Kill Bill - Volume One
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Movie Reviews of Kill Bill - Volume One
Movie Review: Tarantino's Fourth Movie!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Quentin Tarantino does not fail to amaze. How, oh how, does this film geek achieve such spectacular perfection on the silver screens? How can this blabbermouth, who can't stop showing off his extensive film knowledge, keep realizing his visions so beautifully on the screen? There have been quite a few influential auteurs/directors whose stylistic trends influenced generations of filmmaking; to my opinion, Tarantino "the high school drop-out/video store clerk" has already positioned himself amongst the classics. 'Reservoir Dogs', as a debut shot for less than $2 mil., are you kidding me? 'Pulp Fiction' has instantly achieved cult status, and I'm not going to delve into how nuanced and examplary this motion picture is...'Jackie Brown' remains the best Elmore Leonard adaptation, where Q.T. displayed his mature side, successfully keeping the audiences' attentions glued due to the intricacies of the plot. And now, after a mysterious 4-year disappearance which spawned off endless rumors as to Q.T.'s whereabouts (one of the rumors involved the director, depressed, smoking pot and watching B-movies this whole time), the man delivers again. "Kill Bill" ("Q.T.'s 4th movie", as it's advertised - once again proof of the director's amazing substantiation in the highest rank of auteurs) is a representation of Tarantino's love for filmmaking - this film is ALL about style, and nothing but, and it does not dissapoint.Uma Thurman had her successful roles before ("Pulp Fiction", "Gattaca", "Hysterical Blindness", "Tape"), but this is clearly her finest hour yet - the film belongs to her, for she blends in perfectly with its flabbergasting energy, style and wit. Just like the movie, her character never comes off as funny, but rather as an extremely determined individual, sometimes to extreme measures.
Yet the film is all extreme measures. Uma Thurman's Bride's existence was viciously shattered at her wedding, when her organization turns against her. She is shot, but stays alive to find Bill, and kill off her enemies in the process.
Without revealing too much, that was the plot. How else to make it work but to incorporate it into a surreal anime/B-movie/Japanese homage bloody mess of a film, where the protagonist, along with all of her opponents, except Bill and future rivals in Vol. 2, are sexy young women who love to fight? Qunetin Tarantino's infatuation with filmmaking is evident from shot one, and you will know what I mean when you see it. As with 'Pulp Fiction', I am hesitant to delve into thorough discussion of all the subtleties that Taranitno inserts into "Kill Bill" without lessening the viewing interest of the reader.
Constantly changing visual styles - from the aforementioned anime to grainy realism to black-and-white to a fairy snowiness of a backyard - each set is almost like a level that the protagonist has to pass, but what levels, and how she does it is portrayed unconventionally. Take the sequence where The Bride fights off dozens of samurai. With a custom-made Sonny Chiba sword, she majestically flies over them, as blood sprays in typically excessive amounts.
Though it's all basically Quentin Tarantino's huge homage to either the numerous directors he loves or his own adoration for their work, "Kill Bill" astounds, and the main reason for that, apart from the relentless action, style and protagonist, is the fact that this film geek once again tops himself, despite the enormously high expectations after his three masterworks.
P.S. Some argue Miramax's decision to cut the orginal four-and-a-bit hour version in half is unfortunate. I, personally, disagree - people saw Vol.1, there was mad gossip about how great it was, and now the anticipation of Vol. 2 is borderline unbearable.
Movie Review: A Pop Culture Extravaganza
Summary: 5 Stars
Kill Bill: Volume 1" is a film that's all about style. Style, violence, and pure entertainment. Some call it gratuitously violent, some call it disgusting, some call it style-over-substance...I call it magnificent.
The film follows a woman known simply as The Bride (Thurman) (her real name is never revealed), an expert assassin who, while pregnant, was left for dead at her wedding by her criminal employer, Bill (Carradine), after her former, um, co-workers massacred her entire wedding party. Four years later she wakes up from a coma (as a situation that is as amusing as it is disgusting and brutal arises, I won't spoil it for you) and, upon discovering that she has lost her baby, becomes enraged and embarks on an epic odyssey of bloody revenge.
