One of the best films of the 90's.

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2014)

Pulp Fiction. What is there left to say about it? From it's countless reviews, accolades and the fact that it redefined cinema should already tell many how brilliant this movie is and how it's legacy has changed the face of cinema forever. With all of that praise, many have talked about it and analyzed it to death, so it would imply that there is simply nothing left to talk about. However, as I love this film so much and really like writing reviews, I will also discuss what a masterpiece this film is.
Firstly, the way the story is told is fantastic, as it does it in a non- linear fashion, each focused on a certain bunch of characters and their actions, and how some of those actions affect the other stories. Sure the separate plots maybe simple on their own, but the way they mesh together in this film is quite beautiful. Sure, not all of the stories are great here, as there are one or two slow, boring ones that you have to sit through, but you will be rewarded with other great and exciting stories to make up for it. The fact that each story has about 20-40 minutes of screen time allows each story to breath and leave an impact, something which many of it's copycats (Snatch for example) fail to realize. As it is told in a non-linear fashion, meaning that certain stories happen after others, it allows for many surprises along the way. It is like 4-6 short films for the price of one and most of them are fantastic and offer you a different experience with each story.
The first story is about a couple of gangsters, Vincent Vega and Jules Winfield who are going to carry out a hit for their boss, Marsellus Wallace. What follows is a hilarious mix of violence, comedy and Kahuna Burgers. The same thing can be said of their other stories one of which involves them accidentally killing a hostage and having to clean the car before time runs out as they have parked in a friend's garage whose wife is coming home. This is story is definitely the most comedic in the film as there are the most jokes and humiliations in it, particularly with Vincent and Jules being very humorlessly clumsy. Their most action packed story is the final one where a diner is held up and Vincent and Jules are caught right up in the middle of it, being held hostage by a gangster called Pumpkin and his loose cannon wife. While there is a lot of humour here, it is definitely the most tense due to the situation and how psychotic both Pumpkin and his wife are.
It isn't the most violent however. This is where Bruce Willis, playing a boxer called Butch comes in. After killing another boxer in a fight that he was meant to lose, Butch quickly escapes with his girlfriend and intend on leaving the country. There is one problem however, he left his gold watch behind, an item that has been in his family for generations. So he has to go back in order to reclaim the watch. This is definitely both the most violent and the most surprising story, seeing as how it takes a turn into the exploitation and samurai genres. However, the transition of genres is a smooth one considering how it keeps with the tone of the film and is played more over the top, which considering how this film is partly a black comedy fits.
The only dud here is when Vincent has to look after Marsellus Wallace's wife, Mia. It is such a slow story, and there is barely any sort of excitement in the story despite plot points like an overdose. There is hardly any chemistry between Vincent and Mia and Mia herself is quite a boring character. She's just a bland party girl. Uma Thurman does her best, but even she can't rescue the story from blandness.
However, that is my only compliant with the film. Another good thing about it is the dialogue. Sure, like Reservoir Dogs, it discusses hardly interesting things, but it works and can often times be really funny. There is also a lot more character development in this than Reservoir Dogs, with most of the characters at least having a different personality to them, and as in these stories there are many duos, there is much chemistry between the characters. Vincent for example, is a calm quiet man who really doesn't want to screw up meanwhile Jules is a much more psychotic, religious and dangerous character who is thinking of retiring soon. Butch is a paranoid person who only manages to get through life with his wit and often by the skin of his teeth. Marsellus is a very though person who while a person who shouldn't be double- crossed does care about his wife and what happens to himself, and not even he can protect himself all the time.
There are also some stylistic choices I really like as well. The soundtrack is great (if not as good as Reservoir Dogs), the film has a great loose tone which allows for a lot of fun and there is even some ambiguity as well, which I won't spoil for you here.
Overall, this is by far one of the best films of the 90's and of all time. It is a mixture of many things and many genres which all mesh together to give us a spectacular experience. Despite some problems here and there, this a complete masterpiece that improves on Reservoir Dogs while being great on it's own. If you haven't seen it already, go and see it, because you are missing out on great cinema otherwise.