Charge: The Movie

Mark Neale makes cracking Motorcycle movies - Faster is just amazing, as is the Doctor, the Tornado and the Kentucky Kid. Both are a very real, very human insight into the world of racing. And what's more he's got two new movies this year...

While Fastest will be out later this year, Charge is here already. Well, my copy is. As of yesterday, IMDB was saying it wasn't yet released but I watched it on DVD after ordering it from mark's site (www.chargemovie.com)

Instead of speed, It's about the often-polarizing world of electric motorcycles. It follow two of the teams (motoczysz and Agni) as they compete in both the 2009 and 2010 TT Zero. Speed is certainly what they crave, but it's not always there. As such, it lacks the rawness of earlier films, especially on the soundtrack (these things are quiet) but you get the sense these guys are no less passionate. Moreover, they also know it's a matter of time... While its probably no secret what actually takes place, it's a wonderful insight both into what drives these guys and racing culture in general.

In many ways, it's the same movie as before - Ewen McGregor is narrating, there's quite a decent number of cameras and lots of shaky on-bike shots. And as always Mark does an amazing job of protraying the characters and machines that make up this world and I'd go so far as to say I really want to try riding one of these things now. While that might make it sound like a glowing paean to the inevitability of going green, that's not the case. The bikes themselves are treated neutrally and plenty of detractors are shown.

It's hard to say too much more without giving details away. All I can say is if you've enjoyed any of his previous work, you need to see Charge.