Death Proof

--Reviewed by Lindy Loo

Plotline: Stuntman Mike is a stuntman who owns a death-proof stunt car, death-proof for him at least. He derives great pleasure from killing foxy young chicks IN his car or WITH his car, either/or. But when he crosses paths with a few bad-ass female stunt-drivers, he'll come to find that it ain't as easy to fuck with the ladies as he thinks.



Scariness factor: Kurt Russell is pretty damn spooky, at least in the first half.

Gross-Out Factor: Holy crap. I haven't a clue how Tarantino filmed the first major car-crash scene, but MOTHER OF GOD is it violent. So seriously: A big no-no for the squeamish. At least close your eyes.



Complaints: Again: loved loved loved it.

High Points: I dig Tarantino--always have, always will. He shares the same geeky appreciation of camp and 1970s films and the pomp and circumstance of huge overdone chase-scenes and characters and everything that I adore myself. He also writes some AMAZINGLY bad-ass female characters, and I love him for it. And all this comes shining through yet again in Death Proof. Kurt Russell is awesomely slimey and yet scary. The girls in it are all f-ing smoking hot and yet horribly and awesomely bad-ass. The gruesome first car crash will FLOOR you with how realistic it looks. Rosario Dawson needs to come over and makeout with me already. And the car-chase scene that is the focus of the whole movie was just SO goddamn good that I actually shouted, YEAH HA HA HA HA! and cheered at the end. Despite watching it by myself. I must admit, I've been a fan of a good car-chase scene ever since my dad forced us to watch the very excellent car chase scene in Bullit when I was like 12, extolling it as the best car-chase scene ever filmed, and then when he forced us to watch Duel within a year or two... And this one is a DAMN good one, especially since it's manned (or should I say WOMANNED) by a car full of bad-ass female leads.



Overall: Go. Now. Rent this *AND* Planet Terror and have one HELLUVAN evening.

Grade: A