Kill Bill - Volume One
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Movie Reviews of Kill Bill - Volume One
Movie Review: Here Comes The Bride!
Summary: 5 Stars
One of the greatest films of the past year has to be Quentin Tarantino's epic "Kill Bill - Volume 1." Proudly dubbed as 'The 4th Film By Quentin Tarantino,' the film is both a masterpiece is modern day action cinema and also in popular culture associations. By blending many themes and genres, Tarantino creates one of the most exciting and enjoyable films of the past decade. A film that breaks new ground and raises the bar for future action films whilst simultaneously giving birth to an icon in the form of The Bride.In the early 1990's Tarantino reigned supreme as the ultimate director of pop culture smashes. "Reservoir Dogs," "Pulp Fiction" and "Jackie Brown" made him the hottest man to work with, and even though he only made three films in the space of this decade, he certainly changed the 90's. I was too young to witness any of these movies being only a youngster at the time, but as 2003 rolled on, I knew I had to see his fourth film. Just something about the trailer made it a must-see. Maybe it was the settings? The dialogue? The costumes? The overpour of blood, contrasted with the yellow of The Bride's jumpsuit? Whatever the reason, I knew this would be a good film...
In "Kill Bill - Volume 1," Uma Thurman stars as The Bride (real name 'unknown') who is on a non-stop, blood-thirsty killing spree of revenge to claim justice on the people who left her for dead four and a half years previously. The Bride was once a loyal member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DIVAS) of which Bill (David Carradine) was the boss. She was previously known as Black Mamba and decided she wanted to leave to start a family and get married. Bill didn't take too kindly to this, and on the day of her wedding, Bill sent four of his top murderers to dispatch of her. They nearly succeeded in their quest, slaughtering all the guests. However, The Bride survived and lay in a coma for four and a half years, until she woke up, and - realising she had lost her child - sets out to exact her revenge on all those who tried to kill her off.
This is where the film truly begins, but one must take into account that the film is sliced up into five different sections, all muddled up, which makes it a difficult film to follow in terms of sequencing. After your first viewing though, you'll get a grip of it. Uma Thurman pulls off her role as The Bride exceptionally well and you get a real sense of authenticity portrayed through her character. Helping her on her quest around the world for revenge is the Samurai sword expert Hattori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba). This character brings about the oriental feel to the film, and also humor through his bickering with his annoying assistant. The first scene we witness is the killing of Vernita Green aka Copperhead (Vivica Fox) in her home, kitchen utensils and all. It's a fantastic scene and the gruesome display of blood is shockingly realistic, preparing the viewer for the real action that is to happen. There's also the fantastic scene between The Bride in her comatose state of mind when the evil nurse, Elle Driver, aka California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah) proceeds to inject her in one of the most brilliant scenes of the film. Then there's the gruesome scenes between Buck (Michael Bowen) and a welcome return from Michael Madsen as Budd, aka Sidewinder.
Under Bill are killers like O-Ren Ishii, aka Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu), whose introduction, via the Japanese Animation, was great. After this we see one of the greatest scenes of the entire film after about an hour when Cottonmouth dispatches of Boss Tanaka (Jun Kunimura) who works on her team. He questions her Chinese/American heritage and is unhappy about a female boss leader, and the speech she delivers after his beheading is truly a classic! Under Cottonmouth is her personal assistant, lawyer and translator, Sofie Fatale (Julie Dreyfus), who was present at the slaughtering of The Bride. When The Bride sees Sofie once again, she is pretty bitter about what Sofie let have happen to her. What we hear has happened to Sofie at the hands of The Bride is truly unbelievable.
Another of Cottonmouth's women is a little girl, Go Go Yubari (Chiaki Kuriyama), who is more deadly than she looks. Her school girl sound and look is very interesting, while her confrontation with The Bride highly entertaining and definitely one of the highlights of the entire film! The violence is at a real high here and the ball-and-chain moments are truly tense. The final demise of Cottonmouth is truly spectacular in the Japanese garden, decorated with snow and feeling very authentic and representative of the popular culture of Western martial arts flicks. The fight scenes just before this with Cottonmouth's company of masked men is truly amazing too, but the scenes of black and white are a big disappointment. I know they had to be censored because of violence, but it still takes away from the overall brilliance of the film.
