He could resurrect forgotten films like “Lady Snowblood” with “Kill Bill, Vol.
Soaking up and dressing up what has already been done --- viz., Toshiya Fujita?s 1973 and ?74 Lady Snowblood 1 and 2, much better than cloned Kill Bill Vols. 1 and 2 -- the director writer has progressed, or regressed, from his startling once-innovative playing with time sequence and graphic hurt, carried so far now as to be self-defeating.