The 1970s martial arts movie receives a makeover thanks to Quentin Tarantino. After drawing on the Blaxploitation genre for his stunning third feature Jackie Brown, Tarantino looked back to another beloved genre of his youth. Uma Thurman plays the avenging angel, a former member of a lethal assassin squad led by the mysterious Bill. Vol 1 of Tarantino’s sword-wielding epic introduces us to this world through a series of chapters, some in flashback – and one in blood-splattered anime – while others unfold in the present, though not in chronological order. The reason for the main protagonist’s betrayal by her former colleagues is a mystery, but their fate seems sealed. If hell hath no fury like a woman’s wrath, wait till that wrathful avenger is carrying a specially designed blade! Thurman has rarely been better. Lucy Liu exudes a killer cool and there are great cameos, most notably by 1970s martial arts movie icon Sonny Chiba, playing legendary sword maker Hattori Hanzo.