OVERALL GRADE: 10/10
Overall Kill Bill - Volume 1 is one of the best films I think that I have ever seen. It was definitely the best film of 2003, only overshadowed by The Return Of The King! People are moaning about this film containing too much violence. These are obviously the conservative losers of Middle America who think that violence doesn't exist! We live in a world filled with it! God knows everyone knows it in the current world we live in...
People need to stop thinking of this film as trashy, because it is anything but! The film itself is based on old martial arts film and obviously incorporates that cheesy factor, but this only adds to its brilliance. Quentin certainly knows how to make his money as this film was originally going to be a 3 hour long epic, but he decided to split it in two! Therefore, he makes twice as much money at the box office and on DVD sales. He's not stupid! Look out for a Box Set of Volume 1 and Volume 2 some time this year with tons of special features. There isn't many on this release for a reason! The Soundtrack is also excellent, but that's another review for another time...
Movie Review: Butt-Kicking High Art
Summary: 5 Stars
Tarantino teams with Uma Thurman to invent one of the coolest characters I think I have ever seen in any movie to date. 2003's "Kill Bill" is one of the best films of this year if not of all-time and it's a damn shame that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is too conservative to realize how great it is.
Uma Thurman stars as "The Bride" (her real name is actually bleeped out whenever it's uttered) and she's pissed as hell. She is a former assassin apparently on the verge of getting married after running away to restart her life after discovering that she is carrying her boss's baby...only her boss, "Bill" (David Carridine) finds out and sends her former teammates to gun her down at the chapel...but wait, that's just the beginning of the story. And it's brilliantly retold, short and to the point, in a grainy black-and-white two-minute sequence at the film's introduction. Bill is yet to be revealed. All we hear is his voice; soothing, yet dark and foreboding...and all we can see is The Bride's pained face as she lies on the floor, sweating profusely and bleeding to death. She tries to tell Bill that she is pregnant with his child and it's cut off by a bullet to her head.
If you are trying to make sense of anything I have told you thus far, don't. If you think I've given too much away, I haven't. You see, The Bride WILL kill everyone she has set out to kill because that's her motivation. Thurman's character is practically invincible with the skills of the greatest martial arts fighter in the world and the momentum of a Mac truck. It's HOW she kills that provides you with surprise and suspense. And if you're thinking that this is a self-indulgent gore-fest with no plot, you're very much incorrect.
The Bride is smart and cunning and you identify with her cause. More so, I would imagine, if you were a woman watching this movie. In fact, you can't call Tarantino sexist or mysoginist because almost every female character he writes is intelligent (save for Bridget Fonda's character in Jackie Brown, but Tarantino adapted the character from the book, so that doesn't count) and has the ability to play on the same field as men. In fact, Bill's entire staff of killers, save for Budd, is a female so, technically, this is a chick flick but a chick flick lovingly dedicated to a group of women with their arms held aloft with pride and conviction and Uma leading the charge with a sharp sword and a bad attitude.
Like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, this movie is presented in "chapters", making it feel like you're watching a great epic novel come to life in front of your eyes. Each chapter introduces a character, or a backstory told in different types of media. A few examples of this: The Bride's death is recorded in black-and-white as if you are watching history unfold, O-Ren Ishii's twisted origin is Japanese hardcore hentai anime, and characters fight in silhouette against giant screens that, at once, turn red, then blue.
These are truly epic moments told with truly epic style and fashion with giant doses of wit and flair added for good measure. An example is one of my favorite exchanges in the film is between The Bride and O-Ren after The Bride has mowed down O-Ren's gang of fighters (nicknamed "The Crazy 88"):
O-Ren: "Silly caucasian girl likes to play with samurai swords. You didn't think it would be that easy did you?"
The Bride: "Actually, for a second there...yeah...I kinda did."
O-Ren: "Silly Rabbit..."
The Bride and O-Ren (at the same time): "Tricks are for kids..."
Or the soft-spoken and very solemn bragging coming from master swordmaker, Hatori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba of "The Street Fighter", one of Tarantino's favorite martial-arts films):
Hanzo: "This is my finest sword. Should you encounter God in your travels, God will be cut."