In classic Tarantino form, the film is presented out of order, but, as always for him, it works wonderfully. "Kill Bill: Volume 1" also exhibits another trait that is signature Tarantino: it's packed to the brim with homages. While many may complain about this and say that Tarantino is nothing but a flamboyant plagiarist, it is what he does, and he does it well. Very well.
Another gripe many people seem to have with the film is that it is overly violent, repulsively so. This seems to have been a popular complaint also with Tarantino's first two films, "Reservoir Dogs" and "Pulp Fiction", and while I believe those two films have more of a violent reputation than actual violence, "Kill Bill: Volume 1" really is extremely violent. However, it is not gritty or realistic violence meant to be taken seriously, but comically over-the-top violence in the style of the Kung Fu and Samurai films of '70s, replete with gallons of squirting blood and plenty of flying limbs.
Another pervasive complaint is that the film suffers from a severe case of style-over-substance, but, as I stated in the first sentence of this review, "Kill Bill: Volume 1" is all about style. It's what makes the film such a joy to watch. Quentin Tarantino works the camera and breezes through scenes so expertly and effortlessly that one can't help but keep their eyes glued to the screen. Also, this complaint is rendered obsolete once one has viewed the second volume of this epic saga, which really fleshes out the characters and adds meat to the bone, but I'm not reviewing that film.
Another talent Tarantino has is extracting a spectacular performance from his actors, and "Kill Bill: Volume 1" is no exception. Uma Thurman is simply outstanding, especially in Volume 2, but again, I'm reviewing Volume 1. David Carradine delivers such a menacing and exuberant performance as the elusive Bill, and we never even see his face.
And of course, how could I forget Quentin's marvelous dialogue? It has always been his strongest point, and "Kill Bill: Volume 1" finds him in top pop culture form. Allow me to quote one of my favorite exchanges from the film:
-O-Ren Ishii: "You didn't really think it was going to be that easy, did you?"
-The Bride: "You know, for a second there, yeah, I kinda did."
-O-Ren Ishii: "Silly rabbit."
-The Bride: "Trix are for..."
-The Bride and O-Ren Ishii: "...kids."
It's just so self-consciously tongue-in-cheek and joyous that it's damn near impossible not to fall in love with it.
All this being said, "Kill Bill: Volume 1" is not a film for everyone. If you're a fan of such films as "Sin City", "Ichi The Killer", or any kind of classic Kung Fu movie, then you'll most likely love this modern masterpiece, but if such films rape, kill, and then shoot your value system in the head just for good measure, than you should probably avoid this one.
9/10
Movie Review: ONE OF TARANTNO'S BEST
Summary: 5 Stars
I know that title may not mean much since this is only Tarantino's fourth full feature. But this is a movie that leaves you wanting more. Granted that will happen with the release of part two. But until that time, fans will have to salivate over this portion.
The story: a lady know only here as "the Bride" (Uma Thurman) is nearly beaten to death at her wedding. She is then shot in the head at point blank range by Bill (an unseen David Carradine). She goes into a coma for four years and awakes to find a hospital attendant has been offering her "services" to anyone willing to pay. She takes out the current customer and the attendant and tries to leave.
Flashbacks tell the tale here of how she was part of an assassination squad, the deadliest ever assembled. When she tried to leave, they took her out instead. On her wedding day. While she was pregnant.
Now awake from her coma, she has plans for revenge. The film opens with her attack on what seems like a normal soccer mom (Vivica A. Fox). The two spar back and forth using what they come across as weapons, ending with knives. When Fox' little girl comes home, they pause to set up a time and date to finish. Then...well I won't blow that for you.
Flashback again as we see the Bride heading to Okinawa. There, she has a sword crafted for her by the best maker alive (Sonny Chiba). He's stopped making them but when he learns of her intentions for this one, especially since Bill was his protégé at one time, he makes her the best sword possible.
