Unsentimental and brilliant

Rating: 8/10 (1 May 2004)

This movie has a lot of references: the films of Sergio Leone; kung-fu and Godzilla movies; blaxploitation films; Japanese anime; and specifically, the French movie The Bride Wore Black. Even with all of these elements, the movie exists unto itself. There is no self-referential winking; the audience is drawn into the film's seamless reality without question.

Uma Thurman is magnificent as the Bride; her vengeful drive is focused and unsentimental. Her will is unstoppable. While many wrongs have been done to her, she is not a victim; she is a survivor with a wrath.

Besides Uma Thurman, my favorite performances are Lucy Liu (O-ren Ishii) and Julie Dreyfus (Sophie Fatale). Lucy Liu is real and brilliant in the role of the immaculate boss of the Japanese crime underworld. Julie Dreyfus is perfect as the beautiful and multi-lingual co-conspirator/witness.
The movie is dark and gruesome, but not in a salacious way. It works and it works well.