The Complete Works of Quentin Tarantino (1992-2009)

Tagline: Pop culture reference!

Curiosity: With the release of the Quentin Tarantino Ultimate Collection, it’s pretty easy to scope out the controversial director’s entire filmography, outside of Four Rooms and Inglourious Basterds.

Plots: Witty characters try to kill each other while screaming racial epithets.

Thoughts: Along with the work Kevin Smith and George Lucas, Quentin Tarantino’s films are essential viewing for high school students. At that age, Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction hit their hardest thanks to sensationalistic dialogue and violence. But unlike Smith or Lucas, Tarantino’s work ages with his audience, but I’ll get to that later.

Dogs and Pulp made Tarantino’s name and, for about a decade, were the only bright spots in his legacy. While he’s written some good scripts (From Dusk Til Dawn), ultimately his vision can only be distilled by the man himself. You recognize a Tarantino film when you see it – the dialogue snaps. It’s rapid fire and it’s packed with allusions to other work, either directly or symbolically. The violence is extreme. In every Tarantino movie, characters are perpetually about to be ousted, from the failed robbers (and one undercover cop) in Reservoir Dogs to the Allied spies and Nazis in Inglourious Basterds.

But you have to see those movies at a young age. Reservoir Dogs has some great, iconic performances, with Michael Madsen as the psychopathic Vic Vega standing out, although Harvey Keitel, Tim Roth, and Steve Buscemi handle themselves nicely as well. But the film showcases Tarantino’s greatest weakness – he so badly wants to make a blaxploitation film. The almighty N word gets tossed around a lot in Tarantino’s dialogue, so much so in Dogs that it kind of derails the film once you get a little older. I always thought Spike Lee played the race card too much, but he was absolutely right when he called Tarantino racist, as far as Reservoir Dogs is concerned. The racial stuff doesn’t really contribute to the plot or all the all-white cast, so its rampant use is off-putting.

Everything else Tarantino did in the ’90s feels like an apology for his glib behavior in Dogs. Befriending Samuel L. Jackson was a good start. It’s great watching the interplay between Jackson’s fury and John Travolta’s more dialed down approach in Pulp Fiction as a couple of hitmen. Their stories bookend the film, which is broken up into three vignettes. In the middle is Bruce Willis, who tends to get the shaft when people talk about Pulp Fiction. And when fucking Bruce Willis can’t get top billing, you know a movie must be good.

Pulp Fiction is undeniably Tarantino’s finest moment in the ’90s. The pacing is tight, the cast is great, and the dialogue is simply amazing. It’s a pity, then, that Tarantino’s follow-up, Jackie Brown, isn’t as good. I found its bloated length, straightforward storytelling, and lack of violence underwhelming in high school, and while I found the film more compelling this time around, I still found it disappointing. Still, watching Pam Grier try to outwit Samuel L. Jackson’s gun smuggler is occasionally entertaining, and it arguably features one of Robert De Niro’s last great performances.

Tarantino needed time to grow as a filmmaker, and he came back with vengeance – literally. Kill Bill parts one and two tell the tale of the Bride (Uma Thurman), a former assassin left in a coma by her compatriots. Having lost her baby and the last few years of her life, she’s looking to settle a few scores, especially with the titular Bill (David Carradine). The first part is all action, the second mostly dialogue, but they form a cohesive, entertaining story, with knockout cast. Thurman stands out, delivering a performance that alternates from grief to rage in several shades. Never has an actor radiated so many different kinds of pissed, and it turns out she’s solid action chops too. On the flipside, Carradine is seductive as the bad guy, leading the movies from simple revenge fantasy to a more complex drama. This is Tarantino’s best work, although Inglourious Basterds might be just as good.



In between the two, unfortunately, is Death Proof. One half of a double feature with his friend Robert Rodriguez dubbed Grindhouse, Death Proof stars Kurt Russell as a murderous stuntman who hunts down women in his “death proof” car. It’s a jumbled uneven mess. Parts of the film nail ’70s Roger Corman-sploitation horror, and Russell is such a good villain and appears to be having a fun time, but the film has too many dry spells. Like all Tarantino movies, extreme violence punctuates lengthy scenes of dialogue, but this time out the lines really aren’t all that clever, which means the movie is often boring. Still, it’s got Kurt Russell. That dude rocks.

