Raze (2013)

I KNOW this may not seem important to many people, but I am going to start this review with a warning. Despite being named second in the opening credits, and despite having her name on the cover of the movie, Rachel Nichols is not in this movie for long. Five minutes. Maybe ten. That's it. Nichols may not be the biggest star on the planet, but I like her. A lot. I'll seek out anything that she takes part in. Which made my viewing of Raze slightly disappointing. I was expecting her to have a central, or at least central supporting, role. Such is life, however, and I had to just suck it up and view the movie as it was intended, with very little Rachel Nichols included. But I'm starting this review with this whole paragraph so that others might avoid such disappointment.

And now to the movie itself. A bunch of women (including Zoe Bell, Tracie Thoms, Rebecca Marshall, and Bailey Anne Borders) are held prisoner, paired off and forced to fight one another to the death. If they refuse to fight then their loved ones will be harmed. It's a standard exploitation movie set-up, basically, and there's even a sadistic guard (Bruce Thomas), some out-of-touch senior management (Doug Jones and Sherilyn Fenn), and some lesbian shower scenes. I'll admit it, that last part was a lie.

Despite the tame nature of so many moments, this is a WIP movie that should please fans of that particular subgenre. What it lacks in gratuitous nudity and sleaze, it more than makes up for in the scenes that show some excessive violence. When the fights take place there's no shortage of shots that show faces being mashed and broken as opponents messily scramble to stay alive.

Bell isn't bad as the nominal lead, and she's certainly someone a bit more recognisable compared to many of the other inmates (although the inclusion of Thoms makes for a nice mini-Death Proof reunion, with Rosario Dawson also making the briefest of cameos), but she struggles to carry the whole movie on her strong shoulders. Thankfully, I was easily pleased by the scenes featuring Fenn and Jones, and Thomas was solid as the nasty guard.

Director Josh C. Waller also helped to come up with the story, alongside two (?) other people, including screenwriter Robert Beaucage. It's as thin and ridiculous as a sheet of sudoku toilet paper, which isn't a problem while it rattles along at a decent pace, providing entertaining nastiness for viewers who know what they're letting themselves in for. The characters may not have much depth, but at least a few stand out from the group (with Rebecca Marshall's nutty turn being a highlight).

Ultimately forgettable, and veering between moments that seem strangely sanitised in between the gorier sequences, Raze is still good enough to give 90 minutes of your time to.

6/10

http://www.amazon.com/Raze-Zo%C3%AB-Bell/dp/B00IA1VQBS/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1408892932&sr=1-1&keywords=raze

Death Proof (2007)

While it must be said that Death Proof is much better as part of the Grindhouse experience, where it appears in a truncated form, revisiting the movie wasn't as painful as I had anticipated. It remains the weakest film from writer-director Quentin Tarantino, to date, but it's also full of many delights for fans of this kind of entertaining "trash".

The plot is actually very slight. The movie follows two different groups of girls and shows what happens when they run into a very dangerous driver known as Stuntman Mike (Kurt Russell, the highlight of the film). That's really all there is to it, with this plot providing Tarantino with the excuse he needs to set up some automotive carnage in the first half and a quite superb car chase during the grand finale.

The biggest problem that Death Proof has is the cast in the first half of the movie. Tarantino fills the film with his usual dialogue, but it's coming out of the mouths of young women who just aren't convincing as people who would be experienced and/or cool enough to have such tastes and conversations. Jordan Ladd, Vanessa Ferlito and Sydney Poitier may be lovely young women, but they're practically children compared to the characters normally delivering Tarantino soundbites. Rose McGowan is a saving grace, as is a lapdance sequence and a couple of choice music selections, but the rest of the first half is one big wasted opportunity when not putting Kurt Russell front and centre. Thankfully, things pick up enormously when the second group appears. Mary Elizabeth Winstead may play someone young and naive, but Rosario Dawson, Tracie Thoms and Zoe Bell all feel like adults with some experience of adult life.

The second-biggest problem that Death Proof has ties in with the first, it's the way in which Tarantino seems to be indulging himself. Of course, it could be argued that his best movies have stemmed from an urge to indulge himself, but this just takes it that bit further. The pacing is painfully slow at times, speeches serve little purpose except allowing the writer-director to relish his own dialogue and the casting is hit and miss because one or two people seem to be there for reasons other than their actual ability to act.

