Death Proof (2007): Argument II

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Writer: Robert Rodriguez, Quentin Tarantino

Tagline: A White-Hot Juggernaut At 200 Miles Per Hour!

Actors: Kurt Russell, Rosario Dawson, Vanessa Ferlito, Jordan Ladd, Rose McGowan, Sydney Tamiia Poitier, Tracie Thoms, Mary Elizabeth Winstead, Zoë Bell, Omar Doom, Michael Bacall, Eli Roth, Quentin Tarantino, Monica Staggs, Michael Parks, James Parks, Tim Murphy, Marta Mendoza, Electra Avellan, Elise Avellan, Marley Shelton, Jonathan Loughran

Runtime: 1h 30m

Category: Killer, Revenge

Synopsis: Jungle Julia takes a few of her friends out for a weekend (always a weekend) of relaxation and “girl-time” (whatever the hell that is). They stop off at a bar on the way to their destination and meet Stuntman Mike, a retired stuntman from a slew of TV programs and movies. Mike tries to no avail to lure Arlene, one of Julia’s friends, into his death-proof car for a night she will never forget. Now on the road after a fun night of boozing, the three friends make their way to wherever they were headed only to run into Mike one last time.

Tarantino-ing it back a year or two, we now find ourselves following a group of four girlfriends who end up being chased by a scarless Stuntman Mike. Only, Mike did not realize that these girls were not to be screwed with. They completely fubar him and he cries like the girls he fancies.

Review: Even though this movie is part of the Grindhouse (2007) film, it is not technically a horror movie. Even though the movie has a killer in it, it’s more of an action movie. Apart from the fact that I cannot split Grindhouse (2007) up, I have to remain open considering I did do Ghost Rider (2007), being pretty much the same genre.

I liked the story, but I would have liked it more were it not for the sheer volume of unnecessary back-story and girly gibberish. I found myself dozing off during most of the beginning. Just after the head-on collision I thought it was gonna pick up, but I was mistaken. What followed was something like a half an hour of chat chitting (yeah…I flipped that shit) between girlfriends. Then the last fifteen to twenty minutes or so got good. I was so worn out by the time the movie ended that I needed a nap…or and aneurism. The other thing that pissed me off was that the story jumped from now to a year or two prior, not uncommon for Tarantino, but it ends with Mike getting his ass handed to him by a bunch of chicks. Then it ends…it ends…IT FUCKING ENDS! YOU CAN’T END A MOVIE IN THE MIDDLE OF A FLASHBACK! WHAT THE HELL! Whew…sorry for yelling…I know…I love you too.

The acting was…you know what…screw this. I just told you everything you needed to know. I should put a freakin’ spoiler warning on this mo-fo.

Rating: 8. I liked the concept of the killer getting his comeuppance, but didn’t like, pretty much, anything else. Kurt Russell is still the man and love his acting to this day. But you can’t just end a movie in the middle of a flashback and not explain the beginning or the end. We basically got the middle of a possibly lengthy story that would have been too boring for general audiences. Maybe a film festival or something…those people love this kinda shit. SNAP! (8of25).