Movie Review: Death Proof (2007)

The movie stars Kurt Russell, Zoe Bell, Rosario Dawson, Rose McGowan and Jordan Ladd.

I had never heard of this film until a couple nights ago, when I came across it on one of our movie channels. It sounded intriguing, so I ended up recording it and my wife and I watched it last night. Unfortunately, while the movie wasn't bad, it also wasn't what I was expecting it to be.

There were a couple things I found I did like about this movie. One of them was the way it was made to look like a 1970s (or early 80s) exploitation film, complete with cars and other items (such as records) from that era, despite still keeping some modern-day conveniences like cell phones. While that isn't something that would necessarily make me love a movie (or hate it for that matter), I did appreciate the uniqueness.

I also thought the idea of a mysterious stuntman stalking and killing women with his car, even though it did mean some danger to himself in the process, was a good plot idea. In particular, I liked how the movie never reveals exactly why he does it, something that does give the movie a little extra creepiness.

Of course, it helped having someone like Kurt Russell playing the part because he managed to pull off the whole "evil but likable" role effectively. Without that, I'm not sure the character would have had the same impact.

The two big crash/chase scenes are also very entertaining to watch, especially the one at the end of the film, which has a few unexpected twists in it. Those were definitely memorable.

My biggest problem with this film, and one of the biggest reasons I didn't enjoy it as much as I probably should have (especially considering what I just said above), is the way it spends a little too much time introducing us to the stunt driver's intended victims. As I said before, the chase scenes are exciting. But, to get to those, you have to sit through what seems like never-ending drinking scenes, sexual references and a variety of other things that have nothing to do with the main plot.

As a result of this, while there were some exciting scenes in the movie, the entire film is actually a little dull, to the point I sincerely considered turning it off about 15 minutes into it. And, while I did ultimately watch the entire movie, I wasn't as impressed as I thought I would be.

The movie wasn't bad. But, because there seems to be more character introduction than actual action, it wasn't as good as I was expecting and is not a movie everyone will enjoy.

My Grade: C