OPENS MARCH 5, CERT 15, 86 MINS
More of the same from the producers of auto derbies like The Fast And The Furious, this time with bikes. The plot could fit on a postage stamp, involving the framing of biker hunk Cary (Martin Henderson) by snake-mean drug dealer Henry James (yep) for the murder of the brother of black biker lord Trey (Ice Cube), leading to a film-long chase through California’s desert back-roads.
It’s the feature film debut for Eminem video director Joseph Kahn, who injects enough gaudy touches and good-humoured fizz to keep your brain out of neutral. The cast wear Stones and Ramones T-shirts, and Cube shamelessly barks “Fuck tha police” down an uber-bling mobile magnetically attached to his headgear. Computer game CGI mixes with bruising bike-straddling stuntwork for a final dockside punch-up, while Henderson’s anaemic hero is compensated for by Monet Mazur’s knowing tough-chick girlfriend. As for the full-speed bike chase through a passenger train?please don’t try this at home.