As we've learned from such films as ROMEO + JULIET (the DiCaprio one), TITUS, and plenty of others, hardly anyone will shoot Shakespeare for Shakespeare's sake anymore. There's always got to be a nod--or an out-and-out MOVE--to an updated setting of sorts.
Well, now we're in the Twilight Zone. The Bard's tale of a misunderstood adventurer, the people who set him up and the girl caught in the middle has become a motorcycle thriller--one that sat on the shelf for a year so it wouldn't be confused with BIKER BOYZ or 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS.
For what it is? Plenty of action, and almost nothing else. The trouble is that once you've seen Michelle Yeoh jump a motorcycle onto a moving train for REAL, then a computer simulation is always going to look like a computer simulation. By the time you reach the finale of TORQUE, it looks exactly like a video game. It's a pretty fun video game, I suppose, and it's still miles ahead of a movie like HOUSE OF THE DEAD, but don't fool yourself into thinking that you're going to give a rip about any of the PEOPLE in it.
And that was always the thing about Shakespeare. Strong, unforgettable characters setting the standards for classical drama--and language that remains potent and enthralling to this day. There will never be another "To be or not to be," for instance.
But what's the point of jettisoning Shakespeare's DIALOGUE? Even the DiCaprio movie preserved the original text when it came down to it, no? There's something decidedly wrong when a typical exchange goes like this...
"Looks like you messed with the wrong chick!"
"Looks like YOU did, bitch!"
I'm also not sure what the point of naming a character "Henry James" was. If this was intended as an invocation of British ghost stories, it didn't work. TORQUE has enough trouble trying to qualify as a Shakespeare film without bringing other authors into it.
If you can't get enough FAST/FURIOUS/SWAT/BIKER business, then you'll want to see this. As for me? I'll stick with TITUS.
William Shakespeare's TORQUE
Moderator: Chris Slack
William Shakespeare's TORQUE
My dog's breath smells like peanut butter...
...and I don't even have a dog!
...and I don't even have a dog!
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Latte Thunder
- Posts: 1240
- Joined: Sun Jul 16, 2000 10:00 pm
- Location: In ur base, killin ur doods
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so did cans of Mountain Dew rocket from out of nowhere into the actors' hands during the action sequences because that's all I could think of when I saw those ads.
No, but you were never far away from product placement--the final "chick fight" took place with a Mountain Dew logo practically serving as a backdrop. This was as "pre-fab" as a movie can get...
My dog's breath smells like peanut butter...
...and I don't even have a dog!
...and I don't even have a dog!
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Griff [Mola]
- Posts: 626
- Joined: Mon Oct 18, 1999 10:00 pm
- Location: Perth, Australia.
Geez, Reem... I knew you had to see every horror movie released but wow, you must've been drunk when you bought a ticket for this one.
Try BORED OUT OF MY MIND... none of the other new releases (including TRIPLETS OF BELLEVILLE) offered a matinee on that day--that theatre had learned better after having to cancel so many other Friday matinees of new releases when the damn films didn't even show up on time). Hadn't seen a movie in weeks (since RETURN OF THE KING, I tell you truly) and just plain wanted to see SOMETHING. And it WASN'T going to be MONA LISA SMILE, either.
Oh, and by the way, did you notice that Roger-Dodger gave this two-and-a-half stars?
My dog's breath smells like peanut butter...
...and I don't even have a dog!
...and I don't even have a dog!
