Okay, let’s just get this out of the way now. This isn’t a Knight Rider movie. It may have the name in the title, have been produced by the same people and have a ‘talking car’ of sorts in there… but it’s not Knight Rider. There’s no Michael, no KITT, no Knight Industries. It’s not Knight Rider, it just isn’t.
So here’s what it is.
In the year 2010, Jake McQueen is an outlaw who ferries people into the US for money to survive. Hot on his trail is Marshall Will McQueen (yup, it’s his brother) who will stop at nothing to bring his sibling in, if only to get him on the right path. Yet Will’s not the only problem Jake needs to worry about. During his latest incursion onto US soil he upset the Chrysalis Corporation and its leader Jared (the always watchable scene-chewing Brion James). Throw into this his ex girl on the inside, Hannah and you’ve got something resembling a story.
So, once again one man can make a difference and yes, by the end he’s driving a car with enhanced abilities thanks to a special Prism that contains AI. Beyond that, this is a cheap and nasty Mad Max knock-off that is barely worth your time. It also teases the hell out of you. There’s more than one moment where someone pulls back some tarp to reveal… another car THAT ISN’T KITT! Even more maddening when you discover that they removed KITT from the story because they thought they wouldn’t have technology like that in a post apocalyptic future! Seriously?!
Like Knight Rider 2000 before it, this was a proposed pilot that never made it to a full series order and its no surprise. The key elements that made the original show such a success were the very elements that they left out of this ‘reimagining’ on purpose: technology, believability, humour and David bloody Hasselhoff.
Knight Rider 2010 is arguably the first in a long line of failed attempts at reigniting the spark of the original Knight Rider TV show. It’s also quite possibly the worst offender (although Team Knight Rider comes pretty close – although at least that made one season).
KNIGHT RIDER 2010 / CERT: PG / DIRECTOR: SAM PILLSBURY / SCREENPLAY: JOHN LEEKLEY / STARRING: RICHARD JOSEPH PAUL, HEIDI LEICK, MICHAEL BEACH, DON MCMANUS / RELEASE DATE: OUT NOW
