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.

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When I first heard about 'Grindhouse,' I shrugged it off as a cheap marketing ploy, but for some reason, over the last couple weeks it became more appealing (probably from the marketing), so I saw it tonight.

In summary: fucking amazing.

For people who don't know, 'Grindhouse' is two ~90 minute movies in one feature, with fake trailers before and between. The first movie, 'Planet Terror' is a zombie movie written/directed by Robert Rodriguez (El Mariachi, Sin City), the second, 'Death Proof' is a... well, semi-thriller, semi-horror movie written/directed by Quentin Tarantino (Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill).

On a first look, it appears Planet Terror is the stronger of the two films, and the main reason is it is 90 minutes of nonstop action and gore, then we're thrown into about an hour of witty dialogue and slow pace, which pales in comparison to the zombie-fest of the previous 'feature.'

I'm partial to zombie flicks, and Rodriguez does it about as awesome as anyone could want. There's straight up some of the most grotesque scenes I've seen, yet they're fantastic. I think it helps that Rose McGowan is extremely hot (this is fact, not opinion). Also, the whole concept of a machine gun for a leg may look stupid in the previews, but I assure you it's part of many laughs, as well as fantastic gore and carnage.

After some extremely hilarious pseudo previews, we get a somewhat typical Tarantino movie, with lots of sharp dialogue leading up to a semi-climactic incident, lots more dialogue, then a big climax. It's a rough transition (as I said above), but it's obviously well done. I'll even admit that though I hate Eli Roth, he was hilarious in this segment. Probably because he wasn't directing or writing, and just playing an asshole. Tarantino has always been great at setting up tension, making his audience just want to scream 'ALL RIGHT, SHOW US WHAT'S GOING TO HAPPEN,' and where most directors would fail to live up to huge expectations, this one's worth being patient. I don't want to ruin it.

I personally think Tarantino will never, ever top Pulp Fiction--but this was a good try. Not even close, but he achieved what he was aiming for, and that's all that really matters, right?

Planet Terror - 9.5/10
Death Proof - 8/10
Thanksgiving--Don't--Machete--Werewolf Women of the SS - 10/10
Grindhouse - 8.75/10

PS. QT can't act for shit.

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