The Samurai Jack of movies

Rating: 9/10 (11 October 2003)

For those of you who do not get the reference, Samurai Jack is a cartoon whose creator developed it in response to the lousy action cartoons he suffered through in his childhood. You know the shows: where the characters sit around half the time, and only have a small battle at the end. Well, Jack is nothing but action, and the same can be said for Bill.
The plot here is thinner than the paper it's written on, but it just doesn't matter. In fact, that's the point. Why try to constrain all of the great action with something as useless as a plot? Just give Uma a list of people she needs to kill, and let her do it in the goriest way possible. All action films should be so simple. So often the plot just gets in the way, and big showdowns, for example, seem ridiculous and forced, instead of tense and dramatic. This movie was made for the sake of big showdowns, and it delivers. It's refreshing to have a movie dish out what it advertises.
In fact, there's so much action and violence I'm surprised they were able to get an R rating (not that I'm complaining. Personally I think these people need to lighten up more often). I guess the blood spray was so exaggerated that they decided it was more humorous than traumatic. But the body count seemed better suited for a video game, or Antietam.
But I digress. If you want to see action for the sake of action, here's your movie. If the sight of blood makes you sick, bring a barf bag. As for me, I give it two thumbs up.