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Jun 03, 2023

'Twisted Metal,' a silly action show, puts the 'car' in 'carnage'

Features editor Stephanie Beatriz (left) and Anthony Mackie star in the Peacock action-comedy series "Twisted Metal." If you think world culture peaked sometime in the early ‘00s, “Twisted Metal” may

Features editor

Stephanie Beatriz (left) and Anthony Mackie star in the Peacock action-comedy series "Twisted Metal."

If you think world culture peaked sometime in the early ‘00s, “Twisted Metal” may be the show for you. The show presents a post-apocalyptic America where, in 2002, a virus wiped out all computers, causing the breakdown of society. Twenty years later, the survivors are still listening to CDs in their car and putting “The Thong Song” on the jukebox.

This frozen-in-time dystopia is a bit of an in-joke, since “Twisted Metal” itself was a video game series from the ‘00s that is largely forgotten now. But Peacock’s new show, which count some of the writers of “Deadpool” and “Zombieland” among its creators, is silly, violent fun.

Anthony Mackie gets to display more charisma than he does as The Falcon in the Marvel movies. Here he plays John Doe, a “milkman” who runs missions driving supplies from city to city. In this future, cities like San Francisco and Chicago have walled themselves and their resources off, leaving the rest of America to fight for scraps in the wastelands.

John Doe lives in those wastelands, hauling cargo while fending off thieves, highway pirates, cannibals and other bad guys. The vehicular violence is played mostly for laughs in a very “Deadpool”-esque way.

The mayor of “New San Francisco” (Neve Campbell) makes an offer he can’t refuse — drive 2,000 miles to New Chicago and back in 10 days to deliver a package. Make the delivery on time, and she’ll let John live inside the walls of the elysian city.

The 10-episode first season chronicles John’s ride, as he has to deal with antagonists both representing order (Thomas Haden Church as a brutal lawman) and chaos (Sweet Tooth, a musclebound clown who rules the ruins of Las Vegas, played by pro wrestler Samoa Joe with voice by Will Arnett). Surprisingly, it’s the killer clown who’s the more sympathetic of the two.

Along the way, Doe picks up a silent sidekick, nicknamed Quiet (Stephanie Beatriz of “Encanto”) who has a personal grudge against the lawman. The show really kicks into gear when they team up, with the motormouth Mackie playing well off the taciturn Beatriz.

A lot of the gags thrown at the screen don’t quite work, but there’s enough funny jokes and cheerful carnage in “Twisted Metal” to keep the momentum going. When Doe finds an actual copy of the original PlayStation "Twisted Metal" video game, I knew we were in a winking, self-referential universe that isn't meant to be taken seriously.

My only question is that, if we’re turning old ‘00s video games into TV shows, where’s my gritty “Crazy Taxi” reboot?

Also on streaming: There are probably sweeter shows on television than Netflix’s “Heartstopper,” but I haven’t found them. The winsome British series, created by Alice Oseman based on her graphic novel series, follows teenagers Charlie and Nick as they tentatively grow from being friends into something more. It’s a love story that treats the challenges the two boys face, both within and without themselves, with tenderness and respect.

The first season of Prime Video’s “Good Omens,” starring Michael Sheen and David Tennant as a fussy angel and a cocky demon who team up to save humanity from their bosses in the afterlife, was based on a novel by Neil Gaiman and Terry Pratchett. The second season, which premiered July 28, draws from sequel ideas that Gaiman and Pratchett had talked about before Pratchett passed away in 2015.

Rob Thomas is the features editor of the Cap Times and has been writing about movies since 1999. He is a member of the Critics Choice Association.

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