he can't stand the fact that he left his girlfriend Shane (Monet Mazur, Angel Eyes, Just Married) high and dry and the object of a federal raid (it was her garage where the bikes were being stored).
Now Henry wants his drugs back, but that's not quite good enough for Ford. He wants to figure out a way he can get rid of Henry for good. Henry, however, is smarter than he looks, so he ratchets up the pressure by framing Ford for murder, promising that the eyewitness (Henry's girlfriend China, played sneeringly well by Jaime Pressly, Joe Dirt, Not Another Teen Movie) will forget what she `saw' the minute Ford turns over the meth.
Much violence and chaos ensues, as the person Ford is supposed to have murdered was the less-than-bright brother of Trey Wallace (Ice Cube, Barbershop, Friday After Next), leader of the feared biker gang the Reapers. Trey is less than thrilled about his brother's death and less than patient about the idea of revenge. Meanwhile, FBI agent McPherson (Adam Scott, High Crimes) is also on the warpath, as Ford had slipped through his fingers the first time.
Torque is unrepentantly silly, if you try to take it as a serious film. If, however, you choose to take it for what it is, it is an adrenaline rush not unlike Moritz's other runaway block buster, XXX. The stunts are impressive, the special effects are dazzling, and eye candy abounds for both male and female viewers.
Torque has an advantage over The Fast and the Furious, and that is the refreshing presence of real actors. Henderson makes a much more believable hero than Paul Walker. Ice Cube turns in a solid performance as the angry and grieving Trey, even infusing Trey with a slight character arc. And Schulze (one of the few who bothered to do any acting in The Fast and the Furious) gets to show us distilled evil, which he plays with quiet and extreme intensity. Even the girls are not just afterthoughts, like they were in The Fast and the Furious. Pressly gives a focused, if laconic, performance and manages to make China menacing without saying anything. Mazur's Shane doesn't get much scope in the script, but she makes the best of what she has and turns Shane into a real person. There are no false notes in the supporting cast, either.
If you're looking for a serious action drama complete with tortured psyches and soul-searching, look elsewhere. If you're looking for fun, intense action sequences, gratuitous flashes of skin, and sassy one-liners, then you've come to the right place. Torque doesn't pretend to be anything other than what it is, and what it is, is a wild ride.
Downward Angel (2001)
A decent B movie
John Hunter (Matt Schulze) is a reluctant assassin tortured by self-doubt, self-hate, and guilt, and driven by an obsessive need to avenge his parents' deaths. He infiltrates the Guild, a society of assassins led by Herod (Jonathan Banks). John executes his first few assignments without any trouble other than endangering his own sanity. But then he meets Gillian (Gabrielle Fitzpatrick), Herod's `sister.' Each of the three main characters has a secret, which are revealed in the last act.
This film has potential, but it barely misses being a good movie. The story is told elliptically and therefore is hard to follow on the first viewing. The director tries so hard to keep John's secret a surprise that it's not well set-up and doesn't follow logically. Matt is the most convincing actor in the cast; a particularly wrenching scene is one in which John tries to pull the trigger on himself. The movie has deeply Catholic undertones and a couple of plot holes big enough to trip up even the most undemanding viewer. Even so, it is worth watching more than once.
Dementia (1999)
For serious fans only
A disturbing little film, not particularly well-executed except by Matt Schulze. His performance as the deranged-yet-compelling Sonny lifts the movie out of the trash can. The women are not convincing, and the supporting cast just seems lost, even Jesus Nebot, who's probably the best of the lot. For Matt's fans, this is worth watching simply for his performance, but anyone else will probably be bored.