| Product: |
Biker Boyz (DVD) |
| Date: |
20.07.06 (323 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Entertaining
Disadvantages: A bit predictable
Synopsis
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Kid is part of the legendary Black Nights, a gang of African-American bikers led by biking ace Smoke. For years Kid and his father, Slick Will, have looked after Smoke's bike for him and gone to hundreds of illegal street races, but when one of Smoke's races goes completely wrong, Kid's father is killed by an out of control bike and Kid blames Smoke for his loss.
Having buried his father, Kid leaves the Black Knights and takes up with another racer, Stuntman, hustling money out of unwitting street racers with a variety of tricks and guises. But deep down Kid wants revenge for his father's death and returns to the main racing scene, where he knows he will find the Black Knights and more importantly Smoke. Even though his mother fears that he will die in a biking accident, he is determined to beat Smoke in a race and to win the crown of being the best street racer.
Opinion
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Sometimes watching a film you have never heard of and have no idea about can yield pleasant surprises and this was the case with Biker Boyz for me. When I watched this the first time, I had no preconceptions of how good or bad the film would be as I had never heard of it yet alone read any reviews on it and I thoroughly enjoyed it. It may not have the most dynamic story or the most complex characters, or even a real villain, but it is entertaining in an easy to watch manner.
- The Story
The film revolves around the life of African-American bikers, who race their super charged motorbikes up and down the streets in illegal races. In reality, the motorbikes and illegal street racing just provides the vehicle for the true story which is the relationship between the two central characters of Kid and Smoke. In a way the relationships are about coming of age for both of the characters, you have Kid the petulant son who has a lot of anger after the death of his father and then you have Smoke who feels responsible for the well being of Kid as well as his mother, who he used to date. Of course the coming of age and accepting responsibility storylines have been used in numerous movies over the years, but it still works brilliantly well when done right, and in the case of Biker Boyz, it is definitely done right.
What I found interesting was, that I originally thought that someone had taken the concept of "The Fast and the Furious", the film about street racing in cars, and transferred it over to the world of motorbikes and African-Americans. But the actual concept came from an article in the a Los Angeles newspaper which described the illegal street racing clubs where affluent people from young men to middle age gentleman, of different creed and colour, would meet and race each other for money, respect and generally the thrill of it all. For me this made the story more tangible, knowing that it was based on a real thing rather than just someone's fantasy, but even without this knowledge, the film and the whole story line is still highly entertaining and enjoyable.
There are numerous other storylines which add to the films enjoyment, one of which is crucial to the overall enjoyment of the story, but by telling you here would spoil the film completely. Other stories include a romance between Kid and a beautiful tattoo artist and also Kid and his friend Stuntman setting up their own biker gang to rival the White Knights.
- Characters and Cast
As already mentioned, the main focus of the film are the characters Kid and Smoke. Kid is played by Derek Luke and is a petulant character who is full of anger and determination but also pride. He basically wants to be the best street racer ever, partly due to being brought up idolizing Smoke but also in the fact that he wants to take his title away from him in revenge for his father's death. To be honest I had never heard of Derek Luke prior to this film but he certainly did a great job of keeping me interested in his character, in some ways his performance was similar to those by Denzel Washington in his younger days.
Opposite Derek Luke is Laurence Fishburne as Smoke, a middle aged racing legend who has the respect of everyone after years of being undefeated. Although middle aged, he still leads the free life of a young man, never settling down whilst he can enjoy the attentions of numerous young women. But deep down he feels the need to grow up and act his age. Fishburne is magnificent in this role, as he commands the screen whenever he is in a scene. This may not be his best performance to date, but it is one which shows his ability to play many diverse characters.
Other enjoyable performances include Orlando Jones as Soul Train, a lawyer who is Smoke's right hand man in the White Knights. Lisa Bonet as Queenie, a female street racer who has a thing for Smoke and Rick Gonzalez who plays Primo, one of the founder members of Kid's gang of street racers.
- Direction
Biker Boyz is directed by Reggie Rock Bythewood and he has done an all round reasonable job. There are a few problems, such as the actual racing scenes lack the excitement that the aforementioned "The Fast and the Furious" had in its racing scenes, and the characters don't seem to have any real complexity or depth. But overall he has done a very good job, especially as this was only his second directional outing. What I did enjoy is the fact that a film which could easily been littered with swearing, violence and gratuitous sex came across as very clean with very few references to any of these making it very acceptable viewing for a teenage market in my opinion. Some people may say the lack of these elements make the film somewhat unrealistic, but for me this added to the enjoyment as it didn't detract from the story.
- Sound track
The sound track fits perfectly with the film, full of R & B and Rap, with more songs from different artists that I have come across in many a film. I counted at least 30 different songs before I gave up, and they all fitted in nicely with the mood of each scene.
Summary
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Biker Boyz may not have the excitement of "The Fast and the Furious" and it may lack a really gritty story, but for me it is very entertaining. Most of my enjoyment comes from the good performances and the simplicity of the film which made it very easy to watch. Although its flaws may put a few people off, I would class this as a great film to watch on a Saturday night with a pizza and a beer.
Price & Availability
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Amazon.co.uk: £5.97
Play.com: £12.99
Technical Details
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Certificate: 12A
Duration: 110 mins
Year of Release: 2003
Genre: Action, Drama, Crime
Director(s): Reggie Rock Bythewood
Producer(s): Stephanie Allain, Gina Prince-Bythewood, Erwin Stoff
Writer(s): Craig Fernandez
Cast: Laurence Fishburne, Derek Luke, Orlando Jones, Djimon Hounsou, Lisa Bonet, Brendan Fehr, Larenz Tate, Kid Rock, Rick Gonzalez, Meagan Good, Salli Richardson, Vanessa Bell Calloway, Kadeem Hardison
© Christianfilm July 2006
Summary: Illegal bike racing on the streets of America
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