These problems, however, CAN be temporarily forgotten whenever Kurt Russell is reminding viewers of just how great he can be at becoming a full character or when cars are speeding along on tarmac. The finale of the movie keeps these two elements onscreen for an all-out, tyre-screeching, fender-bending car chase that feels like it could have come straight from the 1970s. Which means that the film is a partial success.

It still won't necessarily win you over entirely, but Death Proof is certainly a film worth revisiting at least once. Those car scenes, the pretty flawless soundtrack, some enjoyable dialogue exchanges and another top drawer performance from the one and only Mr. Russell end up ensuring that there's at least something to enjoy during its runtime.

7/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Death-Proof-Blu-ray/dp/B001L4I1XM/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1369753520&sr=8-1&keywords=death+proof+blu+ray

Or go for the full Grindhouse package with this - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Grindhouse-Collectors-Edition-Blu-ray/dp/B004C9MC9W/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1370126861&sr=8-1&keywords=grindhouse+blu+ray

The Baytown Outlaws (2012)

I went into The Baytown Outlaws expecting to enjoy it, but I was being hopeful. I didn't really know much about the plot and I certainly had no idea who the main actors were. Eva Longoria and Billy Bob Thornton were the main names being used to market the movie, but I knew that they weren't in it for all that long. Thankfully, Clayne Crawford, Daniel Cudmore and Travis Fimmel in the lead roles are pretty perfect and they help make this into one hell of an enjoyable experience.

The three men I just mentioned play the Oodie brothers, gun-toting lads who are more than happy to kill any criminals that are working in their area. They get the satisfaction of being good citizens and also pleasing the local law enforcement (well, pleasing Andre Braugher's character anyway). When they are approached by the fine-looking Celeste (Eva Longoria) with a job offer that will see them a fair bit richer for getting her godson, Rob (Thomas Brodie-Sangster), back to her. It seems like an easy job, but they have to get Rob away from the dastardly Carlod (Billy Bob Thornton) and then avoid retribution from the people who will come after them, including some dangerous women played by Zoe Bell and the gorgeous Serinda Swan, among others.

Directed by Barry Battles (who also co-wrote the movie with Griffin Hood), The Baytown Outlaws is a near-perfect slice of entertainment for fans of this particular style. But what particular style is it? Well, that's the beauty of it. You get a choice. If you want rednecks arguing with each other then you can enjoy the many moments in which the Oodie brothers get on each other's nerves (though Lincoln, played by Daniel Cudmore is mute unless talking through a speech synthesising device, but leader Brick, played by Clayne Crawford, and McQueen, played by Travis Fimmel, more than make up for his relative silence). If you want something that's more violent and confrontational then don't worry because there sure are plenty of moments that will make the grade for you there. Want something rough and rugged that also has real heart? It's got that. The movie covers all bases, really, and expertly blends thrills with comedy and some real emotion.

This is thanks in no small part to the script and direction, of course, but everything is also given a major boost by the top-notch cast. The actors playing the Oodie brothers are absolutely superb. They carry the movie effortlessly and collectively make for the best anti-hero(es) that I have seen on-screen in some time. Billy Bob Thornton has some fun, Eva Longoria does well enough and did I mention the gorgeous Serinda Swan (who I last saw in the godawful Creature)? In fact, the cast is a veritable who's who of people that you will know from other movies even if the name escapes you. Andre Braugher is best known to many people for his role in The Mist. Michael Rapaport, who has a small, but memorable, role has been in plenty, from True Romance to Deep Blue Sea. Zoe Bell, who put in many years as a hard-working stunt-woman, is perhaps best known to audiences nowadays for her role in Death Proof and even Thomas Brodie-Sangster may make people scratch their heads while they try to figure out what else he has been in - he's been in plenty, but I remembered him most clearly from Love Actually (and it's fun to see that he's grown up, but his face just hasn't changed a bit). Paul Wesley, who plays a non-local officer named Reese out to upset the status quo, was the only face I didn't recognise from other movies, but he has an extensive filmography full of stuff that just hasn't passed before my eyes yet.

Overall, I can't think of any other 2012 release that has the mix of great characters, fierce violence, hot and dangerous biker chicks, corrupt police officers and even a cracking soundtrack accompanying everything. The fact that it also has one of the best title sequences I've seen in a long time is just the icing on the cake. Rent it, see it, consider buying it.

8/10

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Baytown-Outlaws-Blu-ray-Paul-Wesley/dp/B0090JBOZW/ref=sr_1_2?s=dvd&ie=UTF8&qid=1361165344&sr=1-2