Grindhouse
Rated: R
This is one of those rare instances where I'm too young to be hip. Granted, I'm rarely hip anyway, but usually my age has nothing to do with it. However, growing up in suburban Atlanta did not give me the necessary film education to truly appreciate directors Robert Rodriguez (Sin City) and Quentin Tarantino's (Kill Bill) tribute to grindhouse cinema. Walking out of the film, I thought Rodriguez had made the more “grindhouse” of the two films, with its constantly missing frames and digitally dirtied print. It wasn’t until I spoke with someone who actually grew up on grindhouse films that I learned that Rodriguez made a film influenced more by grindhouse trailers whereas Tarantino made the movie that was influenced by the full grindhouse picture. But for those of us who didn’t have the pleasure of growing up with this gritty exploitation cinema, does the film function as anything more than a self-indulgent history lesson? Since the two films don’t affect each other (although they inhabit the same universe; Tarantino’s film is a prequel to Rodriguez’ in the same way that Mallrats is technically a prequel to Clerks), it’s best to review each on its own merits: PLANET TERROR 
Rodriguez has the non-stop action film of the two and it's his most tightly-plotted and fun film to date. A shady scientist (Lost’s Naveen Andrews) has unwittingly unleashed a biochemical into a small Texas town and now the population has gone totally zombie. It’s up to a small band of survivors led by the mysterious El Wray (Freddy Rodriguez), his ex-girlfriend-cum-stripper/wanna-be stand-up comedian Cherry (Rose McGowan), and an anesthesiologist (Marley Shelton) to survive and get to the land of the free: Mexico. While the film basically pummels you with violence, gore, and witty one-liners, Rodriguez also takes the time to develop his characters and make sure that you care about them surviving this oncoming apocalypse. While the film doesn’t go much deeper than being a fun time at the movies, it doesn’t have to. It’s simply a joy to watch. THE TRAILERS Grindhouse features four trailers for fake movies in order to better recreate the feeling of seeing a real grindhouse picture. I don’t want to spoil anything about any of these. I will simply say that three of them are good and one of them is bad but it features a brilliant cameo. To say anything more about them would spoil the fun. DEATH PROOF When I said that the two films don’t affect each other, I lied. They don’t affect each other in terms of plot, but Rodriguez has kind of fucked Tarantino with tone. Rodriguez made Planet Terror based on taking the trailers for a grindhouse movie and stretching it to ninety minutes. Tarantino made a real grindhouse movie; the kind of movie where the filmmaker has to fill most of his film with talking because he can’t afford it to be a non-stop opus of titilation.
Lots of people will walk out on Death Proof. If they don’t walk out during the first quarter, before Kurt Russell can arrive in the second quarter and create another classic characer in the form of “Stuntman Mike”, then they’ll definitely leave in the third quarter when Tarantino completely subverts their expectations and goes from making a slasher pic to a revenge flick. It’s completely bizarre but if you stay to the end, it’s much more rewarding than Rodiguez super-caffinated-gore-slushie. There’s a lot to disagree with in Tarantino’s film: the sub-par performances from some of the actresses, the scenes that feel more like an episode of Sex and the City than a gritty exploitation film, and the bizzare change-up halfway through the picture will leave a lot of people saying that Rodriguez made the better picture. But the film’s final act brings everything together and it not only features more excitement per-second than Planet Terror, but actually makes a point. Whether or not people can make it through a fake trailer, 90 minutes of a zombie-action flick, three more fake trailers, and seventy minutes of Death Proof to reach this rewarding conclusion depends on the viewer. You may notice that like that much like the missing reels of these two pictures, I have not included a plot synopsis for Death Proof. Like the missing reels, this is intentional. I want you to get to the end of Death Proof and the less you know going in, the more rewarding experience you’ll find it to be. And at the end of a 191 minute stretch of movie-making homage, you'll need that reward. Words by |
