GRINDHOUSE: Death Proof! (2007)
After reading a massive amount of GRINDHOUSE: Death Proof reviews stating how plotless as well as pointless the whole movie is, I'd naturally got the impression that despite being directed by one of my personal favorites, Death Proof would suck badly and therefore, be total waste of my time which is why I postponed watching it for years. To think of it, I actually remember seeing the trailer/s when the movie first came out and even then my instant reaction to it was, "ah, shit, Kurt Russel and a goddamn car? SO NOT INTERESTED!" I'm glad I chose to wait because had I watched this movie two years ago, I probably would not have understood its beauty.
Spoilers are below the spoiler warning so fear not, you're (once again) perfectly safe -- or at least pretty damn close to that, anyways :D
For those who don't know what I'm talking about, let's go over this quickly:
->GRINDHOUSE<-
DEATH PROOF (2007)
directed by Quentin Tarantino
"Two separate sets of voluptuous women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his "death proof" cars to execute his murderous plans."
Starring Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Jordan Ladd, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Rose McGowan and Marcy Harriell feat Quentin Tarantino, Michael Parks and Marley Shelton
-- and a whole lot more, so in other words, a pretty damn impressive cast...
(source)
Let's see. If you're thinking this movie will be a blast of constant action, with lots of blood and torn limbs, you're sadly mistaken. Admittedly, when the action is on, it's bloody and limbs are not all that safe, either, but in reality those action filled moments are not only rare, but also just a few. So if you want to watch this movie for the non-stop action, I suggest you don't...
But that doesn't mean it's not worth the watch! No infected zombie-alike creatures in this one, just a cocky guy (big ego equals lots of insecurities, right?) on a crusade to kill all the hot chicks he encounters + lots of witty (and at times, way too long) dialogue. Now, in my last review I mentioned how much I loved PLANET TERROR'S snarky dialogue, but when compared, DEATH PROOF takes the winning trophy. Tarantino sure does love character monologues, is all. Of course, has to be mentioned that even though I was watching the movie with English subtitles on top of the audio, it was still sometimes hard for me to get the whole gist of those on-going rambles because the girls would talk so fast (and use lots of slang words that I was not familiar with) that I simply didn't have time to comprehend everything I heard and read which meant some rewinding had to be done... but honestly, I didn't mind.
Without giving away too much, I'd say the movie both entertained me as well as kept me on my toes (or perhaps that's part of why it entertained me?). Like with PLANET TERROR, you couldn't quite know what would happen though you had your guesses and suspicions and hell, as for great movie endings, this movie surprised me completely! Up until the bitter end, you actually couldn't be sure which way it would go ('cause Tarantino tends to surprise you) so for me the ending was a great mystery (though, as said, I had my suspicions) till I finally saw it. The action we get is, in my opinion, top-notch (and since it doesn't involve guns or knives or the usual ass-kicking that always gets my attention, that's a real COMPLIMENT coming from me). And, really, I have to say this movie has one of the best (and funniest) car chases I've ever seen --- but that could be because the other driver is seriously amusing and also, a woman = GIRL POWER!
Which reminds me: up until now, I've always thought there's no car as beautiful as Dean Winchester's Chevy Impala, but this movie's car-stars become pretty damn close. Namely the lovely 1970 Dodge Challenger that, despite your expectations, totally kicks some butt.
The point is! Do watch this movie... Especially if
a) you've always hated Kurt Russell the way I have. It's quite possible this movie will turn your world upside down!
b) you're a guy. Well, seriously, this movie offers nothing if not never-ending eye-candy in the form of both chicks as well as cars *rolls eyes*
c) you like girl-power :D Trust me, in this one, it's totally awesome.
SPOILER WARNING
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VOkay, the sad part is, that there's no Freddy Rodriguez duplicate for me to drool and honestly, none of the lead ladies (of either segments) stroke me as sexy as hell -not until the end which is when Zoë stole the screen- which I kinda hoped they would, but it didn't stop me from enjoying the movie!
Let's start with the plot-free plot that had me totally hooked and work our way to the cast/characters:
The best part about this movie is that while being totally plot-free (a guy killing girls with his car, girls not liking it and choosing to fight back, period) as mentioned above, it offers us a bit of humor with lots of relationships and characters to analyze. This movie doesn't actually need any other kind of plot or character development, or at least I wasn't left missing any of that. We don't need to know why Stuntman Mike is being such a dickhead and we don't need to know the background stories of any of these girls, either. The pieces we get, they suffice.
