Retrospective Film Review

Tank Girl (1995) • 25 Years Later

A girl is among the survivors of a dystopian Earth. Riding a war tank, she fights against the tyranny of a mega-corporation that dominates the remaining potable water supply of the planet.

Watching Tank Girl again, I wish I’d caught Birds of Prey (2020) in cinemas. There are clear comparisons to be drawn between the chaotic heroines of Tank Girl and Harley Quinn. And yes, I’m aware Tank Girl was created four years before Harley and got her own movie before studios gave up on distaff comic-book movies after Catwoman (2004) and Elektra (2005) flopped. Tank Girl is worthwhile viewing decades later for its subtle advancements of feminism. For all its faults, the movie was a wrecking ball to mainstream expectations of what a female-led popcorn movie could be.

In 2033 A.D, several years after a meteor caused global droughts that transformed the Earth into a Mad Max-style wasteland, free-spirited survivor Rebecca ‘Tank Girl’ Buck (Lori Petty) angers the oppressive Water & Power corporation hoarding the planet’s…