It’s a well known fact that old people are absolutely fucking useless and generally get in everybody’s way. If they're not all whining about how winter is too cold then they're whining about how summer is too hot. You can’t bloody win.
Hollywood usually spews out more young actors and actresses quicker then X Factor produces one hit wonders. Not a day goes by without some new starlet popping up, leaving us scratching our heads while we try to work out who they are. However, the older generation is still lurking around like a bad rash, and they’ve all come together to make Wild Hogs – a film about riding motorbikes.
Motorbikes used to be cool. Now anyone who rides one is generally a little annoying chav who exists only to deprive people who live on housing estates of sleep with all their pointless revving. On the other end of the scale, the traditional image of a motorbike rider is a big fat man who squeezes into homoerotic leather outfits, just leaving enough flab hanging out for that added yuck factor for when they aimlessly ride around deserted roads.
The whole premise of Wild Hogs – as any of the Americans who made it such a bizarre box office success prior to its UK release will know – is based around that last sentence. Trailers for Wild Hogs have been floating around the internet and cinemas for ages now and, unfortunately, the trailer falls into the trap of showing you the best bits of the film and making the rest of the picture a bit of a let-down. And, you know, the trailer's about as funny as herpes.
With such an established cast including, Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H Macy we would have thought such experienced actors would have made Wild Hogs one of the most solid pictures to be released so far this year. They all have impressive CVs, especially Tim Allen whose sitcom Home Improvement still gets brought back from the dead regularly on ABC 1. Only he could make DIY adventures funny. But despite Wild Hogs boasting an impressive roster of stars, it’s a shame that the script didn’t really come up to much.
Billed as a comedy, Wild Hogs does have its moments but it quickly falls in to the territory of being one of those uncomfortable family comedies which you have to sit through at Christmas. Only one joke seems to run through the film – which seems to be the fact they are all shit motorbike riders. This repetitive factor soon becomes less funny each time it creeps in.
The basic plot of Wild Hogs is as follows. Four friends realise one day that their lives have fallen into a bit of a rut and decide to ride the open road to try and reinvent themselves. Does it go according to plan? Of course not, no film ever works without some kind of mishap and theirs comes around when Woody – John Travolta – accidentally but kind of on purpose blows up a gang of roughty toughty-looking biker bar. After that, it all becomes a kind of cat and mouse game between a gang of over 50 bikers and four friends. Kind of like 300, but on a less glamorous scale.
Should you go and watch Wild Hogs? Unfortunately there are better films out at the minute including 300 and Sunshine. Only go and see it if it is your last resort. But please, don’t come crying to us that you’ve wasted six pounds of your hard earned cash on something that didn’t make you laugh.
Doorstop says
Hasn’t this been done before? Hollywood is really running out of ideas now, nothing oringal ay all now. All shitty remakes and real life bollocks.