What catches your attention more so are the effects. The repeats, the fast skips, the film suddenly looking old as hell and the black and white scene which beautifully divided the movie into those two segments. When I started watching the movie, I didn't actually know the movie would have two sets of girls so the first set's, for me unexpected death, made me go all "what the hell?" much like PLANET TERROR'S fake trailer. It surprised me and in general, movies that surprise me are definitely worth something. I also happened to like the the fact that each of those deaths were shown individually; it really added to the gross-factor and I, yet again, was watching the scene through my fingers. I'd been doing that ever since they got into the car, though, because Jungle Julia's (constantly showing) hanging leg was such a PLOT CLUE that you knew she'd get hurt and some of these ladies would not make it. The fact none of them did, that was the big surprise.
I'm glad they were the set number 1 since I didn't like any one of them that much.
Anyway, more about the characters then;
I read Tarantino had tried to get John Travolta to play Stuntman Mike and since Travolta is my number one male actor, I'm kinda sad it didn't work out, but then again... Kurt Russell did a great job, against all my expectations. Kurt managed to make Mike mysterious and charming (sexy, too, from time to time) which I liked a lot. The thing I enjoyed most was Mike's sudden change from devilish bad-ass to whiny coward; when he got shot near the end, the bad-ass facade was gone and he turned into this shrieking cry-baby who, instead of fighting back after starting the whole far, retreated immediately (while begging for mercy which he'd never shown to any of his victims). Fine, it was three against one, but still. I'm pretty sure Abernathy had a point when she suggested his issue, most likely, was a small dick. But anyhow!
Most of Mike's lines were good, but I especially loved the way Kurt threw theI'm not following you, Butterfly. I just... got lucky. So, how about... that... lap dance?
line. The final bit = love.
THE FIRST SET
(the following intros from wikipedia)Sydney Tamiia Poitier as Jungle Julia Lucai: A radio DJ who dares Arlene to give a lap dance to the first man who comes up to her, buys her a drink and repeats a poem. She is made out to be a "bully" by Pam who tells Mike about their run-ins at school. She is crushed in between the dashboard and her seat, severing her leg in the process.
Vanessa Ferlito as Arlene/Butterfly: A close friend of Julia and Shanna, who plan to go on holiday together after spending a night out. She is the one who spots Mike following the girls but accepts a dare to give him a lap dance. She is killed after having her face ripped off by Mike's tire.
Jordan Ladd as Shanna: A friend of Arlene and Julia whose father owns a lake house they are intending to use. She informs the others it is a strictly girls-only holiday so none of the girls' partners can attend. Not wearing a seat belt in the crash, she is hurled out of the car as soon as it collides with Mike's.PLUS Monica Staggs as Lena Frank: a drug-dealing friend of Julia, Shanna, and Arlene; she is also murdered by Mike with her friends. Her neck is broken behind the car's wheel.
Rose McGowan as Pam: A blonde customer at Warren's bar who needs a lift home. Mike comes across as a friendly non-drinker, so she is willing to ride with him. She is the first woman to die, not wearing a seat belt when he slams the brakes while driving at a fast speed and she hits her head against the dashboard.
I personally more or less disliked each and every one of these ladies except for Pam (you saw that one coming, right?). Okay, I liked Butterfly's attitude (she was kinda funny) in a way and I could even understand her philosophy but Jungle Julia with her freakin' legs was driving me insane. I'm not sure if it was the character or the actress (I've never been a huge fan of hers, honestly), but just the way she was speaking, trying to sound a lot more bad-ass than what she was --- annoying! If the character was meant to be like that, over-confident bitch who thinks way too highly of herself, then sure, that's exactly what she was. But if she was supposed to be truly tough instead of just thinking that she is, then another actress would have been needed...
And as said, the fact she was showing so much leg, all the fucking time, made it pretty obvious she would have to say bye bye to it at some point...
Okay, there was something good about her character. She demonstrated perfectly what a girl (especially after a few drinks) would do with her cell phone; drunk-message to a guy out of sheer frustration. Only she didn't live to regret it the next day (well, of course, her message could have been a lot worse so even if she had lived, in this case, she wouldn't even had anything to be ashamed of. That alone is a shame, methinks!). Plus, she did have some great lines, like:"Black men and a whole lota' mother fuckin' white men have had plenty fun adoring my ass. I don't wear their teeth marks on my butt for nothing."