The humor injected into each scene makes the fights following them seem all the more deadly and enticing and dramatic. Swords ring and slice, knifes cut through the air, bullets boom, women spit venom into the word, "b***h" whenever they trash-talk, and the blood...oh, yes...I did forget to mention the gallons upon gallons of blood, didn't I? Violent? Well, I still defend this film against those who say that violence is only justified in films regarding religion, mainly because while this movie is violent, you're really not supposed to be taking it seriously. I find it hard to believe that when someone gets a belly-full of sword, then has that sword removed from their belly, that all the blood they carry flies forth as if the stab-victim has a pressurized water cannon readilly installed in their stomach. It's violent...but it's outrageously violent and in that way, that is where the movie gets its charm. Sure, it's pretty dark charm, but it's charm nonetheless.
The great amount of detail that Quentin Tarantino has applied to this film is unbelievable. He borrows from old Sergio Leone westerns, 60's martial-arts movies, action films, anime, and great sweeping dramas. The only genre that Tarantino leaves untouched is the movie-musical and science-fiction although, one would suspect that if Tarantino had enough time, he would cover those, too. I could almost imagine Tarantino ressurecting the acting career of Mark Hammill and casting him as a hip alien who tries to kill The Bride for killing Bill, a friend of his.
How good is it?
Remember that part in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" by Tarantino's good friend, Robert Rodriguez, when Johnny Depp tells Antonio Banderas that he is so crazy for the pork dish he is eating that when he is through, he is going to walk into the kitchen and shoot the cook?
Oh yes, it's that good, but I'm not shooting the cook 'cuz I want more.
**** out of ****
--Matt
Movie Review: I guess Overkill Bill was a bit too self-effaciating
Summary: 5 Stars
I got dragged to this film, by a few friends. I dont typically like terrentino's over the top style of film-making. Not since Pulp Fiction have I ever really appreciated his obvious talent. But then, something happened... During the credits, I saw a name that is akin to a long lost friend... A name i always look forward to seeing; Yuen Woo Ping was listed as fight Director during the openning credits. The Man that taught Keanu Reeves Kung fu, the man that made Michelle Yeoh and Chow Yung Fat Fly in crouching tiger, one of the most skilled fight coordinators working in movies today. I had a feeling I was going to like this film. And I did. The plot is simple, a Woman We know only as "The Bride" Is asassinated on her wedding day. Once a member of the Deadly viper Asassination Squad (DiVAS), she left the team for unknown reasons, and married a man that was not the father of her baby. The wedding party, and groom, are mercilessly gunned down. She is mercilessly beaten by her former teammates, and shot in the head by the leader of the Asassins. A man we know only as; Bill. The true father of the brides baby, which we learn just a moment before Bill shoots her in the head. Miraculously, she survives. Albeit, in a coma. One of her would-be killers visits the hospital too poison her and finish the job, but is stopped by a cell phone call by Bill. He appreciates her toughness, and wants to leave her alive. Which, was a mistake.
The Bride Wakes up four years later. And is not happy, after taking a suitbly brutal revenge on a orderly that sold her comatose body to friends as a sexual plaything, she steals his car, and leaves on a mission of revenge. Thats all the backstory there is on her.
Like Pulp Ficion, Kill Bill is a movie whose episodes take place outside a normal time line. The first scene is The Bride visiting one of her attackers in her suburban home, and initiating a brutal kung-fu themed catfight to the Death. But because of the storytelling dynamic, the first target we see her kill, is the Second she has killed.
Her first target, is the DiVA known as Cottonmouth. A yakuza female crime lord named O-Ren-Ishi (played by lucy liu). O-Ren's background is revealed in a pseudo-anime style sequance detaling the murder of her family when she was 9 years old, her revenge as an 11 year old, and her eventual rise as an asassin and finishing with O-Rens ascension as Yakuza crime lord. Its good too see Some of the villans Being fleshed out, with a interesting backstory that could have been made into a film itself. Also, O-Ren has a entourage aslo worthy of feature film status. A Gneral that leads her yakuza army that all wear kato masks from 60's tv Series Green Hornet, A Bodyguard that is obviously modeled after various anime, her name is Go-Go Yubari. A Sixteen year old asassin, who is cute and sexy as a button in her Japanese school girl outfit, speaks with a girlish voice, fights like a she-demon, and is psychotic as homemade sin. Rounding out O-Rens entourage is her asisstant, Sophie. A french japanese woman that chatted sweetly on a phone while overlooking the bride's vicious beating.
