A movie review by Dennis D. McDonald
I’m usually not partial to zombie movies but I really loved this one.
It’s loud, violent, gory, and funny. Even though I never really saw movies like this when I was a kid, watching it reminded me of the stuff I thought I’d seen at the Route 40 Drive In Theater outside Columbus, Ohio. I don’t think I ever saw anything more exotic there than a Dr. Phibes movie but, in terms of nostalgia for a time-that-never-was, Rodriguez has movie clichés down pat:
unending gun ammo
splattering zombies
guns
explosions
macho tough guy hero
macho tough gal heroine
clueless cops
pick up trucks
explosions
chaos
cheesy matte paintings
guns
explosions
The bottom line for me was the sheer joy of movie making that comes through on the screen. You can almost see thought balloons coming out of the director’s head saying, “I know this scene doesn’t make any sense at all but, boy, it sure is gonna look good up there on the big screen!”
Sometimes that’s just what you want in a film. That’s what you get in Planet Terror.
