Surprisingly fun time

Rating: 8/10 (20 November 2007)

Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez both know how to make a movie alone; together, they produce magic. Grindhouse is nothing short of a brilliant idea with many more great ideas inside of it. I laughed, screamed, gasped, gaped, stared, thought, and enjoyed. The duo of films takes some stamina to get through, but by the end you don't even notice because its so much fun. Since Grindhouse is really two films, I'll give separate mini-reviews:
PLANET TERROR: Great horror/comedy hybrid. The characters were likable and acting decent (at least better than most horror films). In fact, the characters were great because each one had a distinct, unique attitude around him. The action sequences were phenomenal, if not a little overdone. It seemed that by the end the movie stopped taking itself seriously and threw a few nonsensical ideas around, but considering its genre, thats not much of a problem. It reminded me in many ways of Shaun of the Dead, but even better. It is stylistically bold, and succeeds in being a powerful experience.
DEATH PROOF: Started a little slow, but otherwise built up perfectly to the conclusion. There was too much dialog and chatting in some parts, especially considering that the topics of discussion were uninteresting. Other parts were fine, and the action sequences did not disappoint. Kurt Russel gives an impressive performance as Stuntman Mike, the bad-guy. Overall, the film didn't have much of a moral or logical point, but succeeds in entertainment.
The two films go together nicely and share many similarities (although at first glance they seem to be entirely different). There are a couple deja-vu moments in Death Proof that were cool. The two films also had several stylistic similarities (which was good). The fake previews before the feature films are a nice touch. Before watching, I was expecting Grindhouse to be a little overrated, but it won me over.