20 Action Movies From The 21st Century That Didn't Actually Suck

Quentin Tarantino's fourth directorial effort, and his first in six years, was an altogether different beast from his previous features. Whereas Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown were all dialogue-heavy variations on crime stories, Kill Bill: Volume 1 was a largely Eastern-inspired story that blended multiple genres together to live up to its billing as a 'roaring rampage of revenge'.

Tarantino has always been a filmmaker heavily influenced by his cinematic favourites, and Kill Bill is no different. While the kung fu movies of the Shaw Brothers are an obvious blueprint, the movie also takes cues from genres as diverse as the spaghetti Western, blaxploitation and even anime, thanks to the stunningly animated sequence that details the backstory of Lucy Liu's O-Ren Ishii.

Any movie rooted so heavily in Eastern cinema needs to deliver when it comes to the set-pieces, and Tarantino handles the first genuine action scenes with ease, whether it be fast-paced hand-to-hand combat or the bloody, balletic and simply jaw-dropping showdown at the House of Blue Leaves, with the simple revenge narrative anchored by Uma Thurman's incredible performance as the instantly-iconic Bride.