Kill Bill: Vol. I
Quentin Tarantino is one of the most talented directors in the business today, but his reputation is based on only three movies (not counting Kill Bill). This is because Tarantino's films leak with quotable dialogue, sympathetic characters, exceptional storytelling and stylized violence. In addition to directing the cult classics Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, Tarantino has written the screenplays for True Romance and Natural Born Killers. Unfortunately, his filmmaking talents don't apply to his on-screen presence. Thankfully, he doesn't try to act in his latest revenge epic Kill Bill.
Uma Thurman (in her sexiest role yet) stars as The Bride, a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. In the middle of her wedding, her teammates turn on her for reasons yet unknown. After putting a bullet in her head, Bill (the leader of the DVAS) and the bitches leave her for dead. Police officers investigating the crime scene find her pulse. The Bride lays in a coma for 4 years and spontaneously reawakens moments before being violated by a desperate pervert.
Remembering a saying from one of her mentors -- "revenge is never a straight line" -- The Bride makes a hit list in which she'll go after the other members of DVAS first and then kill Bill last. The first name on the list is O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), a Chinese-Japanese sword-fighting master. #2 is Vernita Green (Vivica a. Fox) who has abandoned the assassination game and is trying her hand at homemaking.
KB has many of the elements that made Tarantino a major player. Tarantino, as always, uses dialogue as comic relief, but unlike his earlier movies, action greatly outnumbers conversation in KB. Also, you can identify with and even respect the major characters, despite their chosen profession. For example, Bill wouldn't let one of his subordinates inject poison into The Bride's IV bag while she lay there defenseless, because it would be dishonorable to the DVAS. One way that Tarantino makes his movies unique is his nonlinear storytelling. The events in KB are arranged so that the audience watches The Bride go after Vernita Green before O-Ren Ishii, even though The Bride's list shows the reverse.
KB is not only a tribute to Japanese filmmaking, including samurai movies and anime, but also it is the most violent movie I've ever seen. The samurai sword is the most prominent instrument of death, so you're going to see several limbs being cut off as effortlessly as paper through a shredder. Blood squirts from the wounds in gallons. Several people lose their heads, and one guy gets cut in half lengthwise. After an hour, the violence is almost funny. Almost.
Tarantino is taking some flack for splitting up Kill Bill from one three-hour-plus movie into two 90-minute movies. Some people think he just wants to double ticket sales. In Quentin's defense, it's painful to watch a three-hour movie in one sitting, let alone one saturated with gore. Nevertheless, once you see Kill Bill volume 1, it'll be an excruciating wait until volume 2 is in theatres February 2004.
Send any comments/ feedback to the author.
Extreme gore and alcohol by themselves might make you hurl. When you combine them, you're definitely going to toss your cookies.
It's best not to take a love interest to a movie in which the groom tries to kill the bride during the wedding. It's just a suggestion.
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