GRINDHOUSE
A Huff/Vazquez double feature review
Zachary Huff & Fernando Vazquez
Issue date: 5/1/07 Section: Life & Leisure
Have you ever felt that modern cinema has been in a downward spiral since films have focused on extreme gore and over the top action? Then do yourself a favor and avoid "Planet Terror" at all costs.
"Planet Terror," Robert Rodriguez's half of the three hour epic called "Grindhouse," is a glorious romp through the overemphasis on action films of the 70s often flaunted. A complex storyline with well thought out plot twists? Totally unnecessary. Complex character development? That's totally overrated. An hour and a half of generous blood letting and gross out special effects? Now that makes a great movie.
Oh my, how the blood flies. From the beginning of the movie, after one of the greatest go-go dances ever put on celluloid, violence takes the reins of the movie and doesn't let up. Gunshots explode and explosions run rampant as a flimsy plot is established: this scientist guy (played by Naveen Andrews, best known for his role as Sayid from television's "Lost") has some kind of gas that this military guy (played by Bruce Willis) seems to wants. Bullets fly when the transaction goes wrong and the gas is released.
Then zombie-like people start popping up, apparently the results of said gas. The zombies provide some great special effects, with pulsing skin that tends to explode and an overall dripping quality that could make anyone's skin crawl. Obviously, they have to be killed. Enter a rag tag team of protagonists headed by Cherry (portrayed by Rose McGowan), a former go-go dancer who has aspirations of being a stand up comic, and Wray (played by Freddy Rodriguez), a balls-to-the-wall biker whose wit is only matched by the stone cold vengeance he dishes out. Guns are always available and zombies are always stumbling around, waiting to be destroyed.
Meanwhile, there's a doctor (played by Josh Brolin) and his promiscuous wife (played by Marley Shelton). Throughout all of the chaos that ensues at the hospital, the doctor threatens his wife when he discovers the truth about her plans to run away with a lover… Suffice to say that his chase after her is compelling and frightening, involving death-inducing needles and broken wrists.
"Planet Terror," Robert Rodriguez's half of the three hour epic called "Grindhouse," is a glorious romp through the overemphasis on action films of the 70s often flaunted. A complex storyline with well thought out plot twists? Totally unnecessary. Complex character development? That's totally overrated. An hour and a half of generous blood letting and gross out special effects? Now that makes a great movie.
Oh my, how the blood flies. From the beginning of the movie, after one of the greatest go-go dances ever put on celluloid, violence takes the reins of the movie and doesn't let up. Gunshots explode and explosions run rampant as a flimsy plot is established: this scientist guy (played by Naveen Andrews, best known for his role as Sayid from television's "Lost") has some kind of gas that this military guy (played by Bruce Willis) seems to wants. Bullets fly when the transaction goes wrong and the gas is released.
Then zombie-like people start popping up, apparently the results of said gas. The zombies provide some great special effects, with pulsing skin that tends to explode and an overall dripping quality that could make anyone's skin crawl. Obviously, they have to be killed. Enter a rag tag team of protagonists headed by Cherry (portrayed by Rose McGowan), a former go-go dancer who has aspirations of being a stand up comic, and Wray (played by Freddy Rodriguez), a balls-to-the-wall biker whose wit is only matched by the stone cold vengeance he dishes out. Guns are always available and zombies are always stumbling around, waiting to be destroyed.
Meanwhile, there's a doctor (played by Josh Brolin) and his promiscuous wife (played by Marley Shelton). Throughout all of the chaos that ensues at the hospital, the doctor threatens his wife when he discovers the truth about her plans to run away with a lover… Suffice to say that his chase after her is compelling and frightening, involving death-inducing needles and broken wrists.
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