A bunch of rubbish with the worst anti-climax ever!

Rating: 3/10 (2 July 2004)

This really is a poor film in my opinion. I really can't understand all the hype. The fighting is poor, and doesn't know what it wants to be. Half-kung-fu, half-comedy, and competent in neither. If you want a decent kung-fu fight, watch a kung-fu film, not this commercialised rubbish.
And the story and characters are pathetic. The premise is simple, a long quest for vengeance blahblahblah. But this simple story is somehow spread out over about 4 hours of viewing time (and indeed, this review could easily apply to the first film). Quite how boring I found this, as well as the insertion of pointless scenes (e.g. Budd in the nightclub - why add it if I can't even empathize with the character?), is indescribable.
And Tarentino's directing, particularly certain camera styles, is also way below-par. If I had seen this film and none of his others, I wouldn't think he was a half-decent director. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction fortunately make up for this, but I feel that those films contributed to the misplaced hype surrounding this film.
And finally, the ending, which can be summed up in one word: "WHAT?!". I was expecting something, anything, from the ending, maybe a huge fight or some half-decent dialogue. What did I get? Some pointless ranting and the worst 'move' ever. The Five-Finger-Majiggy. Not only is this outrageously unrealistic (take four steps, talk for ages, another step and, ooh, he's dead. What a shocker) but it really did let down the film and was a wasted opportunity. I can only assume the script-writer gave up and they had to hire monkies to finish it off.
In climax (unlike the film), a massive letdown. This film doesn't belong in a genre (some people for some unfathomable reason call it a thriller) and doesn't belong in a cinema as far as I'm concerned. I have enjoyed many films which have a lesser reputation far more than I enjoyed this.