A trio of teen BMXers(including a young Nicole Kidman)find walkie talkies left underwater by two crooks(David Argue and John Ley)and decide to sell them in the hopes of getting new bikes and body gear. Communicating on a forbidden wavelength picked up by the police who must apprehend them, the trio might have a chance to get a new BMX rider park if they can help the cops capture the criminals wanted for the robbery seen at the beginning of the film. Most of the movie has Kidman and male teen pals, Lugton and D'Angelo evading Argue and Ley who pursue them in a car and by foot to no avail. Director Brian Trenchard-Smith(Dead End Drive-In)gets a lot of mileage out of beautiful Sidney, Australia, shooting all over(and through)the city using all sorts of flashy camera angles to depict bike riding in an alluring manner. If you are a fan of bike stunts, there are many to salivate over, including a very lengthly race through the city where the teens find constant ways to avoid Argue and Ley who pretend to be detectives(which doesn't fool Kidman, who they actually have cornered and eventually kidnap not once but twice). Like "The Goonies" after this, "BMX Bandits" features teen kids outsmarting bumbling criminals who aren't very bright and look foolish often. Would go nicely in a double feature with "Rad", except "BMX Bandits" is a bit more exciting since Trenchard-Smith is allowed to shoot anywhere he wants to in a massive city and does so with a lot of flair. The bikers ride through crowded streets, through a mall, even down a water slide for Petesake with doofuses Argue and Ley often falling over or running into people and debris. It's also easy to side with such likable teenagers as Kidman, D'Angelo and Lugton who are considered a nuisance by traffic cops who find them annoyances since they ride through areas they probably shouldn't. The storyline is fluff, all the fuss over a cache of walkie talkies, but this isn't some sort of serious crime drama about stolen drugs stashed away, recovered by kids who are in turn chased by a gang of ruthless hoods, it's a teen adventure, mere whimsy/escapism.
Review of BMX Bandits
