影片改编自同名热门绘本,背景设定在洋溢未来风格的过往年代。主人公米歇尔(米莉·波比·布朗饰)是个失去双亲的少女,她为了寻找失散的弟弟而踏上穿越美国西部之旅,与她同行的是个可爱又神秘的机器人,以及一名古怪的流浪客(克里斯·帕拉特饰)。。女孩汤米整日用耳麦听着复古歌曲,沉浸在自己的世界里。她和不靠谱的父母又一次踏上了漂泊的公路旅程,刚出狱的爸爸向她保证一定不会缺席开学日。然而,一连串见怪不怪的事件让承诺再次存疑——爸爸贼瘾复发去偷车,妈妈莫名其妙地消失,而汤米眼前竟然出现了一名宇航员。11岁的主人公正处在不失天真而又渐渐拥有成人思维和洞察力的阶段,通过她的视角,非常规的家庭苦乐得以展现;如同影片引用的同名歌曲《快乐》(FELICITA)一样,脚步轻快地探寻着别样的成长之路。。Umberto Lenzi is undoubtedly the king of Italian crime movies, but unfortunately| Syndicate Sadists is not the best examples of his work in this genre. Lenzi's crime flicks tend to be a cut above the rest because he makes films based on stories with a point, and they don't lack direction| but this film feels a bit too wayward to fully fit with the rest of his stuff. The film takes obvious influence from Sergio Leone's landmark western 'A Fistful of Dollars' (which in turn, took influence from Akira Kurosawa's landmark samurai flick Yojimbo), in that it features two warring families and a strong character at the centre. The crime that Lenzi focuses on is kidnapping, and we centre on a character called 'Rambo'. Rambo is dragged into the war between the two families after his brother is killed because of it. Rambo uses his brains and brawn to pit the two families against one another, in the hope of gaining revenge for his brother's death, rescuing a young boy that they've kidnapped, and ultimately letting the two sides destroy one another.
The film's biggest asset is undoubtedly Tomas Milian. Milian was put to great use by Lenzi in almost all of his crime thrillers. The range of characters he has played for Lenzi is immense, and this one is easily one of the coolest. The character is called Rambo, which immediately sprang to mind the popular Sylvester Stallone character - but for once, the Italians actually haven't stolen this name as Syndicate Sadists was released first! As usual, the film is wickedly entertaining, as we get to watch Milian get himself involved in the usual array of car chases, shootouts and brawls. Lenzi has got him riding a motorbike this time round, and every scene featuring it and Milian is a real standout! However, the film often feels like it doesn't really have anywhere to go, and this means that the running time is stretched out more than it should be. Compared to the crime films of other Italian directors, Syndicate Sadists is more than above average| but in relation to Lenzi crime flicks such as Almost Human and The Cynic, The Rat and The Fist - it doesn't stand tall as one of Lenzi's best. Still, if you're looking for ninety minutes of testosterone fuelled mayhem - Syndicate Sadists will suffice!。