Mr Tarantino has finally made a mediocre movie

Rating: 5/10 (4 November 2003)

This is the first Tarantino disappointment. After the brilliance of the excellent 'Reservoir Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Jackie Brown', all pretty much instant classics, this seems like a backward step for the director. It seems more like the sort of movie he should have made as his first or second movie, not his fourth.
The storytelling is what's at fault here. It is told in a too straightforward and simplistic style and the pacing is way off for this first part. It is full of pauses and the dialogue is only regular action movie dialogue not Tarantino dialogue, so the fans of his dialogue may wish to skip this one. I do feel that the movie could have all been fitted into one 2-½ hour film if it had tighter editing. Harvey Weinstein's advice to Tarantino not to cut anything smacks more of a money-making ploy than a way to tell the story in a more efficient way.
The acting is generally good but tends to veer unpredictably between convincing and a hammy.
The action is top notch however and Tarantino is on top form in his first movie as an action director, although we are definitely in over the top movie land territory towards the end!
One element the movie does not lack however is style, the blending of the manga anime with the live action works well and Uma does look great in those leathers!
Highlights of the movie include the Sonny Chiba segment and the very amusing scene around the council table in Tokyo that's not for the squeamish!
By the way, if you are squeamish I would advise you either to skip the movie or to not eat before you see it.
Overall this is Tarantino's darkest movie yet and it certainly has an oppressive atmosphere but it is certainly no classic. I am looking forward to Vol. 2 though  it can only get better.