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Movie Review
Loud, empty 'Torque' is a crashing bore

By Ted Fry
Special to The Seattle Times

	WARNER BROS. PICTURES Martin Henderson plays Ford in "Torque."
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"Torque" is proudly marketed as a product from the makers of "The Fast and the Furious," "XXX," "2 Fast 2 Furious" and "S.W.A.T.," which is part of the problem. There just isn't enough room outside of video games for more of this kind of dull crashing, banging and empty adrenaline-rush entertainment.

The hero of "Torque" is Ford (why not Harley or Honda?), a raffish motorcycle freak just back from Thailand, where he was hiding out from the murderous Hellion motorcycle gang. The chief Hellion, Henry (Matt Schluze), is steaming because Ford has a load of drugs the Hellions stashed in some fuel tanks (shades of "Easy Rider") and is holding them ransom.

Ford is played by Martin Henderson, who comes off as a sort of a lesser Luke Wilson with lazy good looks and sweaty, helmet-tousled hair. His estranged girlfriend, Shane (Monet Mazur), is a hotshot mechanic and as skillful on two wheels as Ford. When they reacquaint at a big rally in the California desert, there follows an elaborate, suicidal cycle race as courtship ritual that may get them hot for each other, but it does nothing for the credibility of the movie's action sequences.

Movie review Showtimes and trailer ½ star "Torque," with Martin Henderson, Ice Cube, Monet Mazur, Jay Hernandez. Directed by Joseph Kahn, from a script by Matt Johnson. 81 minutes. Rated PG-13 for violence, sexuality, language and drug references. Several theaters.

As if Ford weren't in enough of a bind, he's also got Ice Cube's scowling countenance to deal with. Cube plays Trey, leader of another motorcycle gang who mistakenly believes Ford killed his brother.

Did I mention Henry's psycho bisexual girlfriend, the crooked, snot-nosed FBI agent and Ford's adrenaline-junkie sidekicks? Put all these folks on supercharged crotch rockets, let loose a music-video director, an overeager editor, a crack team of camera riggers and some product-placement specialists, and you have a big yawn.

The clinical, passionless execution of the stunt choreography is overshadowed only by the fakeness of its computer enhancement. The technology doesn't make the chases more exciting, it just makes them look stupid. A two-wheeled duel between Ford and Trey that half takes place on top of a speeding train is so ridiculous it probably wouldn't even make it into the video game.

As part of the climax, Henry and Ford (oh, now I get it) engage in a chase through the concrete canyons of downtown Los Angeles at speeds of at least 600 mph. The sequence is a jumble of computer animation and phony close-ups that looks as though it's taking place in hyperspace. It ends like any good video-game chase with crashes and explosions and the hero getting up to brush off and do it all again.

Ted Fry: tedfry@earthlink.net

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