Death Proof was just a genre exercise, though. Tarantino got back to more epic storytelling with the war movie Inglourious Basterds. Set over the course of four years during World War II and told in four languages, it’s perhaps his most ambitious film next to Kill Bill. Each scene is fraught with tension. Granted, every Tarantino movie has characters who are perpetually about to either catch somebody or be caught themselves, but it’s most true and effective here. Spies and refugees try to hide from and blend in with the brightest of the Nazi army, resulting in a cat and mouse game where players frequently shift positions of power.

There are plenty of knocks against Tarantino – he borrows a lot from other movies. He exploits racial tensions. He was in Little Nicky. But he still creates adrenaline-filled, witty movies. If you get anything out of this essay, it should be this: Buy Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill parts one and two, and Inglourious Basterds. Everything else is up for debate, but these movies aren’t.

Reflection: I probably could have just done an essay on each film, huh?

Ninja Assassin (2009)

Tagline: Fear not the weapon but the hand that weilds it.

Curiosity: I LIKE NINJAS!

Plot: We open on a bunch of Asian gangsters being super tough. They do super tough things like get tattoos and hang out with their shirts off. And they’re all like, “We are so tough.” But then ninjas kill them dead, establishing that ninjas are tougher than tough guys.

Then this boring agent lady (Naomie Harris, Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy) talks for a long time. I fell asleep during this part like three times.

Then we meet Raizo (Korean pop sensation Rain, who also starred in I’m a Cyborg, But That’s OK. I want to see this movie based on the title alone). He’s hanging out, doing laundry, when ninjas get all up in his business.

Then boring agent lady does more talking for like another half-hour. Jesus Christo.

At some point ninjas fight, and there’s some bullet time involved. I don’t remember.

Thoughts: Ninja Assassin’s opening scene is so awesomely awesome that it probably should have ended right there. Just gimme five minutes of ninjas killin’ shit and call it a day. Sadly, the filmmakers saw fit to introduce this infernal plot in which a renegade ninja and Europol agent try to take down one of the nine ninja clans in the world. At times, the film weirdly recalls Braveheart and Aliens, especially the latter once the ninjas start fighting marines or whatever. Ninja Assassin can’t find a balance between action and plot-advancement, and becomes this bi-polar movie that’s both boring and overstimulating.

But at times it’s gloriously, hilariously bad. The film depends on characters all having birth defects resulting in their organs being misplaced, thereby allowing them to surviving getting what should be some fatal stabbings. The movie also relies on the Inverse Ninja Law, which states that one ninja is a death machine while multiple ninjas become useless and easily defeated. Ninja Assassin is woefully uneven, but when it fully embraces its B-movie status, it really comes through.

Reflection: Could have done without all the awkward zooms, though.

TMNT (2007)

Tagline: Raising shell in 2007.

Curiosity: It’s a belated sequel/reboot. And Leonardo and Raphael fight each other!

Plot: Set some time after Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III, TMNT finds the turtles divided. Leonardo has been in South America training to be a better leader. Donatello and Michelangelo are leading less interesting lives as a computer support technician and children’s birthday party entertainer, respectively. Raphael, angry and impulsive as ever, has taken up an alter ego, the Nightwatcher, and fights crime, unbeknownst to his family. But when the Foot Clan, stone warriors, and 13 monsters from another dimension start making trouble in New York City, the turtles must come together and fight as one.

Thoughts: TMNT is a film of compromise. It was made using CGI so as to cut down on costs. It juggles action, humor, morals, and dark themes. As a result, it’s neither the most compelling Turtles film (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles) or the funniest (The Secret of the Ooze). But it ropes in an impressive voice cast (Mako, Sarah Michelle Geller, Chris Evans, and Patrick Stewart, among others), and Imagi Animation Studio provides great visuals.

The movie’s plot isn’t especially interesting – needs more Shredder – but it re-establishes the characters after 14 years away from the big screen. Better yet, the film offers up a series of amazing animations. Sure, it makes the film somewhat unbalanced, as scenes that advance the story kill time in between stellar vignettes, but there’s a strong series of visuals all the same. The highlight of the movie is clearly the showdown between Leonardo and Raphael about halfway through the movie. The characters have always butted heads, but none of the previous movies addressed those tensions quite so viscerally, and it’s clear that Imagi went out of its way to make this scene count. The brothers battle it out in the rain, under NYC lights, with all their might. TMNT depends on nostalgia, but damn if this fight didn’t get my heart pumping.

Other highlights include Michelangelo skateboarding through the sewers, as well as when the good guys storm the bad guys’ lair. Three years after its release, TMNT holds up well. Some of the human models look unfinished, but the turtles look great, and they’re the ones that count the most. Like I said, this is a movie of compromise. It isn’t the funniest or most action-packed, but it’s also less ridiculous or sterile compared to II or III. I still prefer the first two films, but TMNT is a welcome addition.

