The Tarantino Experience: all flash and crass sass

Rating: 7/10 (8 May 2004)

A juggernaut of technical wizardry, this Quentin Tarantino film (product?) is winking and nodding but not especially human. A die-hard of the neo-Western (where Japanese samurai flicks meet the new-fangled Old West) and TV action thrillers, Tarantino is the master of quick, canny scenes of carnage. It gets awfully bloody, but not in the NC-17 way. No, Tarantino is much too cute, and his imitativeness isn't exploitative or schlocky (as much as he might like it to be). He gives showy roles to many fine actors, and Uma Thurman seems to inspire him to new heights. But he also gets easily sidetracked and becomes self-enamored of scenes that don't play, plod along or get too cheeky (as with the opening bit featuring Vivaca A. Fox, which is good but not quite as solid as the rest of the film). "Vol. 2" is more story-heavy, and gives the actors better room to emote, but also features lots of outlandishness, sometimes just for the sake of a cheap, quick laugh. The trickery, comic mayhem, wild ambushes and female ass-kicking don't amount to much in retrospect. Both volumes include some lovely moments, successfully lowball comedy, and they refuse to let up, but do they honestly turn the audience on? I felt exhausted instead of keyed-up. "Vol. 1" **1/2 from **** ... "Vol. 2" *** from ****