Razor-sharp homage or plotless indulgence?

Rating: 5/10 (16 November 2003)

Typically eccentric Tarantino movie (his fourth), about amazon-like blonde Thurman, who was shot in the head and left for dead by her lover Bill (Carradine)  all this on their wedding day! After lying in a coma for four years, Thurman returns to exact revenge on those that were involved. The revenge trip takes her to Okinawa and Tokyo, Japan. At its best, this mind-blowing extravaganza is a razor-sharp homage to Japanese and Chinese action cinema (parts were filmed in the Shaw Brothers studios); at it worst, it's a drawn-out, nearly plotless indulgence. Also, too many questions are left unanswered. Film comes to (bloody) life in final action set-piece in the `House of Blue Leaves'. The interesting Tarantino structure is there, but his style is strangely absent not counting a wildly animated sequence, manga-style. Read more cult movie reviews at www.cultmovies.info