A Wild Post-Apocalyptic Cult Classic Is Overdue For A Remake

This may shock Inverse’s younger readers, but there was once a time when directors were allowed to adapt comic book properties not owned by Marvel and DC. This lost era produced a couple of hits, a few cult classics, and a whole lot of duds, but only one movie was bold enough to slather Ice-T in prosthetics and cast him alongside Malcolm McDowell.

Tank Girl could be described as a campy Mad Max, although that description is left somewhat wanting by the time Lori Petty bangs a kangaroo-man. Based on the long-running British comic, the movie is set in a drought-stricken Australia in the aftermath of a catastrophic meteor impact. Rebecca Buck (Lori Petty) lives with her boyfriend in a ramshackle commune, but goons from Kesslee’s (McDowell) evil Water & Power monopoly seize their water, kidnap Rebecca and a little girl named Sam, and murder everyone else. Revenge ensues, and you can probably guess the form it takes.

That all sounds straightforward enough, but Tank Girl does its erratic best to channel the comic’s irreverent and anarchic energy. At its best, this means colorful riot grrrl-inspired costumes and playful animated interludes. At its worst, it’s a parade of cheap double entendres and bizarre tonal shifts. If you can guess what the movie compares the long barrel of a tank gun to, congratulations on still having a functional brainstem.

By the time Tank Girl sneak into a high-end erotic club to rescue Sam from a pedophilic Iggy Pop, forces the club owner to sing Cole Porter’s “Let’s Do It,” stars in the subsequent musical number, then escapes a W&P raid that ends with Sam kidnapped again, you may start to notice that Tank Girl is a bit muddled. Rebecca herself has something akin to Bugs Bunny energy, although her quip batting average is significantly lower. In one scene, she’s cracking a tediously edgy incest joke; in another, she’s knocking a grunt out with a bowling pin. Petty is a good match for the character’s manic energy, but the fact you’re never quite sure what she’s going to do is as tiring as it is entertaining.

Joining Tank Girl on her quest is a mousy mechanic (Naomi Watts), who becomes Jet Girl after Rebecca helps her escape W&P’s clutches. Also on their side are the Rippers, a commune of hippie soldiers left to fend for themselves after an aborted experiment to blend human and kangaroo DNA. And as the Rippers dance in their bowling alley hideout and discuss who they were in their past lives, you’ll again be wondering precisely what it is you’re watching.

Tank Girl bombed at the box office, flopped with critics, and was disowned by both director Rachel Talalay (citing excessive studio interference) and the comic book’s creators, Jamie Hewlett and Alan Martin (citing its general cruddiness). But it’s since been (somewhat) reinterpreted as a feminist text, one credited with influencing Birds of Prey, among others. It certainly feels like a precursor to modern genre movies that allow women to kick ass without precondition.

Margot Robbie’s production company actually optioned a reboot in 2019, and while little has been heard since COVID put it on hold, Tank Girl and Harley Quinn are clear spiritual sisters. How much the character still speaks to viewers and how much she remains a product of her time is a matter of personal taste. Some critics have found Tank Girl’s playfully violent reaction to the movie’s exhausting parade of rape threats a bit one note, but there’s also no shortage of essays praising its portrayal of female solidarity and sexuality well before those were marketable themes.

Does that make Tank Girl any less of a mess? Not really. But fix the continuity issues, even out the script’s tone, and run a better marketing strategy than the original enjoyed, and it’s not hard to imagine a reboot having better luck. Admittedly, it’s also not hard to imagine a reboot being absolutely terrible. But Talalay, who’s since enjoyed success directing TV shows like Doctor Who and Sherlock, has noted that Comic-Con’s demographics have shifted considerably since she promoted Tank Girl there in 1995, and Petty has said she’s seen women of all ages cosplaying as Rebecca when she attends cons. A remake would, if nothing else, enjoy launching into a much friendlier media ecosystem.

Until then, the original remains worth a look as a cultural artifact. Petty stands out for good and ill, and McDowell and Ice-T, who gamely plays one of the kangaroo-men, both give 110% in roles where they really, really didn’t have to. Regardless of whether you like Tank Girl, you’ll certainly remember it, and that’s more than most comic book movies can say.