|
Biker Boyz Review By Shawn McKenzie 02/01/2003 If you saw the trailers for this movie, you were probably thinking, “Isn’t this The Fast and the Furious with motorcycles?” Well…yes, it is, but it does differ in a few ways.
Manuel “Smoke” Galloway (Laurence Fishburne), the President of the Black Knights motorcycle club, is the undefeated champion in the underground world of off-track motorcycle racing. Other heads of rival motorcycle clubs have challenged him, like Dogg (Kid Rock) of The Strays, but they have always lost. This status in their world labels him “The King of Cali.” His mechanic, Slick Will (Eric LaSalle), and other members of the Black Knights, such as Soul Train (Orlando Jones), help him maintain his crown. One of the club’s young prodigies (called “Prospects”) named Kid (Derek Luke), the 18-year-old son of Will, wants to be a full-fledged member. One night, during a motorcycle race between Smoke and his latest challenger, a freak accident occurs and Will is killed. Kid blames Smoke for Will’s death, and six months after his father's death, he wants to take on the Black Knight leader. He won’t race him until he joins a club and wins enough races to build a reputation for himself (plus he sort of goes into semi-retirement because of the pain he felt from Will’s death.) He decides to form his own club, called the Biker Boyz, with his friend Stuntman (Brendan Fehr), a guy he does hustles with, and their new friend, Primo (Rick Gonzalez.) Their main goal is to win enough races so that Kid can eventually challenge Smoke. Smoke and other leaders, such as Motherland (Djimon Hounsou), accept the new club. Kid's mom, Anita (Vanessa Bell Calloway), is not too crazy about that her son’s racing, since it is what killed her husband. Kid starts seeing tattoo artist Tina (Meagan Good), who he moves in with after a while. Smoke starts seeing his ex-girlfriend, Queenie (Lisa Bonet), at the same time. All of this builds up to the final race between Kid and Smoke.
So, how does this movie differ from The Fast and the Furious? Aside from the speeding angle (and Kid’s occasional hustling), there is no criminal activities going on in these clubs, so there is no undercover cop infiltrating the motorcycle clubs. In fact, the clubs actually go to great strides to improve the community. There is a scene where they do a bikini bike wash in order to raise money for new textbooks for the local school. A fellow moviegoer admired the fact that the rival clubs worked out their differences with races rather than resort to violence.
Okay, it’s not a carbon copy of The Fast and the Furious, but is it any good? It was all right, but honestly, I don’t think I would have paid to see it if I hadn’t seen it for free. Don’t get me wrong; the performances and bike tricks were fine, but maybe I’m not a huge motorcycle fan. Fishburne is essentially channeling his Furious Styles character from Boyz N the Hood here (he just can’t get away from those Boyz, huh?) I’ve noticed that Kid Rock is starting a rough biker stereotype in his two performances (the other one being in the movie Joe Dirt.) I’ve heard that Luke gave a better performance in Antwone Fisher (a movie I have unfortunately not seen yet), but I don’t think this movie will hamper what looks like a promising career.
While Biker Boyz isn’t a complete rip-off of The Fast and the Furious, it isn’t the most original or exciting movie. I would wait for this one to come on DVD. Now, if you really like bikes…that’s a different story.
Get the soundtrack featuring artists like Redman, P.O.D., Mos Def, Meshell Ndegeocello, and a collaboration between Metallica and Ja Rule and Swizz Beats: Buy this album at
Ratings System:
SEE THIS MOVIE!
Catch this movie at the theater if you can...
Wait until it comes out on video...
Wait until it plays on HBO, Showtime, Starz, etc...
Demand your money back, even if you saw it for free! |
|
