Sunday, November 08, 2009

Death Proof


(2007) ***1/2
Stuntman Mike is always on the lookout for a pretty girl, or better still, a group of pretty girls. His custom car is designed to keep the driver perfectly safe no matter what stunts are called for. The pretty girls aren't always so lucky.


Death Proof is signature Tarantino and for the most part a very enjoyable watch. The action itself is great, with some truly thrilling and even shocking moments; the storyline is relatively straightforward; I dug the casting, especially Zoe Bell and Kurt Russell; the PITA quotient is a plus. On the down side, the extended scenes of dialogue, while often entertaining, seem to bog the movie down unnecessarily. For an action thriller, I prefer snappy dialogue as the seasoning, not the main dish.

4 comments:

JPX said...

I agree, too much yap yap. While I enjoyed it the first time I watched it, I know myself well enough to know that the next time I'll skip to the last 30 minutes. This would have been a better short film than full length feature.

DKC said...

Good to know! I love that PITA has become it's own special new phrase this year!

Johnny Sweatpants said...

Very concise and astute AC. Death Proof won me over when the girl that was left behind as collateral actually said "gulp".

Octopunk said...

I've liked Rosario Dawson in every other thing I've seen her in, but somehow her take on QT's self-indulgent dialogue is very forced.

But in general the dialogue's too thick. I'm not sure which I like better, JPX's "too much yap yap" or AC's "For an action thriller, I prefer snappy dialogue as the seasoning, not the main dish." Both are great.

Malevolent

 2018  ***1/2 It's 1986 for some reason, and a team of paranormal investigators are making a big name for themselves all over Scotland. ...