Death Proof Movie Review

Death Proof (2007)

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Written by: Quentin Tarantino
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Kurt Russell, Zoë Bell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan, Mary Elizabeth Winstead
Rated: TV-MA
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Plot
Two separate sets of women are stalked at different times by a scarred stuntman who uses his "death proof" cars to execute his murderous plans.

Verdict
Tarantino is imitating cheap action movies that were low budget and arguably bad movies. This wasn't made to be a great movie, it's an exercise of imitation. The last quarter of the movie is a great action sequence that almost makes the rest of the movie worth it, but this lacks story and can be slow because that's the intention. This is an experiment.
It depends.

Review
Tarantino is doing with Death Proof something similar as he did with Kill Bill. He's employing techniques of cheap action movies. Kill Bill does a better job of it, but it intended to elevate the sub-genre while Death Proof intended to recreate it.

This is an homage to 70's grind house movies for which Tarantino holds an affinity. Part of this is that Tarantino is trying to hard to imitate those movies at the expense of making a good movie. The conversations are frequently long and meandering. They aren't exactly boring, but they slow the pacing down.

Kurt Russell play Stuntmant Mike.

This movie is split into two parts. The first is an introduction to Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell), a crazy killer whose motivations are never revealed. The second half is the conclusion to Stuntman Mike's narrative. The first half has grainy video, which is dropped in the second half. There's also the anachronism of modern cars despite trying to make the movie look dated.

The second half provides a bit more intrigue with two stunt women planning a stunt without telling the viewer what it is. I assume stunt people are adrenaline junkies, there's no other reason someone would do this kind of stunt for fun. Zoë Bell plays herself and did her own stunts in this movie. Tarantino first met her when Bell was a stunt person for Kill Bill.

Of course during the stunt is when Stuntman Mike shows up. This sequence is by far the best part of the movie. Tarantino is very skilled, and this is a well made movie even if it isn't Tarantino's best. His skill is undeniable. He didn't attempt to make a great movie, this was an exercise in imitation. Is the rest of the movie worth the final twenty minutes? It depends, but it's a very good twenty minutes. I have to imagine an action movie with a limited budget spent most of that on one good action sequence, which would tie into what Tarantino does with this movie.