Commentary: The Odd Boldness Of ‘Twisted Metal’
by Frank Martin
Live action adaptations are a tricky thing to get right. Comic books and video games have a lot of room for wackiness that may not translate well onto the screen. When these adaptations happen, there are a lot of concessions made so the characters work and not come off as corny or cheesy. This can leave fans split between wanting something that’s a more faithful adaptation and something that makes sense for live action. So it’s definitely a bold choice for Twisted Metal to bring so many of its characters to the small screen in such an accurate way.
The series takes place in a post-apocalyptic wasteland. Life is fairly good inside walled-off cities, but the only connection between these places are couriers who drive back and forth. The roadways are super dangerous, forcing these drivers to arm themselves. Many of them take on sadistic personas such as Sweet Tooth (Samoa Joe/Will Arnett), who drives an ice cream truck, and Mr. Grimm (Richard de Klerk), who is a psychotic motorcycle rider. All of these drivers enter a tournament hosted by a mysterious man named Calypso (Anthony Carrigan), who promises to grant a wish to the winner.
There’s no denying that Twisted Metal is a bonkers franchise. Sweet Tooth drives his ice cream truck with a flaming head and Mr. Grimm likes to steal the souls of his victims. It was certainly possible for the television show to tone down these outlandish aspects, but it didn’t. Sweet Tooth really does light his head on fire before battle and Mr. Grimm has hallucinations of devouring souls. This seriousness makes the show very campy, but it works. It takes a certain amount of boldness to go all in on Twisted Metal’s insanity, and the show does it without regrets.
Twisted Metal is now streaming on Peacock.