I got in a car crash! "Death Proof" Review.

So I got into a car crash yesterday and to be honest I got pretty scared even though it wasn’t really a huge one. I was pretty shaken all day and felt upset even though I should have been happy I was able to walk away from it. So being the twisted cinefile that I am that got me thinking of what film I could review next that has to do with car crashes? I think I ended up with a splendid choice. Now remember do not watch this movie if you want to feel safe in a car ever again but if you like the idea then give this movie a go. You see “Death Proof” is one segment of the double feature “Grindhouse” and it stars Kurt Russell, Rose McGowan, Rosario Dawson, Zoe Bell, and many others. My favorite director of all time Quentin Tarantino directed the movie which is kinda poetic in a weird way if you think that if I had died in my accident I would have at least died in a way that Tarantino would find fascinating, because he clearly does by the looks of this film.

Like a lot of my reviews recently I won’t tell you the plot because that would spoil most of it. What I will tell you is that only one character ties the first half to the second half, because if you saw the two halves separately you might have thought that the second was a great remake of the first one with a small but critical change to the ending. Confused? I know I don’t blame you, but if you are into movies that look like they have been directed by Charles Manson then this is for you.

Even though it contains some heart pounding, hair rising, nail biting, edge of your seat, action set pieces, it is about 70% Tarantino-Style dialogue. Perhaps that number is too much though because the film does definitely get boring at some points. For anyone who hasn’t gotten the memo yet, Quentin is my favorite movie director so I wouldn’t say anything negative about his films unless I really meant it. The good news is that he apparently found his number and scaled it down for his next films.

This is the only movie of Tarantino’s which doesn’t get full marks for me because it is the one that went too far. Not with the violence, or the swearing, but with the self indulgence. It almost feels like he made this film so that he can watch it alone with the volume all the way up and his pants all the way down. It’s not for the faint of heart but shit if you are an adrenaline junkie, a car enthusiast, a B movie expert, or just a Tarantino fan like me then grab yourself a DVD, send any (straight) women to bed and then pop it on and you are in for a treat.

8/10

Who is your favorite director? Do you even have one? Let me know in the comments.