Death Proof (2007)

It appreciate the grindhouse style and what it's trying to achieve. But despite that, the characters are still so annoying. The best part was Kurt Russell who saved the film. It didn't have much of a plot and wastes a lot of time on threads that don't add up to much. A major disappointment for a Tarantino fan but mildly amusing on first watch. Only worth watching if you're a Tarantino fan like me but you won't love it most likely.

You people are crazy who are giving this such a low review. This is cinema classic - fantastic, witty dialog, lots of humor, two amazing action scenes, one consisting of an outstanding car stunt that always gives me chills in the stomach, and a great "women's revenge" ending. I could watch this anywhere, any time and be thoroughly entertained. This movie has two distinct halves to it, and both are great. But you have to enjoy the buildup of we'll crafted dialogue. If all you want is mindless crap, don't watch a Tarantino movie.

I feel bad about this, bad mouthing Quentin because he's one of the few who's been on our side. No matter how much cloggy sentimentalised pap the US film industry threw at as, Quentin would be there giving us the stuff that would make a cold night in with just a stack of DVD's, some beer and maybe a few mates in from the pub bearable. Something went wrong with this flick though, it's still got its fair share of the Tarantino flair; those 2+ dialogues executed through his sense of Jo ha kyu that's served him so well. It' just that it all goes wrong in the third act and that kind of frizzles with the whole vibe of the flick.What should happen is Mike gets away with the second murderous attack after a gruelling and bloody ordeal. And then the alternate ending is tagged on body snatchers style, to show him being dealt justice and our heroines making a miraculous return. Instead though, he continues with girly revenge theme but instead of the righteous vindication of Kill Bill it's all a bit miss timed and weak. Of course my ending is a teeny bit contrived, it's just supposed to illustrate the point that Quentin has maybe swallowed a bit too much of the stuff his critics have levelled at him. As a consequence, lately it seems as if he's been chasing -right-on- credits both with his later films and his public pronouncements.

Death Proof feels like a distillation of the things which make make Quentin Tarantino exceptional as a director. This film is wonderful, but it's almost contradictory in nature in that there isn't necessarily a narrative drive in the conventional sense. The premise and thriller tone might lead one to believe that this film will be a heart pounding thrill ride, but I think that if you walk into it with that sort of expectation you might find at a certain point that you've become a bit confused or frustrated. You might be pleasantly surprised. I was. Probably though, it would serve your experience better to understand clearly what you're getting into. One of, if not the, greatest strengths of Tarantino as a writer is his mastery of dialogue. It is perhaps the most engrossing aspects of his film making and I've yet to see a film of his that wasn't absolutely exceptional in this aspect. That's very fortunate for any viewer of this film, because the speaking to action ratio is pretty high. Easily well over an hour of this film is the simplest kind of scene, which is people talking. Talking in a bar, talking in a car, talking outside. There is no shortage of talking in this film. If you aren't a fan of the way Tarantino writes conversation then this film will be an absolute nightmare for you. For everyone else, myself included, you'll find a wonderful energy and flow to this film which drives it in a way that nonstop action and excitement really can't. There is action though. This film doesn't lack a sense of urgency in its entirety. The more conventional thriller aspects are executed very well, with the sort of recurring winks to the audience which is integral to the nature of a grindhouse send up such as this. The reservation in use of action actually gives the more adrenaline-fueled segments a nice sort of pay off after an arguably excessive amount of build up. If you find that you can't get into the conversational portion of this film, I somewhat doubt that you'll find it worthwhile to sit through it for what remains.I think the simplest way to sum up Death Proof is that it's just watchable. I of course don't mean that in a derogatory sense. It just has such a feeling of effortlessness in how it flows for nearly two hours on almost nothing but people sort of just hanging out and shooting the breeze. It's may not be a conventional thriller, but really, that's what makes it so great.