Reflection: Ha ha, remember Cute is What We Aim For? Why the hell is Casey Jones listening to them? Bring back the hip-hop.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III (1993)

Tagline: Ancient Japan 1503. Without a map, without a clue, without a pizza.

Curiosity: It features the triumphant return of Corey Feldman to the role of Donatello, as well as Elias Koteas as Casey Jones.

Plot: April (Paige Turco) is ready for a vacation, but she stops at a flea market to pick up some gifts for the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and Splinter before she goes. She picks out an ancient Japanese lantern to give to Splinter, but it opens up a portal in time before she can do so. The lantern switches two people at a time, so when April gets sent to Japan in the 1500s, Prince Kenshin (Henry Hayashi) gets dragged to New York City 1993. The turtles go back in time to rescue April, but they quickly become embroiled political strife.

Thoughts: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles III has better fight scenes than Secret of the Ooze, but that’s not saying much considering Ooze was toned down to satisfy oversensitive parents. At least Ooze had humor, though. III’s dialogue is a chore to sit through, as each line consists of clichés and/or lazy references to pop culture. Why the fuck would the Turtles shout “Schwing!” when April rips herself a short skirt? That’s interspecies erotica you’re playing with, man. Knock it off.

The special effects are also lacking compared to previous installments, which unfortunately coincides with the Jim Henson Company’s departure from the series after Ooze. Mouth movements don’t synch up with voices, especially in Splinter’s case.

Even things that should be boons, like the return of Feldman, are annoying. Suddenly Donatello has SO MUCH TO SAY ALL THE TIME, and plenty of it is stuffed with made-up scientific facts about time travel. III is tolerable, but just barely. All it really does successfully is remind me how much I like the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles.

Reflection: The soundtrack features “Tarzan Boy” by Baltimora. Twice.

Tron: Legacy (2010)

Tagline: Now with 80% less title character!

Curiosity: It’s a sequel to a sci-fi cult classic starring Jeff Bridges. And Daft Punk supplied the soundtrack! That’s neat.

Plot: Kevin Flynn (Bridges) disappeared some 20 years ago, but his legacy lives on through his son Sam (Garrett Hedlund), who occasionally shows up at Kevin’s company ENCOM just to fuck around. But when Kevin’s old buddy Alan (Bruce Boxleitner) receives a page from Flynn’s Arcade, Sam goes to check out. There, he listens to Journey for a while [NOTE: No joke. Sam spends like five minutes listening to Journey before advancing the plot. It’s both obnoxious and awesome], and then stumbles upon a dusty old computer hidden beneath the arcade. A couple of keystrokes later, Sam finds himself in a world his father told him about but never showed him – the inside world of a computer. But things aren’t well here, as a guy who looks like an ageless, CGI version of Kevin is running things with an iron fist. It’s up to Sam to find his dad and get home.

Thoughts: TRON: Legacy gets so much right that it hurts to criticize the film overall. The intro is hilariously over-the-top, somewhat knowingly, and is packed with winking references to the original film. First time director Joseph Kosinski both honors and builds on the computer world, updating TRON’s visual aesthetic. The cast is generally great. The top two performers are Olivia Wilde as Quorra, a lady program who is clearly designed to be a nerd boy’s fantasy but is still kind of awesome anyway, and Michael Sheen as an albino Ziggy Stardust.

Bridges is another matter. He’s a riot as Kevin, since he pretty much plays him like the Dude, but his performance as CLU2, a program resembling Kevin, is distracting. Partially because CLU2’s fascist tendencies force uncomfortable WWII symbolism, but also because CLU2 is meant to look like Bridges circa the ’80s. The filmmakers achieved this effect through CGI, and while Legacy may later be remembered as a defining moment in digitally changing actors’ looks, the film itself looks significantly worse because of it. Maybe it’s the uncanny valley acting up, but CLU2 is off-putting. He looks like Bridges, but not enough like him to seem natural. I mean, he’s the only character who doesn’t seem to have pores.

Still, though, the performances carry a lackluster script, one which squanders a lot of goodwill towards the original film by bastardizing Tron (Boxleitner). I’m not going to get too spoiler-y, but I will say that Cyclops (James Marsden) got a better shake in X2. The script also occasionally bullshits what computers can do – something that the original film did quite a bit but at least it did so endearingly.

