You know what I loved most about the Twisted Metal game as a kid? On those rainy summer days when it was too wet to go outside, I could stay indoors, fire up the game, and just turn my brain off for an entire afternoon. I’d lose myself in the gratuitous violence that my parents didn’t know about because they didn’t actually play the game. For hours, I’d be roaming around different courses, blowing stuff up left and right. The new Twisted Metal series that’s now streaming on Peacock captures that essence perfectly. I’m going to write something that isn’t going to read like a compliment, but I swear I do mean it as a compliment. This series is an indulgent, excessive, and mindless way to escape reality for a bit and just enjoy something simple.
Does it try to say something? Not particularly. Is there a deeper meaning beyond the surface? Nope. Wouldn’t say so. Is it even well-acted? You know…I’d say that it certainly seems like the cast is having fun with this show, but also…nah. Does it leave you with some lasting profound thought? Hell no. But, it knows what it is and it relentlessly smacks you in the face with it. To quote my wife, “sometimes, you just need those dumb enjoyable shows.” I thought maybe the cheesy dialogue or the hokey action comedy scenes were meant to target a younger audience, but the brutal violence sequences had me thinking otherwise. In fact, I wondered just who in the hell this show was even made for? Then, Sweet Tooth stepped in, chopped a guy’s head off, and caught it before it hit the ground. I laughed, and realized…”me….this show was made for guys like me.”
So, if you’re looking for something new and innovative to try out, I can’t imagine you’ll enjoy this show. But, if you have some deeply rooted nostalgia from your childhood spent playing the Twisted Metal series, there’s plenty to find in each episode that you’ll enjoy (and I’m not even necessarily talking about all of the Easter eggs!) Without that nostalgia, I just don’t know what this show has for you to latch onto.
The team that wrote 2016’s Deadpool also got together for this show, and that signature humor and comedic violence is boiling over in Twisted Metal as well. In a nut shell, that’s why this thing has a 94% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes at the moment. Samoa Joe and Will Arnett team up to play Sweet Tooth with Joe doing the physical acting while Arnett lends his voice, and it’s a cheesy delight every time they take the screen. I loved Thomas Haden Church as Agent Stone, and he delivers a strong performance as the story’s main villain. But, most of all, this series does a tremendous job of working in all of the action and the cast of characters that made the game so fun.
For as much as I enjoyed this series, I do have a few criticisms of it. For one, it’s just too long. 10 episodes, even at around 30 minutes each, is too much. The plot gets away from us for a bit somewhere around Episode 06 when we see a spark between our two main characters…this thing tries to turn into a love story, or so it seems, and gets away from what makes it so appealing in the first place. We didn’t need that stuff – cut a couple of episodes, make it eight tops, and stay in your lane. Then, I might be saying “wow, this is a fun surprise!” and not “hey, if you liked the Twisted Metal game, this is pretty good for what it is.” I also think the romantic chemistry between Anthony Mackie and Stephanie Beatriz is nonexistent. It’s clear there’s supposed to be sexual tension between the two as the story goes on, but I just wasn’t feeling it. The Preacher and Evelyn had more chemistry…
Anyway…all in all, I found Twisted Metal to be an unhinged and hedonistic look at a dire post-apocalyptic world that paid homage to what made the original video games so much fun. I’m stoked for Season 2…and yeah, if they don’t do a Season 2 after the way that 10th episode ended, then what are we even doing here? My star rating: 3/5, qualified heavily by a sense of nostalgia for the games.
Stoney Keeley is the Editor in Chief of The SoBros Network, and a Dogs Playing Poker on velvet connoisseur. He is a strong supporter of Team GSD, #BeBetter, and ‘Minds right, asses tight.’ “Big Natural” covers the Tennessee Titans, Nashville, Yankee Candle, and a whole wealth of nonsense. Follow on Twitter @StoneyKeeley.
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