Planet Terror

An honourable ruler of trash cinema with a lot of ideas, beautiful girls and a likeable cast, but it’s such bullshit that there’s no way we can fear for the characters and no mentally sane viewer will find anything to relate to in that crazy, impersonal world. Some of the characters are great (in particular the brother duo of the Sheriff and the butcher) and as a homage to trash cinema, the premise was fully exploited, but at the same time, it’s mostly lacking the true cinephile satisfaction and the elegance that was present in its sibling film Death Proof. Rather than to the classics, Rodriguez refers to Tarantino or even himself, creating a thematic world that is entertaining, but hardly acceptable. 70% (04/04/2019)

Robert Rodriguez is back just how I like him best. And about time, after the childish Spy Kids and the heavily narrative Sin City. Planet Terror has balls. Bloated zombies, guys with snappy lines and action that I have thirsted for ever since I saw Desperado for the first time. The cast is also excellent. A bad-guy Bruce Willis, the ravishing Rose McGowan and tough guy Freddy Rodriguez who came across in an even better light than he did in Harsh Times and I predict a promising future for him. Thorough-bred entertainment which will please Grindhouse fans much more than Tarantino’s piece. (10/05/2007)

Filmed with love, humor, irony, detachment, and above all, joy. With every other shot, I had the image of an enthusiastic Rodriguez bouncing around behind the camera and looking forward to the next take. However, it occurred to me too often that the times when Robert was able to restrain his ideas and give them a form that didn't require me to protest against overcomplication and lack of taste were long gone. Yes, you can enjoy Planet Terror without necessarily liking it. It flies by, Bruce Willis occasionally takes a breather, Naveen Andrews delivers a great performance, and Freddy Rodriguez shoots so much that it will make your head spin. Add to that perfect scenes like "the most badass character in the whole movie riding a children's motorcycle," and you'll find that the plot just doesn't stop. But it's a splatter film. And with that comes blood, slime, corpses, blisters, more slime, repulsiveness, twistedness, and an extra dose of slime on top of that. And that manages to bring down the entertaining ride to the level of a slightly below-average (albeit perfectly fast-paced) snack. 55% (02/11/2008)

First of all, I am not a fan of the genre and secondly, if Rodriguez had made a really good film, the first part of the sentence would have been unnecessary. I am not a fan of westerns either, but films like Dances with Wolves or Dead Man managed to captivate me. However, Rodriguez did not succeed in any way with his foray into splatterpunk waters. I very much dislike categorizing genres as noble and inferior, as it almost always reeks of snobbery and small-mindedness. Splatterpunk is perhaps the only subgenre that can be classified as trashy from the principle alone without batting an eye. This is because it resigns itself to traditional aesthetic values and is even proud of it. To make a quality parody of a genre, it is, of course, possible, but certain conditions must be met: 1. I must have a thorough knowledge of what I am poking fun at, 2. I should like the genre, 3. I must have distance and perspective on the relevant material, 4. I am very familiar with the craft, and 5. I am highly creative. Spielberg's series of films about Indiana Jones can serve as an example of this, as well as others. In all of these cases, the screenwriters and directors took the dumbest elements that existed in the given productions and managed to transform them into something extremely clever, entertaining, and even artistically valuable. These films entertain everyone without exception, even those who would rarely come across trashy source material by mistake. Planet Terror will amuse genre fans primarily and then those who are fascinated by their first encounter with the splatterpunk style. Rodriguez only fulfills conditions number 1, 2, and 4, clearly lacks distance, and is not creative enough. I don't doubt that he has seen a lot in this field and that he wanted to faithfully imitate the twisted atmosphere of his favorite films. But that alone is not enough for a quality parody. Just like a series of jokes of varying quality is not enough. The average viewer will not appreciate Tarantino's presence or references to certain genre "gems." The film has dead spots and is full of idiotic dialogues (because in a clever parody, they should only look idiotic, there should be a "second line" behind them - perhaps the only moment when Rodriguez came close to that was Willis's outburst in the warehouse). The director fails to evoke and maintain tension, and so on. All in all, it is often just as stupid as what the author wanted to parody. I smiled three times, the wooden leg amused me and it was a joy to look at the beautiful shapes of the girls, led by Rose McGowan. But overall, it that is far too little for a good film. Overall impression: 35%. (08/27/2009)

Where Robert Rodriguez loses out to Quentin in terms of filmmaking, inventiveness, polished style, and form in general, he paradoxically gains in fun precisely because, unlike his colleague, he does not attempt to squeeze “that little bit more" from this genre than it has to offer. This is just a dumb D-movie, and it’s well aware of that, and thanks to exaggeration and reasonable duration it manages to entertain the entire time. (07/14/2007)