Soulless (some spoilers)

Rating: Null/10 (5 December 2003)

This movie really sucks. A pile of self-indulgent pumped up Xerox copies. Yes, it is a bunch of masterfully crafted scenes that refer to anime, Bruce Lee films, spaghetti western and a lot of other art forms I like very much. Yes, there was no shortage of cash invested in production and actors. But there is no spirit putting characters together. It's like saying beautiful parts make a beautiful Frankenstein monster. Every idea of those older styles is thrown in, the vengeance, hopeless honor, learning moments, but with a complete lack of mystique and most of the time as a poor excuse for cheap violence and masturbatory Tarantino's self references. C'mon, how much blood does a human body geyser out if you chop it's head or puncture it's intestines? One time adds up, the next spurting bodies were just hilarious. The best parts for me were the choreographed music/action scenes, especially the last huge sword fight (on the verge of being comic too). Ugly detail: poor Michael Madsen thrown in at the end with some more senseless stupidity lines just to keep the tarantinesque air going. Sad.