review for Biker Boyz on AllMovie

Capitalizing, no doubt, on the smash hit of The Fast and the Furious two years before, Biker Boyz promised more wall-to-wall high-speed racing action (this time with motorcycles), but ended up being a mild, family drama snoozefest. While the advertising would lead you to believe otherwise, there really isn't too much fun to be had here. Sure, there's a half dozen scenes of crotch-rockets racing, but it wears thin fast when each one looks and feels exactly the same. The sad thing is that not much more could be said about the dramatic acting in the film. Derek Luke as the lead, Kid, is a one-dimensional bore, while top-billed Laurence Fishburne turns in a forgettable take on the old Western gunslinger legend (but on bikes). He toughs it up okay, but ends up losing his steam when the big plot point in the second half is revealed. Kid Rock and Lisa Bonet also show up (in chaps, no less), though they add nothing more than set dressing to this glossy tale. Thankfully for the other actors, Vanessa Bell Calloway does a bang-up job as Kid's mother, so much so that she ends up being the glue of the film. Director Reggie Rock Bythewood (writer of Spike Lee's Get on the Bus) does a good job at making the cycles look really nice, but after the hundredth time watching three idiots doing trick wheelies, you might end up looking at your watch waiting for the juicy stuff to start. And then there are the Grade "C" (for "Cheesy") flashback sequences -- which are better left for the viewers to experience themselves. With more outrageous stunts and a little less dramatics, Biker Boyz might have lived up to its bombastic promise of urban action on two wheels. As it is, it's almost a half hour too long with a predictable payoff as the last K.O. punch of this low-speed flick.