At least the Emperor is wearing underpants

Rating: 7/10 (30 March 2011)

Pulp Fiction is a masterpiece! No it isn't. It's over-rated. It's good, don't get me wrong, but it's not as good as it's painted. And Tarantino's faults - which become more apparent with every (pretentiously) numbered subsequent movie - are all here on show.
His dialogue is good - it's his main strength, and is correctly recognised as such. But a) it is over-reliant on the F-word (his CSI episodes and Inglourious Basterds show that he can write excellent dialogue without it), and b) it would greatly benefit from external editing: Tarantino badly needs a McCartney to sweeten his Lennon, a Lennon to apply an edge to his McCartney.
His direction is good - he extracts brilliant performances from his ensemble, and his ability to present a truly eye-catching image on screen is beyond doubt. Action is good, effects are good, set design is good etc.
But he comes in for undue praise for other things. Self-indulgence is one - again, he desperately needs someone to take him in hand and moderate some of what he does for the benefit of the film.
Case in point - Pulp Fiction's non-linear storytelling. The zip-rewind halfway through is not some sudden work of genius. It may very well be experimental but, if so, it does not work as well as linear storytelling would have done (which, I suspect, would have involved more work in breaking the story threads into coherent sections which still worked together when interleaved, or else inserting flashbacks). Tarantino has taken an unconventional, but easy, road and, in so doing, has got away with it because of the "Emperor's New Clothes" factor. However, it doesn't make Pulp Fiction a work of genius, it actually makes it a worse film.
Tarantino's lack of self-discipline means that, despite his abundance of talent, his output continues to be over-rated.