Graphic violence with best results!For a change...

Rating: 8/10 (18 September 2005)

The very first feeling you have of this movie is that you have been cheated by its trailer to expect some kind of a noir action movie. The very next feeling is intense satisfaction that you were cheated. Because this is "more" noir. "More" action. "More" terror. "More" comic-style. And "more", "more", "more" dark. DARK. BLACK. And on the whole it's a brand new type of movie with no precedence but hopefully a lot of future. There can be no opposition to the fact that it's one of the most violent movies of all times. It pictures violence in a most realistic but nonetheless artistic style and its brutality generates a combination of feelings that under no circumstances can they be disgust or repulsion or apostrophe. So, it is most difficult to try and explain the sensation that overcomes you during this movie. Me, personally, I found myself really puzzled by the fact that what I was watching freaked me out and scared me to death while I really loved it all the same!! In each one of the film's separate stories, evil is at last defeated and good prevails. But things are not really that simple, because life is not that simple. The "good" guys are not boy scouts or angels but probably ex-prostitutes or ex-cons driven by revenge or even - not very politically correct - cops. And the bad guys could be kind of "yellow bastards" and man-eaters or they could just be corrupted millionaires and powerful men of the cloak. Hard reality mixed with pure sarcasm and allegory, inspiring direction, powerful performances, smart cartoon-creation, deep meaning and enjoyable outcome. A movie type on its own, this film is a real challenge for every true cinema- lover. Well Done!!!!!