Grindhouse meets arthouse.

Rating: 9/10 (11 October 2003)

The reviews for this movie are mixed, as one would assume they would be. Some critics have pointed out that the story is empty, that the characters exist as plot points that help move along the next ferocious, bloody action sequence. On the one hand, they are right; the story takes a back seat to the action and the film is based on a simple theme, revenge. Tarantino has no need to develop characters to deeply but when he does, he does so stylistically and with bravura (witness O-Ren Ishii's anime back story). A common complaint is that this film is not like Reservoir Dogs, Jackie Brown, or Pulp Fiction and it is clear that Tarantino does not intend it to be like them. On the other hand, this film deftly welds together yakuza crime films, Leone, Kurosawa (see Sanjuro), Scorsese, Peckinpah, Hong Kong crime dramas, kung fu flicks, and samurai honor stories in such a seamless, visually breathtaking pastiche that griping about story and character development seems to me to be roughly akin to having a wonderful fusion meal in a seedy little joint and proceeding to complain about the decor.
As a child of these genres, having seen everything the late 70's and early 80's had in terms of the B movie, I found Tarantino's bricolage to be amazing. For those who grew up on a staple of exploitation films and kung fu, this film is required reading as an attempt to throw it all together and succeed.