‘Tank Girl’ Rolls Through the Muck of Punk Appeal

In “Tank Girl,” the cartoon heroine Rebecca Buck, an insolent renegade with a heart of gold and a tank of steel, battles the head of the aptly named Department of Water and Power in the year 2033, after a cosmic cataclysm has left the Earth dry as dust. (Rated R)

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Just because a film is based on a comic book doesn’t mean it’s for kids.

Let’s just say Tank Girl is no Wonder Woman or She-Ra. The movie, laden with in-your-face erotic raunch and violence, seemed designed to appeal mostly to the men who came and sat alone without even a box of popcorn.

But kids into punk came too and said they found plenty to like in the fast-paced film, spliced with crudely drawn cartoons and characterized by cartoon dialogue (“Your face has been grilled. Frankly, your chances of seeing again are about as slim as your arm growing back”).

“I thought it was pretty well put together from a comic book,” said Chris Gassler, who came with his friend Brett Solem, both 13. “I liked how they switched from a comic book to real life. That added more of a uniqueness.”

The boys also liked Tank Girl herself, Lori Petty, who was last seen as a ballplayer in “A League of Their Own,” advising young girls to “get dirty.”

As Tank Girl, she takes her own advice, spewing obscenities like bullets from an automatic weapon. Her bleached-blond hair is both buzzed and hanging in tails. She wears a missile bra.

“You could tell by how she looked that she lived up to her character,” Chris said.

The sometimes hard-to-follow plot begins when Kesslee, the Water and Power’s CEO, organizes a raid on Rebecca’s home, where she and other families have been existing with a secret water pump. All but Rebecca and a 10-year-old girl are killed.

As Tank Girl organizes her own pay-back and attempts to rescue the imprisoned girl, she goes head to head with the cruel Kesslee (played by Malcolm McDowell). Along the way, she becomes imprisoned herself, escapes with a new friend, Jet Girl, and joins forces with an outlaw band of creatures, the Rippers, who are reincarnated men crossed with kangaroo DNA.

Got it? No matter. The boys said the special effects and the punk rock music made up for whatever confusion the plot created.

They particularly liked the realistic remote-controlled ears and tails and the facial expressions of the Rippers, whose goofy sweetness provided an adorable oasis in the midst of cynicism and violence. Brett said he easily identified rap singer Ice-T, despite all the makeup and costuming, who played the kangaroo reincarnation of Beat writer Jack Kerouac.

The boys also said that the soundtrack, featuring music by Hole, Ice-T, Belly and others, would probably appeal to most of the kids at their school but not to their parents.

“Most adults’ view is that it’s just a bunch of yelling, but it’s yelling with a beat,” Chris explained.

In his opinion, the film isn’t for everybody, but “basically for people who like that kind of music. It had that kind of feeling.”