Sword in hand, she head to Tokyo and the first person on her list: O-Ren Ishi (Lucy Lui). We are treated to an anime tale of how she came to rise from a little girl who watched her parents murdered to an assassin to the head of the Japanese Yakuza. She will not be someone that the Bride will take out with ease.
The confrontation takes place in a Japanese night spot. Not only does the Bride have to face off against Lui, she must first take on the gang she leads, her own group of sword wielding assassins. If she can get past them, she faces O-Ren's personal bodyguards. And finally, she will face off against O-Ren herself.
What happens to this point, and I am sure you can guess the outcome, ends the picture. Almost. A special cliff hanger is dropped on the viewer just before the credits role and the anticipation of seeing part two explodes.
This movie is Tarantino's tribute to the movies he learned to love visiting what he calls "grindhouses", those cheap low scale theaters that were full of unsavory characters in attendance and needed hosed down with bug spray almost nightly. Tarantino grew to love these movies in their environment and while working in a video store. His love of these movies, everything from spaghetti westerns to samurai films, is apparent in most of his movies, but never as much as it is here. This movie is an homage to those films.
The action in this film fills the screen more than not. The blood in this film flows bright red and fluidly, so much so that even though it appears fake it still elicited oohs and aahs from the crowd I saw it with. Everything from splitting a man in two to decapitations to mutilations is on view here, reminding me of movies like SHOGUN ASSASSIN. And it should. That is the exact type of movie he is paying his respects to!
More than anything this movie was made for fans of movies. Note, I did not say "motion pictures". I said movies. There's a difference. While members of an elitist film scholarly group will embrace this movie because of the name attached, it is the fans of movies that will love this one.
Movie Review: Best of 2003
Summary: 5 Stars
Kill Bill is a huge departure for Tarantino, with his prior three films being unique from one another, but comfortably set within a laid-back, gangster dialog-filled setting. What most people don't know, is that the man is not soley interested in a certain genre.Watching Quentin speak about film can be almost as exciting as one of his movies, and to listen to him for only a minute is to understand that he has a rarely broad knowledge of the medium. In Kill Bill he obviously applies his knowledge and love of low-brow Asian action movies as well as American exploitation films. Watching Kill Bill you would never guess that it was a first time foray into action by the director, and this is largely because of the wealth of things Tarantino had already learned from the masters going in. Kill Bill is an admitted accumulation of amazing moments in grind cinema, "filtered" (sometimes more heavily than others) through the directors brain, similarly even to his previous movies (Reservoir Dogs is often noted to be largely a product of the HK film City on Fire).
Despite his notoriety for taking from other films, its undeniable that Tarantino had developed a style of his own; often mixed up chronology, witty banter-infested dialogs, impeccable music placement, and calculated pacing and cinematography. His free use of homages to past cinema has even become a sort of trademark. In Kill Bill, however, a lot of these characteristics are absent or less apparent. Dialog is brief, and the words are stilted and delivered very purposefully. It could be called cheesey, but I found it to be extremely effective thanks to quality acting and directing, though it wouldn't be out of place in a '70s exploitation film.
Kill Bill takes from older movies probably more than any of Tarantino's other films, and much more obviously. Fans of the genre will be able to pick out many, as most of them are completely on the surface. It's easy to resent a movie for liberally taking so much from other movies. Many of the scenarios, for instance, are taken directly from other movies, as are costumes, characters, and action sequences. The music too, is recycled. The movie does not have an original score, rather it plays along with selected songs and pieces of other movies scores.
Even still, the movie can't be called a rehash or simple homage. The music cuts are often ingeniously paired with scenes you might not usually pair them with. The Green Hornet theme for B******e's arrival in Tokyo, or a sweet song from All About Lily Chou-Chou when she looks at Hattori Hanzo's swords for instance, work remarkably. The selections are all great pieces of music, and this movie's enjoyment is largely derived from the soundtrack.