That’s why Legacy can boast a strong cast, director, soundtrack, and special effects and still kind of suck. I didn’t hate this movie, but it’s hard to love with its forced ending and underwhelming plot. The Matrix ripped off Tron pretty hard, but Legacy ruins its integrity by ripping off Matrix Reloaded.

Reflection: BUT Cillian Murphy gets in a cameo.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II: The Secret of the Ooze (1991)

Tagline: Back by bodacious demand.

Curiosity: That was fun the last time. Let’s do it again!

Plot: Set shortly after the events of the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Secret of the Ooze finds the turtles and Splinter living with April (now played by Paige Turco, who kind of sucks). However, with evidence that the Foot Clan survives, the group heads back to the sewers to establish a new base. The Shredder (David McCharen) is alive and pissed as heck, and he plans to use the mutagen that created the Ninja Turtles to breed his own mutant army.

And the whole got-damn time, Keno the pizza boy (Ernie Rayes Jr.) is the only one who does any got-damn martial arts.

Thoughts: Everyone I know talks about how Secret of the Ooze is so funny, but no one ever mentions that it sucks balls. The action is too toned down. Casey Jones is gone! The bad guys can’t accomplish shit. A decent chunk of the characters were recast, with the most distracting being April and Donatello (Corey Feldman did not return to the role, sadly). And it’s so dumb that Keno is the only one who gets to do actual fighting. The turtles’ hijinks takes on a frustratingly manic tone this time around.

Gaaah, but Ooze has some great lines, like “It’s quiet.” “Yeah, a little too quiet.” “It’s Raph!” “Yeah, a little too Raph.” And let’s be honest, the scene at the end where Vanilla Ice freestyles “Ninja Rap” is pretty great. As inane as it gets at times, the slapstick humor makes me laugh a lot, especially in the first scene. It is all the evidence you need to argue for or against stunt casting, but why the filmmakers thought Vanilla Ice’s fans would crossover with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is beyond me.

But compared to the original, which was funny and action-packed and kind of, well, good, Secret of the Ooze suffers. Put it this way: I legitimately enjoy the original movie. The sequel, however, is best viewed from an ironic distance.

Reflection: I just wish they would let Keno do his thing, is all.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990)

Tagline: Hey dude, this is NO cartoon.

Curiosity: I, uh, like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, OK?

Plot: The Foot Clan, lead by the sinister Shredder (James Saito/David McCharen), is recruiting New York City’s youth, including a young Sam Rockwell (Galaxy Quest, Iron Man 2), to create the ultimate network of thieves. Standing in their way is April O’Neil (Judith Hoag), the only television reporter with the guts to tell the truth. A fearsome foursome known as the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (Not to be confused with Biker Mice from Mars) chips in as well.

ALSO there is this guy named Casey Jones (Elias Koteas) and he hits bad guys with hockey sticks.

Thoughts: Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles is one of the greatest children films of all time, and here’s why. First, it’s not afraid to go all in. During the late ’80s/early ’90s, there was this push to sterilize violence in youth-oriented entertainment, but the first Turtles movie has the guys actually using their weapons and actually engaging in fights. And it actually looks kind of good, as far as dudes in rubber suits go. I was surprised to see Jim Henson designed the turtles, but considering how good the effects look, I guess I shouldn’t be. What you get here is a legitimately good ninja flick.

Admittedly, though, the film has its flaws, but they only serve to make it better. Movies like this always have a kid character thrown in for younglings to relate to; in this case, it’s Danny (Michael Turney), a wiener with a tie-dyed Sid Vicious shirt. He’s so lame - this kid looks like he would never steal a glance, let alone a wallet. Fuck you, Danny.

There were also a couple “uh-oh” moments, in which I picked up on stuff I wouldn’t want my kids exposed to. There’s a little bit of racism at play here, as well as one gay joke. I was also surprised by how frequently the turtles curse. Raphael’s first word is “Damn,” and he uses it a lot. He also gets in a “bitchin’.” I find it amusing that this movie caused a stir over the fight scenes, but nobody cared about the language. I wouldn’t necessarily call Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles homophobic, but c’mon. That kind of humor doesn’t belong here, partially because bringing up sexuality means we have to deal with how badly the turtles want to mack on April (I hate interspecies erotica), but also because the joke will go right over kids’ heads. It’s dead air.

Most of the dialogue is great, though, peppered with tons of one-liners the whole family can enjoy. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles holds up well 20 years later.

Reflection: For a while, this was the highest grossing indie film of all time. Radical.