It is the story of O-Ren, Her Entourage, and how the Bride takes revenge on them that makes up most of Kill Bill Vol 1. There is a entertaining sequance, in which The Bride visits a retired swordsmith, now working as a sushi chef, who we also find was Bills Master in his younger days. after this, the story is set up, The Bride is sufficently trained and vengence-starved, and what follows is a Sumptuous fight sequance of swords, fist, feet, and other various objects, that is a mix of Sonny Chibas Japanese sensitivities (karate, kendo) Yuen Wu Pings Kung fu choreography (fighting on tables, banisters, intricate and fascinating choregraphed exchanges) and Tarrentinos requisite over the top violance, with blood splattering with every swing of the sword, until the restraunt where the fight takes place, is more akin to a crimson shower. The arterial spray is so exageratted and over the top, that after the 10th bad guy had a arm chopped off and sprayed blood ten feet in all directions, i didnt know whether too laugh at its increduality, or yawn.
But despite Tarrentinos lack of self control concerning bloodshid, sonny chibs sensibilities when it comes too samurai themed action, contribute to a wonderful final fight Between O-Ren-Ishi, and The Bride. It is this three man tag team of talent, that make Kill Bill So original. It is less a hollywood feature, and more like a good old fashioned hong kong theatrical presenation. Since most of the film is fight scenes, or takes place in a japanese setting, its obvious that Sonny Chiba and Yuen Woo Ping, helped Tarrentino alot to make the scenes as credible, and entertaining as possible.
Also, honestly, if you think Ive given too much plot, as yourself this. It has been widely advertised that Tarrentino crafted this film as a homage to kung fu movies from greats like the Shaw Brothers (Five Deadly Venoms). Each one of these films often followed a plot so flimsy, it could have been a hallmark card. We all know where The Bride will go, and what she will do. But its worth noting, that the journey is one that any moviegoer that Has an appreciation for Hong Kong or Japanese Cinema will want to take with her.
Indeed, I have read that for part two (out in febuary of 2004), tarrentino scaled back the japanee, chinese, and martial arts themes, in exchange for more character development. I hope the loss of these themes isnt too noticeable, for they helped to make this film sort of an Un-tarrentino film. The mixing of american, japanese, and hong kong direction, is a truly fulfilling one. Instead of amusing dialouge and over the top gory violance, we have amusing dialouge, over the top comical, yet gory violance, and noticeable Hong Kong and japanese theatre touches. I hope that none of these are absent for Vol. 2. Or they will be sorely missed.
Movie Review: Butt-Kicking High Art
Summary: 5 Stars
Tarantino teams with Uma Thurman to invent one of the coolest characters I think I have ever seen in any movie to date. 2003's "Kill Bill" is one of the best films of this year if not of all-time and it's a damn shame that the Academy of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences is too conservative to realize how great it is.
Uma Thurman stars as "The Bride" (her real name is actually bleeped out whenever it's uttered) and she's pissed as hell. She is a former assassin apparently on the verge of getting married after running away to restart her life after discovering that she is carrying her boss's baby...only her boss, "Bill" (David Carridine) finds out and sends her former teammates to gun her down at the chapel...but wait, that's just the beginning of the story. And it's brilliantly retold, short and to the point, in a grainy black-and-white two-minute sequence at the film's introduction. Bill is yet to be revealed. All we hear is his voice; soothing, yet dark and foreboding...and all we can see is The Bride's pained face as she lies on the floor, sweating profusely and bleeding to death. She tries to tell Bill that she is pregnant with his child and it's cut off by a bullet to her head.
