Quentin Tarantino pretty much reinvented the action drama with his talked-about, and talkative films, Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown. His most recent blood-splattering action flick, Kill Bill, has less dialogue and a lot more action. It is certain to shock and weaken some stomachs. But as critics continue to slam Tarantino's latest revenge flick, he doesn't seem to care.

Tarantino told Canada AM's Seamus O'Regan that the film was not created for a "faceless blob" or geared toward a particular group. Rather he said, "I'm making it for me and I'm inviting everybody else to come and partake in it -- and I figure there's enough people like me out there that they're going to enjoy it."

Tarantino has been blasted by the critics for this ultraviolent tale, a tribute to the Kung Fu action flicks he grew up on. Kill Bill stars Uma Thurman as a pregnant assassin called "The Bride." She is shot by her boss, Bill (David Carradine) and her co-workers,"The Vipers," at her wedding. She wakes up from a four-year coma with a vengeance and vows to find and kill all of her attackers (played by Lucy Liu and Vivica Fox), saving Bill for last.

The opening shot is of "The Bride's" bloody, beaten face.

Tarantino must be doing something right, despite the critics. Audiences flocked to theatres to watch constant slicing-off of body parts, stabbings and eye-gouging. Kill Bill debuted in the top spot at the box office.

But Tarantino told Canada AM that there is a difference between real life and fiction. He said, "In the case of Kill Bill, it's so not realistic. It's taking place on its own planet and it's also so playful. There's nothing wrong with cool martial arts movies, all right?"

Kill Bill is heavily influenced by Tarantino's long time passion for spaghetti westerns, Japanese samurai movies and kung fu films.

Tarantino opted to make Kill Bill in chapters. He combines the influences of what he calls, "kick ass action films" with popular culture music and movie genres such as anime (Japanese animation movies).

Globe and Mail columnist Leah McLaren says that the violence in Kill Bill is not new. "Anyone familiar with the Japanese gangster and kung fu genres will know that Tarantino's use of violence is neither original nor particularly excessive."

O'Regan recently reviewed Kill Bill with Cameron Bailey, who gave the movie four stars. Bailey thinks Kill Bill may be worth seeing. It is, he said, "Tarantino doing what he does best and that's being the world's biggest movie fan."

He also said of the movie's violence, "This is actually one of the strengths of the film. This is not violence that is really going to shock you because it is so cartoonish." (There is an actual cartoon that is used as background, for one of "The Bride's" attackers).

Besides being consumed with Asian action and 1970s blaxploitation/funk movies, Tarantino is particularly fond of Uma Thurman. He shoots her face in extreme close-ups and at one point he focuses and lingers on her oddly shaped toes.

Tarantino told Canada AM that he will likely be working with Thurman in the future. "I imagine me and Uma will probably be working with each other off and on probably for the rest of our careers because ... it's great when you actually have a symbiotic relationship with a performer, especially an actor/director relationship."

Kill Bill isn't the first movie the two have worked on together. Many may recall her as John Travolta's dance partner in Pulp Fiction.

But while critics hate the film for its relentless bloodshed, Tarantino and Thurman are ready for round two. Kill Bill's box office success can not be denied.

Tarantino does have his fan base and they will likely return to see what he has next in store for "The Bride" and "The Vipers" when Kill Bill: Volume 2 hits theatres in February 2004.