[to Arlene] What about 'kinda cute, kinda hot, kinda sexy, hysterically funny, but not funny-looking guy who you could fuck' did you not understand?
As for Butterfly, since she was sorta in the spotlight there, I actually thought she'd be the one to survive and kick Mike's ass. That didn't happen, but at least we now know what "the thing" is! Jungle Julia: Okay, we're pretty clear on what it is you didn't do. How bout' enlightening us on what it is you did do?
Arlene: Nothing to write home about. We just made out on the couch for about twenty minutes.
Shanna: Dressed, half dressed, or naked?
Arlene: Dressed! I said we made out. We didn't do "the thing".
Jungle Julia: Excuse me for living, but what is "the thing"?
Arlene: You know, it's everything but.
Shanna: They call that "the thing"?
Arlene: I call it "the thing".
Shanna: Do guys like "the thing"?
Arlene: They like it better than no thing.
Relationship-wise, I liked the "realistic" girl to girl conversations between these three (the mocking, the laughing, the bluntness, the joking, the dirty details, the curiosity) and Jungle Julia's little poem prank was a nice addition -- even though the lap-dance we saw was NOTHING compared to Cherry Darling's pole dance in PLANET TERROR.
In fact, I was kinda hoping Pam would swoop down from the bar stool, go on darling-mode and save the day by giving us a SEXY lap-dance instead of all that awkward butt-wiggling. Unfortunately she didn't. Thankfully at least one of them was doing it right since Russell's performance in this scene was pretty good.
Oh and, did you notice?! The bar scene in which the lap-dance took place and Pam, our first victim, met Mike we also saw a glimpse of the infamous babysitting twins in the background. Too bad we didn't get to see more of them!
(::sigh:: -as for gross, cruel and sadistic deaths go, Pam's bloody one definitely falls into that category... only Tarantino and Rodriguez would make us watch something like that :D)
THE BETTER, HOTTER, FUNNIER SECOND SET
(the following intros, again, from wikipedia)Mary Elizabeth Winstead as Lee Montgomery: An upcoming actress who picks up Zoë from the airport with Abernathy and Kim on their day off from filming. She wears a cheerleader outfit and is left with Jasper after they bargain for the car.
Rosario Dawson as Abernathy Ross: A make-up artist who feels that she is always excluded from the exciting things that Zoë and Kim do. She insists they let her come along and is the one who actually kills Mike with a face smashing axe kick.
Zoë Bell as Zoë: A stuntwoman from New Zealand who visits Abernathy, Kim and Lee on their days off from filming. She is the one who wants to test drive the Dodge Challenger car and play "ships mast." She is attacked by Stuntman Mike when on the hood of the car.
Tracie Thoms as Kim Mathis: Another stuntwoman and close friend of Zoë, Abernathy and Lee. She is persuaded by Zoë to play "ship's mast" and is armed and dangerous while driving the car when Stuntman Mike attacks.
THE BEST RELATIONSHIP aka "the best friendship Oscar" would definitely go to Zoë and Kim. Without their chemistry, it just would. not. have. worked. The scene in which Zoë convinced Kim to doing "ship's mast":Kim: But my ass! You said, not only are we never gonna play ship's mast again, but you also said, if you ever do what you're trying to do now, to not only refuse, but that I had permission to physically restrain your ass if necessary. Now, did you or did you not say that?
Zoë: Well...
Kim: No, no no no, answer the question mother fucker, did you or did you not say that?
Zoë: Yes, I said that, however...
Kim: Whatever with your however.
Zoë: I know I said it, and I know I meant it.
Kim: Damn skippy you meant it!
Zoë: But when I said it, I didn't mean in America.
Kim: Oh, nigga please!
Zoë: Really, I meant we should never play ship's mast again in New Zealand or in Australia.
Kim: You are such a liar!
Zoë: Look, I know what I said when I said it. But when I said it, I didn't know I'd ever come to America. And when I said it, if had I known that I was gonna come to America and have the chance to play ship's mast on a fucking Vanishing Point Challenger, I would have added a however. Right?
Kim: Okay, oddly enough, I actually understood that, however, just because you've talked yourself into some stupid shit, doesn't mean I'm out of my Goddamned mind. You need two people to play ship's mast, and I ain't playing.
Zoë: I'll be your best friend!
Kim: I don't need me no best friend who lives on the other side of planet Earth.
Zoë: I'll crack your back.
Kim: You'll crack it anyway.
