#MUFFApproved: Tank Girl
Tank Girl (1995)
Dir. Rachel Talalay
Even if you’ve never noticed the Lori-Petty-with-great-hair-and-a-red-feather-garter-brandishing-a-gun shaped hole in your heart, Tank Girl is here to fill it. This wacky (in the best way) 1995 sci-fi film from Rachel Talalay is based on a British comic book of the same name and chronicles the adventures of Tank Girl (Lori Petty) and Jet Girl (an almost unrecognizable Naomi Watts) as they fight a male-dominated mega-corp called Water & Power.
We all know that Lori Petty regularly knocks it out of the park on Orange is the New Black, and Naomi Watts has been kinda killing it since Mulholland Drive, but way before then they were kicking ass and taking names in this film packed with awesome fight sequences and amazing one-liners. I'm already so on-board with a film boasting a female director, co-writer, and star, but the film is also killer in terms of creating and supporting strong female characters.
Tank Girl takes absolutely no bullshit! When a computer-advice program (this is the year 2022 after all) gives her advice on how to charm men at the Liquid Silver Club—remove body hair, wear a wig—Tank Girl straight-up refuses, choosing instead to alter the clothing offered to her. She drives a tank (did you hear me? A TANK, ladies and gentleman) and is loyal to those she cares about while genuinely not caring what anyone thinks of her.
Punctuated with gorgeous animated sequences that evoke the original comic book and featuring knock-out production design by Catherine Hardwicke, the film maintains a decidedly 90s but also surprisingly fresh aesthetic that keeps Tank Girl looking only dated in a totally rad kind of way and giving Lori Petty some very seriously stunning face and hair moments (plus rocket tits).
If you’re still not sold, Ice-T has a pretty prominent role as a Ripper (genetically modified super soldiers) and Iggy Pop plays a character called “Rat Face” (he’s a bad dude, obvs).
“Oh my god I am Tank Girl.” - FKA Twigs but also me and probably any other girl that stuffs this glorious film into their brain hole. This film is seriously #MUFFApproved.
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