A trivial movie, in more ways than one

Rating: 6/10 (28 April 2004)

Though visually enchanting, I fear I must join the army of those who complain that there is no movie here to speak of. What we have instead is a series of quotes and references that leave you astonished at the breadth of Tarantino's body of trivia, but with no sense that a movie of its own has taken place.
The visual brilliance doesn't make up for the many weaknesses of the movie. The characters are thinner than the anime and chop-socky movies he is saluting, the non-linearity of the plot eliminates any suspense about who will win what fight, and 5,6,7,8 drove me crazy. Tarantino suggests a parallel between this and the Indiana Jones movies, but accepting that only weakens the movie: there are no human relationships in this movie, unlike even "Temple of Doom," the sense of fun is more pervasive in the Indy movies, and the music... well I'd rather have seen an attempt to create one's own, rather than borrowing from everything in sight.
Perhaps Volume 2 will make the thing hang together better, but Volume 1 is less organic than "That's Entertainment." I expected more than flash from the man who gave us "Reservoir Dogs."