All or Nothing
Written: Apr 17 '07
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Product Rating:
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| Bang For The Buck |
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Pros: Two movies for the price of one, innovative, hilarious, edge-of-your-seat fun
Cons: Death Proof took a bit to get started, filtering techniques in Planet Terror
The Bottom Line: Everything's been done before in the cinema, but Grindhouse blew away my expectations and made me think that originality isn't dead yet.
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| JiggyJay's Full Review: Grindhouse |
One of the biggest privileges that Americans have is the ability to go out to the movie theatre to see a brand new movie—it’s one of the best traditions available to us and I take full advantage of this past time many times a month. But as of late, the seemingly interesting movies have sort of withered away. That was…until Grindhouse.
Movie theatres have changed. Very rarely do we find drive-ins and rarer than that is the illusive double-feature; the ability to go see two movies in the theatre for the price of one admission. When I first heard the concept of Grindhouse let alone the fact that the two directors helming the project are two of the biggest troublemakers (no pun intended) of our time, you could count me in.
Essentially what you have in Grindhouse are two smutty films, which pay homage to the films that inspired them. Robert Rodriguez has Planet Terror, which is a cheesy zombie B-movie epic with laughable moments and a ridiculously gory approach. On the other side of the boat, you have cultural icon Quentin Tarantino with his gripping action thriller Death Proof that’s like a heart attack on wheels.
The first film is directed by Robert Rodriguez (of recent and deserving Sin City fame). Called Planet Terror, it is about an outbreak in Texas turning everyone into zombies with a sheriff department and some unlikely outcasts (a mysterious man named El Wray and a go-go dancer named Cherry) being the only hope for the planet’s survival.
The second on the bill is the newest brainchild since the Kill Bill movies by Quentin Tarantino named Death Proof, which has you witnessing a clearly aged Kurt Russell stalking groups of women and killing them with the only weapon obtainable to him—his death proof car, which he uses in a game of cat and mouse, which ultimately ends in the popular comeuppance plot point so commercialized at the time period the two directors are trying to imitate.
Both movies clearly are paying tribute to the films that prevailed before them. What’s so interesting is how great they contrast each other. Both take place in the same area, have a few similar themes, and share some of the same actors (like Rose McGowan). Yet they are both so dramatically different. Planet Terror is much more light-hearted (compared to Death Proof) and has oodles of in-jokes, so-lame-it’s-effing-hilarious moments, and it clearly doesn’t take itself too seriously, which entertained me beyond belief. Death Proof, on the other hand, has Tarantino written all over it. From the deeply realistic dialogue (a la Reservoir Dogs), to Tarantino’s constant reoccurring motif of feet, and to the musical importance and backdrop—it’s all good.
Acting-wise, there are many friendly faces to be seen here including cameos that I won’t be so quick as to give away here. In Planet Terror you have Rose McGowan playing Cherry and Freddy Rodriguez playing the character El Wray. Also along for the ride is the great Josh Brolin (who nearly steals the show with his portrayal as a jealous lover of a doctor) and the very clever Michael Biehn who plays Sheriff Hague. The acting in the movie is terrifically over-exaggerated and corny, but yet it’s so expertly played that it’s not overbearing. A lot of the dialogue and scenes could have been misinterpreted and terrible, but instead the comedic value of it was of great importance and had perfect execution.
On the Death Proof side of things, Kurt Russell does a fabulous job with his role and he’s unpredictable, a bit childish (especially towards the later half of the film), and extremely creepy. I think it’s one of the most original roles that he has played in the last decade. The up and coming Rosario Dawson of Clerks II and Sin City is the main character Abernethy who’s stalked by Stunt Man Mike (Russell) and she is definitely one of the weakest members especially in the conversational scenes; she just doesn’t read Tarantinoan dialogue correctly (in my opinion).
I wouldn’t be able to choose which one I liked better since I enjoyed them all the same. Planet Terror is hands-down the goriest mainstream movie I have seen in ages and satisfied my comedic and violence needs, but Death Proof was just crazy. Both movies to tell you the truth are out of hand. There were many times where my friends and I were constantly shocked at what we were seeing; whether it be from the gore in Planet Terror or the action scenes of Death Proof or the sadistic nature of the previews.
Ah yes. The previews. In good humor, they added in fake trailers before both movies and they are ridiculous. They parody Halloween with a spoof called Thanksgiving and I was busting up laughing the entire time, but at the same time the sadistic nature of it had me gasping. What’s great is that they are directed by other director’s aside from Tarantino and Rodriguez such as Eli Roth (Cabin Fever), Rob Zombie (The Devil’s Rejects), and the hilarious preview from Edgar Wright (Shaun of the Dead). The previews were a perfect addition to the cinematic experience and were fantastically put together.
One tarnishing aspect of Planet Terror was the cinematography. Rodriguez used scratches, dust, and dirt to give the film that grinding look to it (almost like the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre Movie) and while this is a good idea, it was executed poorly. I wish that he hadn’t used digital cameras and instead used an old Panavision and recreated the real scratches and filter techniques. If both directors had shot their movies with genuine cameras from the seventies, not only would it have given the films a better look, but it would have reeked with ingenuity. It’s just a personal preference and doesn’t hurt the film much, but it was just something that I kept thinking about throughout the course of the film.
The only other gripe I have is directed towards Death Proof. This one was dead for the first couple of minutes and I noticed everyone in the theatre becoming bored of it right alongside me, but after the vehicle got jumpstarted and the plot really got into third gear, it left its humble beginnings in the dust. It was painfully slow and I almost felt sorry for Tarantino as if he got the short end of the stick on the deal, but once it really picked up, I was blown away by the masterpiece he created. With the tense and creepy scenes with Russell as well as the ridiculously well-choreographed stunts performed by the real actress (who’s also a real stuntwoman), Zoe Bell, he proved that while he’s gotten older (clearly so by his brief cameos in both films), he hasn’t lost the love and innovation of his craft.
Going to see movies in the theatres can be awfully taxing on the wallet so it’s a fresh take to go see two pictures for the price of one and it’s a wonderful deal especially since both films are extremely well done. After the movie I started thinking about how awesome it would be if this trend caught on and more film studios took this approach, but I think that the sheer inventiveness of it is a bit too much for people to grasp (which holds truth judging from the reports of many people leaving after the first feature not understanding the Grindhouse formula). The movie has been out for two weeks now and is already in 10th place in box office sales, which is a big pity, because now you finally have a reason to go to the movie theatre.
(c) Jason Haskins, 2007
Related Reviews
Robert Rodriguez – From Dusk Till Dawn
Quentin Tarantino – Pulp Fiction ~ Kill Bill Vol. I ~ Kill Bill Vol. II ~ True Romance
Recommended:
Yes
Movie Mood: Die-hard Fans Only
Viewing Method: Studio Screening/Premiere
Film Completeness: Looked complete to me.
Worst Part of this Film: Nothing
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Epinions.com ID:
JiggyJay
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 - Top 500 |
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Member: Jason Haskins
Location: Portland, Oregon
Reviews written: 651
Trusted by: 307 members
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