If you are trying to make sense of anything I have told you thus far, don't. If you think I've given too much away, I haven't. You see, The Bride WILL kill everyone she has set out to kill because that's her motivation. Thurman's character is practically invincible with the skills of the greatest martial arts fighter in the world and the momentum of a Mac truck. It's HOW she kills that provides you with surprise and suspense. And if you're thinking that this is a self-indulgent gore-fest with no plot, you're very much incorrect.
The Bride is smart and cunning and you identify with her cause. More so, I would imagine, if you were a woman watching this movie. In fact, you can't call Tarantino sexist or mysoginist because almost every female character he writes is intelligent (save for Bridget Fonda's character in Jackie Brown, but Tarantino adapted the character from the book, so that doesn't count) and has the ability to play on the same field as men. In fact, Bill's entire staff of killers, save for Budd, is a female so, technically, this is a chick flick but a chick flick lovingly dedicated to a group of women with their arms held aloft with pride and conviction and Uma leading the charge with a sharp sword and a bad attitude.
Like Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, this movie is presented in "chapters", making it feel like you're watching a great epic novel come to life in front of your eyes. Each chapter introduces a character, or a backstory told in different types of media. A few examples of this: The Bride's death is recorded in black-and-white as if you are watching history unfold, O-Ren Ishii's twisted origin is Japanese hardcore hentai anime, and characters fight in silhouette against giant screens that, at once, turn red, then blue.
These are truly epic moments told with truly epic style and fashion with giant doses of wit and flair added for good measure. An example is one of my favorite exchanges in the film is between The Bride and O-Ren after The Bride has mowed down O-Ren's gang of fighters (nicknamed "The Crazy 88"):
O-Ren: "Silly caucasian girl likes to play with samurai swords. You didn't think it would be that easy did you?"
The Bride: "Actually, for a second there...yeah...I kinda did."
O-Ren: "Silly Rabbit..."
The Bride and O-Ren (at the same time): "Tricks are for kids..."
Or the soft-spoken and very solemn bragging coming from master swordmaker, Hatori Hanzo (Sonny Chiba of "The Street Fighter", one of Tarantino's favorite martial-arts films):
Hanzo: "This is my finest sword. Should you encounter God in your travels, God will be cut."
The humor injected into each scene makes the fights following them seem all the more deadly and enticing and dramatic. Swords ring and slice, knifes cut through the air, bullets boom, women spit venom into the word, "b***h" whenever they trash-talk, and the blood...oh, yes...I did forget to mention the gallons upon gallons of blood, didn't I? Violent? Well, I still defend this film against those who say that violence is only justified in films regarding religion, mainly because while this movie is violent, you're really not supposed to be taking it seriously. I find it hard to believe that when someone gets a belly-full of sword, then has that sword removed from their belly, that all the blood they carry flies forth as if the stab-victim has a pressurized water cannon readilly installed in their stomach. It's violent...but it's outrageously violent and in that way, that is where the movie gets its charm. Sure, it's pretty dark charm, but it's charm nonetheless.
The great amount of detail that Quentin Tarantino has applied to this film is unbelievable. He borrows from old Sergio Leone westerns, 60's martial-arts movies, action films, anime, and great sweeping dramas. The only genre that Tarantino leaves untouched is the movie-musical and science-fiction although, one would suspect that if Tarantino had enough time, he would cover those, too. I could almost imagine Tarantino ressurecting the acting career of Mark Hammill and casting him as a hip alien who tries to kill The Bride for killing Bill, a friend of his.
How good is it?
Remember that part in "Once Upon a Time in Mexico" by Tarantino's good friend, Robert Rodriguez, when Johnny Depp tells Antonio Banderas that he is so crazy for the pork dish he is eating that when he is through, he is going to walk into the kitchen and shoot the cook?
Oh yes, it's that good, but I'm not shooting the cook 'cuz I want more.
