In the second film of the double-feature horror movie spectacular, Quentin Tarantino tries to maintain the momentum built-up from Robert Rodriguez’s earlier action-packed film, “Planet Terror“. However, Tarantino’s “Deathproof” does not work as well in the overall experiment that is “Grindhouse”, slowing the pacing of the overall experience with a dialogue-driven story, that takes too long to get going. Whereas Tarantino’s dialogue-heavy moments in his other films, like “Kill Bill” and “Pulp Fiction“, are spread occasionally throughout the story, in this film, the overall plot seems to take a backseat to the chattering of the characters.
In “Deathproof”, the main character is Kurt Russell (“Poseidon”) as Stuntman Mike, an ex-stunt driver from television, who has become a creepy old guy who follows groups of young women in his black revved-up sports car. Let’s just say, getting a ride with him is not a good idea. There are several main female characters in the story, none of which has any particular star power except Rosario Dawson (“Sin City”), who is spunky and fun in her role as Abernathy. The women are all friends and spend their time at the bar or in a coffeehouse, talking, or out on the road, driving around.
I count myself as a fan of Tarantino’s style of films, he took Sundance by storm with “Reservoir Dogs” in 1992, flipping the movie industry on its ear, with his perverse, action-intense story and rat-a-tat-tat dialogue, which enthralled viewers. Tarantino has not lost his touch with writing dialogue or his camerawork - keep the camera on the actors and let them act - but there isn’t enough story in “Deathproof” to keep the interest of the viewer initially. Once the movie does finally get further along, it has some pretty intense and exciting car chases, which finally meet the bar that Rodriguez raised in the first film. “Deathproof” is the more serious and dark of the two films, and works adequately enough with “Planet Terror” as part of “Grindhouse“, though a switch in the order of the films may have made better sense.
Overall though, audiences are missing a great opportunity by not going to see “Grindhouse” while it is in theatres. When else are you going to be able to see two films for the price of one, together with some far out and funny fake movie trailers by some of the horror industries hottest new talent - Eli Roth (“Hostel”), Rob Zombie (“The Devils Rejects”), and Edgar Wright (“Shaun of the Dead”)? Being able to groan and laugh at the parody aspect of both films, while also being energized and interested in the stories and characters themselves - there are cross-over characters between films to watch for - makes for a unique experience. Tarantino and Rodriguez have taken a risk by trying this experiment in the days of the modern blockbuster, the least we can do as fans of the movies, is go and see what they’ve done. Its well worth it.
