A Disappointing, Pointless Mess

Rating: 3/10 (14 October 2003)

Wow, what a disappointment! This is what Tarantino has been working on all this time?!?!
I was completely underwhelmed by this violent, pointless tripe. Seemingly, I would be the ideal target audience for this flick -- I have loved every other Tarantino flick, and am a hardcore devotee of Asian action flicks. Maybe it's because I've seen so many MUCH better examples of HK and Japan-based actioners, but this just doesn't hold up to the films its supposedly an homage to.
The film plays almost like someone trying to do a mock-Tarantino film. The dialogue is stilted and overly ornate, but none of the actors seem able to deliver it with the panache of S.L. Jackson or Pam Grier. The opening scene between Uma Thurman and Vivica Fox is especially poor. Not only does their banter fall completely flat, but having Uma murder Vivica in full view of her daughter before we've been given ANY reason to root for her keeps you from ever really caring whether Uma gets her revenge or not. The scene seems to want to try to get laughs at points, but ends on such a down note that it hangs over the rest of the flick. And what was the point of that tacked-on rape scene in the hospital? The whole start of the flick leaves a bad taste in your mouth.
The flick is also filled with cliched 'Tarantino' touches, from the disjointed time frame to the supposedly funny Pussy Wagon that Uma drives around in. But underneath all the glibness and blood, there's none of the humanity and humor that made his previous characters come to life. Even though Jules, Vince Vega, Ordell and the rest were violent lowlifes, we sort of connected with and almost rooted for them because we got to really know them through Quentin's sparkling dialogue scenes. There's none of that here. It's all of the violence (actually quite a bit more) with none of the imagination or originality that set Tarantino apart in the first place.
There is some good stuff here, don't get me wrong. The climactic battle between Uma and an army of sword-wielding yakuza is nicely done and stylish, and Uma's scenes with Sonny Chiba as the legendary swordmaker Honda are fun. But there's just so much brutality and pain that it overwhelms the somewhat limited good aspects of the film. 'Kill Bill' is a total triumph of style over substance, and it is utterly devoid of 90% of what made Tarantino stand out from his imitators in the first place. If this didn't have his name and reputation attached to it, it would be buried in the trash-heap of failed action flicks by next weekend.
Go see 'So Close' or 'Fulltime Killer' instead, and see what Quentin wishes he could be doing right now.....