90 minutes of pure fun

Rating: 7/10 (10 June 2008)

As others have said, this is a movie of two halves. Quentin's and Robert's. There's no doubt about which they are. From the very beginning of them both. The shift between is immediately recognizable as well. I doubt even a little effort was made on anyone's part to cover any of this up. Why should they? They aren't kidding anyone, nor attempting to do so. This is clearly, from start to finish, meant to be enjoyable, and guess what? It is. Whether that makes it their weakest piece is up for debate... I personally don't believe so. It's no secret that Rodriguez does his best work when the writing is done for him... just take Sin City... and he actually emulates Tarantino's directorial style well, keeping his own, highly energetic and cartoon-inspired, under wraps save for his portion. Aforementioned, however, is a more skillful script author(and herein, actually a pretty decent actor). So with them each filling the respective role they fit better, we're set for solid entertainment. And they certainly deliver. So do the effects crew. The music never leaves anything to be desired. The action is awesome. There is quite a bit of blood, gore and violence in this. Straight, single males also have plenty to look at. Clooney is bad-ass, with credit to QT for putting the words in his mouth, literally. The acting varies, but it's never downright poor. Savini isn't bad. The humor is twisted. The tone is cheesy. The pacing is about spot-on. The plot remains interesting throughout. Characters are relatively developed, certainly sufficiently. If you'll allow me to briefly digress... those viewing this and subsequently wanting a similar gaming experience, I would advise against going for the licensed release, of 2001... I did only play the demo, but I was rather underwhelmed. I instead suggest Vampire Slayer, the free and legally so modification for Half-Life, as it is very obviously inspired by this. Turning my attention back to the film... go for this, those who are into Quentin Tarantino's dialog and story-lines, and/or Robert Rodriguez' action and visuals. There's a DVD of this available with featurettes, music videos, the full-length documentary Full Tilt Boogie and alternate footage. There is also an informative commentary with the two who came together to make this, and it's definitely worth a listen if you like this. I recommend this flick to any fans of the people who helped create it, the ones who belong in one or more of the aforementioned groups in particular. 7/10