Zoë: Well, of course I'll crack it anyway. But now, while I'm here, I'll be your back cracking slave. Whenever you want it, you got it, you don't even have to ask for it. You just order me to do it, just be like, "bitch, get over here and get busy!"
Kim: You crack my back, you give me foot massages, and after a shower, you put moisturizer on my butt.
Zoë: Deal.
They were awesome (especially Zoë!) and the way the dialogue just flowed in that scene was sooo beautiful! You don't usually see cool, strong willed and just strong stuntwomen in movies, much less those who actually fancy cars so yeah, I definitely liked the way these characters had been built :D
But... I still haven't figured out why Abernathy was in this movie, though, as she served no purpose - fine, she talked the Dodge Challenger's owner into letting the girls test-drive the car by themselves, but other than that, why the hell was she there? I'm pretty sure either Zoë or Kim could have done the talking too and we'd still seen the awesome *GULP* moment
that restored my faith in Mary Elizabeth Winstead (Her performance in SKY HIGH left a bad taste in my mouth). I genuinely think it'd been way funnier if she had been in the car instead of Abernathy because at least she could crack some stupid-ass jokes, and better yet, all (seemingly) unintentional.
THE AMAZING CAR CHASE
Okay, when the second set of girls were in that cafe having a conversation about the "ditch" (as well as the gun XD)---Zoë: I remember taking a step, looking down, just as I'm thinking "Oh, there's that ditch everyone was talking about!" bam, I'm in the fucking ditch, you know?
Lee: So what happened?
Abernathy: What, with Zoë the cat? Nothing. If I fell in that fucking thing, they would have had to helicopter me out of there. Zoë just lands on her fucking feet. But then later, I started feeling a little down about myself. I mean, Zoë falls in the ditch and it's nothing, we're laughing about it. If I fell in that fucking thing, I probably would have been fucking paralyzed.
Lee: Oh, well you can't think like that. You know, we all have our individual talents, and that just happens to be one of Zoë's.
Kim: Well, physically speaking, Zoë is amazing. I mean, agility, reflexes, nimbleness, there's few human beings who could fuck with Zoë on that front.
Zoë: Aw, Kim, I like you too.
Kim: Having said that, before you get too envious of Zoë's prowess, you're missing the most important part of that story. You didn't fall in the ditch, Zoë did. Zoë even knew there was a ditch there because you told her and she still fell in it. So, Lee's right, we all have our talents.
Zoë: Hey, I resemble that remark.
---I had no idea how it would, in the end, be tied to the car chase. At the time, the conversation seemed rather meaningless, as if it was there just to show us how these girls interact. I was so sure Zoë was DEAD after Mike tried and assaulted them with his car, but had I understood the conversation was actually a PLOT CLUE, her surviving the crash would not have surprised me the way it did. Her "I'M OKAY" had me laughing just out of sheer shock, haha.
Have to say, I really enjoyed Kim's near crazy behavior XD
Only Zoë Bell can pull off this stunt and better yet, survive it, too -- seriously :D It also makes perfect sense why she got so pissed off and attacked Mike in return. I suspect I wouldn't have been that happy, either, after something like that...
THE ENDING
I loved watching the girls (even though Abernathy was there, trying to ruin it for me) fight back and Zoë turning all bad-ass with the steel pipe was so damn entertaining! She was hot, in fact.
The best part about the ending, besides Stuntman Mike whining like a little girl, was that I actually wasn't sure which team would win. I mean, the girls were obviously kicking ass all the sudden and the big bad Stuntman Mike turned out to be one cowardly wussy but still, I was half-expecting Tarantino to fuck with us and have the bad guy win by having the girls face a horrible, accidental, death or something. Gotta admit that I'm glad it didn't end that way!
Another thing... I actually liked the blunt way the movie ended. Okay, fine, I would have liked to know what happened to Lee (did she get to kick some ass, too?) and you know, it would have been fun to know what the owner of the wrecked car had to say, but in the end, none of that really mattered anyways. The girls won, WOHOOO! *victory cheer*
So, yeah, I will definitely be watching this one again :) Comparing PLANET TERROR and DEATH PROOF would be pointless because these two directors both have their own styles and specialties; Rodriguez's amazingly done action balances Tarantino's love for word-game dialogue and when put together in the form of two great movies, the movie experiences are nothing but entertainingly different! I can't say which one I liked better, in fact.
Again, I'm sure I forgot to mention a lot of moments and cool aspects the movie had, but whatever. So, how about you, liked it, hated it, never seen it? *curious*