Where's Peter O'Donnell when you need him?

Rating: Null/10 (20 January 2007)

Tarantino is supposed to be a fan of Modesty Blaise. He put a Modesty Blaise book into the hands of his John Travolta character in Pulp Fiction and is rumored to be trying to make a Blaise film.
But Modesty Blaise author Peter O'Donnell never let his characters dodge danger by blind luck. Although I admire the slick styling of Kill Bill, the plotting is a disgrace.
His sick heroine kills a hospital orderly, wheels herself to his truck and drags herself inside, then lies on the back seat for hours willing her paralyzed legs to work. Like the cops wouldn't think to look at the dead man's vehicle in the hospital parking lot.
And she arms herself with a magic sword which is so good she can defeat dozens of swordsmen by dancing around waggling it.
The look of this movie is stunning. The idea of switching to manga-style animation to handle the sensitive subject of child abuse is brilliant. If it had been given a clever, disciplined plot, this could have been one of the best films of all time.