Although Biker Boyz is based on a magazine article, illegal-racing flick The Fast and the Furious is the obvious template for this tepid drama that's centred around underground motorcycle gangs burning rubber in the streets of California. After a full-throttle opening, in which a spectacular crash leaves brash teen Derek Luke fatherless, the film decelerates into a standard tale of a talented racer desperate to prove himself the best of the best. Laurence Fishburne, as the veteran, undefeated "King of Cali", is a picture of virile coolness though he and the rest of the capable, mainly African-American cast are held back by their stock characters. Lacking any insight into the characters' lives off the track or what draws them to the racing scene, the film's main asset is director Reggie Rock Bythewood's restless camerawork, which occasionally enlivens the script's repetitive race-challenge structure and overfamiliar dramatic arc.

A mythic motorcycle tale of father and son, this is the story of Manuel Galloway, also known as "the King of Cali", the president of a motorcycle club whose members are all African-American men, mostly white-collar workers who exchange their suits and ties at night and on weekends for leather outfits and motorcycle helmets.