Along with his unpredictably effective soundtrack, Tarantino has similarly paired elements from the films he loves, to create a hybrid that isn't really like anything else, despite their shared parts. Without giving anything away; those who aren't familiar with these movies will be blown completely away, and those who are and aren't jaded about it will smile as they completely "get it". Surprisingly, the best moments from so many films, paired together without the context of each of these individual films, works.
Quentin Tarantino really is a master director, creating as one reviewer below said, "perfect" movies, in that they are perfectly executed. The ideas in his films are largely unoriginal, and yet his execution is. It wouldn't be wrong to say that this movie is comparable to Gus Van Sant's remake of Psycho, in some ways. Any way you look at it, Kill Bill is an exciting first half a film, and anyone mildly interested shouldn't be disapointed.
Movie Review: Tarantino is back with a vengeance!!!
Summary: 5 Stars
Finally here it is! Part 1 of the movie film buffs have been salivating for for the past six years. KILL BILL sees Tarantino return to the multiplexes with a vengeance; and if you thought RESERVOIR DOGS was bloody, then baby! You ain't seen NUTHIN' yet!KILL BILL VOLUME 1 sees Tarantino reuniting with Uma Thurman; who gives what is almost inarguably the finest performance of her career to date. Thurman plays The Bride, a professional assassin who is targeted for extermination on her wedding day by her boss Bill (David Carradine- who of course starred in the '70s TV series KUNG FU). Obviously she survives & in the tried and true tradition of kung-fu flicks sets out to wreck (extremely) bloody vengeance on members of The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, the organisation that once employed her, saving Bill for last.
Many will be sickened by the graphic violence in this: the scene where The Bride is tortured early on actually made my stomach queasy & there is also a scene where a hospital orderly is taking money from some lowlife to (almost) rape the comatose bride, a scene that I found rather sick, but the impact lessened the second time I saw the scene (I had to attend the film twice because the theater got the reels mixed up after the 1st hour)& actually it's one of many standouts in the film.
Though some could dismiss Tarantino as a guy who just makes crude, grapically violent films inspired by the B movies he saw as a kid; there's really no denying the man has genuine talent. KILL BILL VOL 1 sees him employing almost every cinematic technique you can imagine: from split screen format to an over-the-top hentai animation sequence, which is very cool indeed.
In my humble opinion, KILL BILL VOLUME 1 is a masterpiece. The film manages to bridge the gap between contemporary & pop art & the kung-fu/revenge/exploitation genres to create an unparalleled adrenalin rush. This is easily Tarantino's best work since PULP FICTION, though don't hold your breath waiting for the Academy to acknowledge that.
As usual the cast list is interesting: Lucy Liu, the legendary Sonny Chiba, Daryl Hannah (as an eyepatch wearing assassin who looks VERY sexy in her nurse's outfit), Michael Madsen & more...
Not surprisingly the P.C police in NZ have again been calling for the Chief Censor's head for letting this through- which shows what a pathetic lot NZ has in positions of power. Minority rules. My advice to these people is to get a life & stop forcing their views upon others. I hope to see MANY more films like this. As long as the movies have an age restriction & there's a note about the content the adults should be allowed to choose what they watch. I encourage Kiwis to go see KBV1 & make it a reasonable sized hit. The state should NEVER be allowed to own your mind or body- especially in a country where the PM is allowed to get away with signing a painting she didn't do, & where the public is seldom consulted in the passing of legislation that affects everyone: I've got David Benson-Dope to do that for me!
So go see KILL BILL, support the censors, indulge your right as an adult to free choice: the right to form your individual opinion, the right to freedom of artistic expression in all its mediums, the right to quash fundamentalist "watchdog groups" who "know" whats best for YOU & ME, & stop NZ from becoming the next Socialist Republic as the result Helen Clark's Half-Assed Hidden Agenda. I'll get off my pedestal now. Thank you for bearing with me.
P.S: And the right to burn the NZ flag if you wish. [Parting cheap shot courtesy of Vidiot_Y2k.]