everything for the eyes, nothing for the brains

Rating: 6/10 (2 June 2005)

I've just come home from seeing this movie, and I'm torn. I can't really decide how I feel about this one. On the one hand, you've got three terribly uninteresting crime stories. All three of them as clichéd as they can get. With characters so void of any emotion, it's impossible to feel for them. And on the other hand, you've got one visceral thrill ride of a movie. A non stop visual treat from beginning till end, that accomplishes what other blue screen movies can only dream of. To me this film is a close second to Tarantino's "Kill Bill 1+2" ... but it also suffers from the same weaknesses. Both films rely on grainy "I'm gonna get revenge" cool talk combined with overwhelming visual treats. Now Tarantino has proved he can pull off violent non story movies, but Rodriguez has always failed to do so in the past (Desperado,...) Luckily with this film he delivers such a feast for the eyes that you almost forget about the non existing storyline ... almost. Let's hope the sequel has a little more depth to it.