Bizarrely entertaining - loud, trashy, vulgar...fun. Not great, though.

Rating: 7/10 (9 January 2005)

Coming into this I knew it would be action over content - after all it was directed by Robert Rodriguez. The fact that the script was written by Tarantino didn't really mean anything since I had gathered from various sources that this was Tarantino's homage to the "splatstick" genre (of Evil Dead, etc.) and as a result the script probably wasn't so hot compared to Pulp Fiction.
For the most part this is true. The first half of the movie IS really good in terms of cleverness and Tarantino-style stuff - good dialogue, interesting plot and unlikeable characters...unique. The second half, after they cross the border into Mexico - as others here have pointed out - becomes the Evil Dead segment of the film, where everything turns into some over-the-top, bizarre, gross-out vampire blood-'n-guts movie with bad special effects and cheesy scenes. (Albeit fun ones.) Some have complained that the transformation from seriousness to sudden vampire comic book content is too fast and the story would have been far more interesting had it been rooted in realism for its entire duration. Yes, and no. Rodriguez set out to make an homage to the spaghetti western/Evil Dead genre and did so. Tarantino's script is just the baseline for it all. It's like a bunch of friends got together and decided to make a movie - albeit friends with fairly good reputations as filmmakers. George Clooney, Harvey Keitel, Tarantino - not a bad cast! Had this been presented as an epic crime movie Tarantino would have helmed it. However due to the fact that he provided Rodriguez with the script and even performed a commentary track on the film's DVD release (something he does on none of his own directed films) just goes to show that Tarantino wasn't in it for the praise - he was in it for the fun and experience. Ditto for everyone else.
And in that regard this is a pretty fun movie. Like Rodriguez' DESPERADO, it's a guilty pleasure for viewers and cast - a bunch of highly esteemed actors get together and have a blast.
So no, this is not a great movie. The second half could be replaced with a more serious half and I think it would probably be one of the best thrillers ever if this was done. (Just imagine how great it could have been if it had been brought to a poetically justified ending with some sort of Gecko Brothers/law enforcement shootout a la Butch Cassidy/Bonnie and Clyde.) However I understand that's not what Rodriguez and crew set out to do with this movie - they just wanted to make an entertaining cult popcorn blockbuster flick.
And they succeeded. It's entertaining and hip and stylish. Recommended.