Weak and overrated

Rating: Null/10 (9 November 2003)

I enjoyed "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction" so I thought Tarantino's latest flick would be something that I could enjoy on a sunday night.
Maybe the theater I saw the movie at had something to do with my negative reaction to it. The theater was full of faux hip movie goers who laughed at every cross film reference, blood spewing limb severing and any lines that even bordered on being witty.
This was supposed to be a homage, of sorts, to Tarantino flicks. I guess an amalgamation of B movies can be called a homage, I call it lazy and uninspiring. There's the battle of blue leaves which is reminiscent of the 100 agent Smiths in the Matrix Reloaded.
They are all wearing masks like Bruce Lee in the Green Hornet.
Now, why anyone is supposed to think a reference to the Green Hornet is brilliant or even a sly reference is beyond me. Donning Bruce Lee's "Game of death" suit may have been inspired by nostalgia, but beyond that, it doesn't add anything to the movie.
Plus, the action scenes in the movie are old hat. I've seen these moves before in the Matrix, Blade, Crouching Tigert and even Charlie's Angels. Uma flying through the air to land on a balcony?
Seen that in CTHD. Uma utterint witticisms while kung fuing multiple attackers? Seen that in Charlies Angels. Uma wielding a sword in blurring movements? Seen that in Blade 2. Animation blended with human portrayals of violence? I've already saw that in a movie called Natural Born Killers.
The fight between Uma an Lucy Liu is not exactly groundbreaking either. Two people fighting in the snow? How does this become one of the great scenes in cinema history?
I left the theater feeling like I had wasted my money. I didn't share the gushing emotions of the would be hipsters that left the theater, gushing about how "cool" and "mind blowing" this flick was. The next time it's decided that audiences are expected to hail a below average flick as brilliant..someone be sure and let me in on it.
Because it's obvious that I missed the memo on this one.