Review of Planet Terror (2007) by Shri I — 04 Jan 2011

Running concurrently with Quentin Tarantino's Death Proof, Robert Rodriguez's Planet Terror seeks to homage just about every B-grade zombie/virus movie ever made whilst combining it with the same love for guns and ludicrous situations which made Sin City and From Dusk Til Dawn such astronomical successes.

Out of the tin (or in my case, the 4 disc collectors' can), I'm going to throw it out that I found this to be the better of the two Grindhouse films and - before an angry mob of QT disciples show up at my door to lynch me - here's why...

The biggest reason is that eventhough the two have worked together before on numerous projects, Robert Roderiguez and Quentin Tarantino both have very different directing styles. QT directs in a nostaligic fashion where his characters may deviate from naturalism but who always inhabit a reality very similar to our own. Rodriguez by comparison crafts his world around a far more pulpish model, where indeed many of his characters would not seem out of place in the graphic fiction pages of Vertigo or Boom! This uncouthe, comic book style of art has always been best suited to the kind of low grade, crowd pleasing flicks to which Grindhouses are more commonly associated. Therefore, it would be something of an inevitablitiy that Robert Roderiguez would have more success, since his still is better suited to pulling out all the stops.

The performances were universally overstated (as expected) with the notable exceptions of Rose McGowan and Josh Brolin. McGowan fairs the best with what she is given. Granted, her pole dancing title sequence is still nothing compared to Salma Hayek in From Dusk Til Dawn but she still deserves kudos, considering that she has to share most of her screen time with Freddy 'I'm the hero so I talk like I got throat cancer' Rodriguez, and play a character which only has one leg (though admittedly the M4A1 prosthetic was cool, if highly impractical). Beyond McGowan's main narrative and Brolin's rather relationship with his cheating anaesthetist wife - who turns out to be Earl McGraw's little girl!?! - there isn't really much story to talk about. But then, this is supposed to be about grand spectacle, not people.

And that's what Planet Terror is all about; heavy production design, icky special effects, gun porn and the chance to see hot babes kicking ass. Add to this the appearance of action veterans Micheal Biehn and Bruce Willis for the extra hardarse factorand a guest cameo by non-actor Fergie and the film definitely has all the staple elements of a commercial hit, regardless of what critics might say.

And now for the film's many bad points. The biggest criticism of Planet Terror is that it tries so hard to emulate its source material that it winds up adopting many of its ailments. Particularly annoying was the 'missing reel' sequence which kicks in (predictably) in the height of the obligatory sex scene and cuts out several crucial plot points so that as an audience member you will need to take a minute to try and register what you've missed (or rather been denied). Jeff Fahey also deserves a mention for being unbelievable annoying as a barbecue obsessed restauranteer. Though this character does eventually wind up playing martyr, one can easily watch his performance secretly wanting to clout Senor Rodriguez for creating such an annoying comic relief who detracts so heavily from the action/horror experience.

Planet Terror won't win awards. It won't change your life and it won't be considered anything more than a guilty pleasure. In conclusion it has instead displaced From Dusk Til Dawn as Robert Roderiguez's moral outrage picture. My advise: come for the hype. Stay for the VFX and production design. To hell with high art! This is just good old fashioned fun!!!