**** out of ****
Movie Review: Half of a Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
I'm gonna say up front that for the purposes of this review I'm interested in the movie itself rather than the actual DVD, though I will say that you probably ought to wait around for the set with Volume 2 as well, which should be coming out late this year.(No real specifics are available about it, that I'm aware of, though it is believed that it'll have the extended and colorized scenes from the Japanese cut, which the first DVD release doesn't have, on top of being a complete movie, rather than just half of one.)When I first went to see this film way back in October I was not particularly excited and a tad ambivalent. I'd seen and loved Reservoir Dogs, but I hadn't seen Jackie Brown or Pulp Fiction, and I didn't really know much of anything about Kill Bill. But my friends wanted to go and I'd heard some good reviews so I checked it out. I was, to put it lightly, highly impressed. It is, as people often describe Tarantino's work, a movie about and based on other movies, rather than on reality. But that's alright, cause I find movies to be much more entertaining than reality, and this is my favorite movie of 2003, bar none. (Which is particularly impressive, considering that it's only half a movie)
One of the most common criticisms of this film is that it is too derivative. My response to this is twofold. 1. It's not really particularly derivative as far as genre film-making goes. Action movies are the probably the most clichéd genre of film, with the possible exception of the horror movie. 2. I don't really care either way, as I'm not really looking for anything original when I see an action movie. I'm looking for nicely choreographed violence, and anyone looking for anything else shouldn't go see action movies. And that, obviously, goes for anyone considering seeing this, too. (That is, until it is released with Volume 2, which isn't action-oriented, and would completely change the dynamics of the film)
All that said, this isn't as action-oriented as most reviewers make it out to be. It is, however, almost utterly visually and atmospherically oriented, which is sorta the same thing, or at least has much the same effect. Thus, character development is held to a minimum, and the dialogue is not up to Tarantino's standards, but the visuals never cease impress and the soundtrack is completely perfect. It mixes things up well from a visual standpoint, moving from simple, unadorned hospitals to an anime style sequence to intentionally cheesy and phony miniature sets to some exquisite Japanese visuals, particularly the snowy garden at the end.(The eerie, red sunset alongside the plane is particularly noteworthy as well) It combines the simple with the beautiful with the cheesy with the blood-splattered, and they all work.
The film is divided into 5 chapters, which each play as a sort of vignette, (though they involve the same characters, obviously) which eventually comes together when you see it all. The problem is, you don't see it all until you've seen Volume 2, which is compounded by the fact that this volume contains the scenes which are most tangential in the film. Thus, it is a movie of great scenes, not all of which may be terribly relevant to the rest of the story, but all of which entertain me, which is far more important, to me anyway. And, although it doesn't necessarily come to much from a plot standpoint, it all fits together wonderfully stylistically and atmospherically. Furthermore, all the extra scenes work to create a more complete universe, one which extends beyond the scope of the actual movie. It's a difficult effect to describe, but I really like it.(It's another thing that you won't fully be able to appreciate until you see Volume 2) But there's no getting around the fact that Volume 1 alone fails to create a complete, satisfying story. This doesn't really bother me, but it is a valid criticism.
In keeping with the surreal, alternate universe sorta feel of the movie the action is wildly stylized and extremely balletic. More significantly, it is simply stunning. The main fight in the House of Blue Leaves is simply my favorite action scene in film. It's beautifully paced and has a smooth, flowing beauty to the choreography which provides a powerful contrast to the absurdly exaggerated gore and carnage of the scene. The final fight with O-Ren is quite excellent as well. It's much slower and more deliberate, but has an undeniable intensity to it. (The music for that scene is absolutely perfect, and completely makes the scene. It fits the mood exactly and is perfectly timed) The other fights are first rate as well.
I've referred to how excellent I found the music of this film a number of times, but it requires further examination. It is schizophrenic, perhaps even more so than the visuals, and manipulates the mood of the film in much the same way. The cheesy yet effective Nancy Sinatra song from opening credits sets the tone nicely, and the Morricone-esque music from the anime sequence provides a great contrast to the Asian visual theme.(The brief piece that is played as they pan up the assassin's sword is particularly powerful.) But I'll cut off the specifics, and suffice to say that I could easily have listed half a dozen more scenes where I find the music to be particularly effective. Some have complained that the soundtrack was overbearing, and I understand how someone could feel that way, but I personally loved. It is a bit over the top, I guess, but over the top is what this film requires.
Well I've rambled on long enough I suppose, though I don't think I've quite shown how much I love this movie. Just go check it out if you haven't already, and then go catch the equally excellent second half before it leaves theaters.