shocking

Rating: Null/10 (29 October 1998)

With Reservoir Dogs Quetin Tarantino shocked the film going audience awake with a film that showed a flair for crackling dialogue and blistering violence. A group of criminals get together to do a heist and it all goes sour. The dialogue is foul and fast. The film does not let up, the violence pulls you in. It repulses you and yet you can not look away. The films most effective sequence is when Mr. Blonde cuts off the ear of a captive cop. Instead of seeing the bloody scene, Tarantino pulls away and lets our minds fill in the blanks. In doing that, it becomes a much more gruesome scene. All the ruminations of the main players culminates in a stand-off between Nice Guy Eddie, Joe, and Mr. White. Joe knows that Mr. Orange is a cop, Mr. White doesn't know that and is determined to protect him. Nice Guy Eddie is incensed that Mr. White has pulled a gun on his dad. The scene climaxes as each character lets out with gunfire and everyone goes down. The film ends with Mr. White leering of Mr. Orange's true nature and putting a gun to his head. We hear cops yelling and Mr. White pulls the trigger. A very loud wake up call to makers of films that have no real characters.