Death Proof: Less Fun More Film

Tonight I watched the Death Proof segment of Grindhouse for the first time since theaters. While I think it's stupid that the two Grindhouse movies are marketed separately, I think Death Proof benefits from being singled out.

But what I realized tonight was that I like Death Proof: It is a good movie. But what keeps it from being great is Tarantino forcing himself into this box of botched film and campy scenes, when the movie would benefit from just being a slight homage -- and more importantly, not just a homage to himself.

I'll admit I like Tarantino's stuff. Reservoir Dogs, while not the greatest movie, is good. Pulp Fiction is a great movie. I didn't care much for Jackie Brown, and the Kill Bill movies were good-to-great.

Needless to say I noticed all the references to his previous work in this film before I saw it in the IMDb trivia. The fact that a character has a ringtone of the whistling theme from Kill Bill, or Big Kahuna Burger is tossed into casual conversation don't really harm the movie from a writing standpoint, but it does do two things. First, it pulls Tarantino's fans out of the scene, and second, it seems self-indulgent. And it is. One or two allusions I can deal with. But they just keep coming and coming and coming. It grows tiresome.

In my opinion what Tarantino should have done is made Death Proof as his own project -- still with all the love for old car movies and whatnot -- but taken it more seriously. No scratched film reels, or missing scenes, or endless self-indulgence. No using the same cops from Kill Bill, no abrupt ending (though honestly I could live with it as-is, but what happens to Lee should be addressed).

If Death Proof was treated more like Kill Bill, it would've been a great movie. Instead of just good.