70
The New York Times by A.O. Scott
Insanely likable but suffers from anemia.
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What are critics saying?
100
Christian Science Monitor by David Sterritt
What counts isn't the convoluted plot or exotic characters -- it's the brilliance of Suzuki's cinematic style, articulating the action with eye-boggling color and split-second editing effects.
80
Too abstract and self-referential for the average action fan's comprehension. But buffs will be delighted by a package that finds the near-80-year-old helmer giddily tipping hat to the genre conventions, themes and over-the-top aesthetics that long since lent him mad-visionary status.
40
So now that I’ve seen one of “the master’s” films, I still can’t tell you what the appeal is. Pistol Opera is unique for sure, it just never made me want to follow it down its strange path.
70
The audacious finale, which plays out in a wholly symbolic realm, will leave even the most adventurous moviegoers scratching their heads. See it with a friend; you'll appreciate the second opinion.
90
Village Voice by Michael Atkinson
Suzuki has made the ultimate meta-movie, a self-parodying, surrealist gangster daydream as intoxicating and insubstantial as an absinthe swoon.
60
If Pistol Opera turns out to be Suzuki's swan song, instead of just an anticlimactic comeback, no one can claim he didn't go out on his own stubborn terms.
88
There's style and panache to spare. Mournful jazz adds to the mood.