Poorly paced, self-indulgent, but great in places

Rating: 5/10 (11 October 2004)

This really dragged for the first 90 minutes. The first 70% of the film is largely rubbish. Fortunately the last 30% is superb, particularly the ensemble slaughter and the Lady Snowblood tribute at the end.
Vol. 2 works much better as a film, and this would really have been better as a single 3 hour (or even 3:30) film with the rubbish cut out. The fight choreography is great and holds up well against Hong Kong/Japanese movies - not surprising given who was involved. For anyone who hasn't seen vol.2 yet it's worth sitting through vol. 1.