Kill Bill Vol.1 (2003) Movie Review

Quentin Tarantino is an interesting filmmaker that you either love or hate. He started a revolution for character-driven crime puzzling films with the incredible Pulp Fiction (1994), but he has also been known to copy other directors’ work and shot selections.

His latest entry is Kill Bill-Vol. 1, in which the final film was 4 hours long, which led Miramax into breaking the film into two parts. Kill Bill-Vol. 2 opens next February. Vol. 1 is a classic "Tarantinoesque" adventure that is kung-fu film lovers’ dream film.

The story follows a beautiful ex-assassin known only as The Bride (Uma Thurman), who is left for dead on her wedding day by her old boss and lover Bill (David Carradine). Awakening after four years in comatose, The Bride sets out for revenge on Bill and his assassin squad, who have taken everything from her. Bill’s assassins are called the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad or the DiVAS. The Bride use to be a part of the squad and her name was Black Mamba. The DiVAS include the powerful Japanese boss O-Ren Ishii, also known as Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu), along with the assassin now turned housewife Vernita Green, a.k.a. Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox). The one male of the squad is Bud, also known as Sidewinder (Michael Madsen), and lastly the one-eyed blond Elle Driver, a.k.a. California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah). Though all of the characters are a part of Vol. 1, the revenge emphasizes in this installment is on The Bride’s encounters with Vernita Green and O-Ren Ishii. In addition to, The Bride does not use a gun as a weapon; she uses a lethal samurai sword.

This is a bizarre film, but it is brilliant in its own way. Tarantino does many things in the film to pay homage to kung-fu films, spaghetti westerns, as well as Japanese samurai movies. He even includes Japanese anime in the film to introduce one of his characters. Visually, the film is excellent; you will never take your eyes off the screen. This is one of the most violent films to ever grace the screen, in which there are many decapitations, body parts chopped off, and gallons of spurting blood. Tarantino chooses to have the blood release in the way of many classic samurai films and Japanese animation. The blood just does not spray out for a second; Tarantino unleashes the blood out like a fire hose. The fight choreography by Yuen Wo Ping also complements the film with authenticity and excitement. Tarantino interweaves many themes and works to the audience, in which his choices are so original that it is safe to say he is back in full force. The black and white sequences during the “House of Blue Leaves” scenes are essential, and the use of music in this film is outstanding.

The script is full of typical Tarantino dialogue, but there is not as much cursing in Kill Bill-Vol.1 as in his past films. The plot itself is a revenge-driven story, in which there are no real feelings made towards The Bride. All of the characters in this film are bad, evil people, so it is not that easy to become a cheerleader for The Bride, even though she is the supposed hero. Notice closely to Tarantino’s details of how the film intervenes within itself.

Uma Thurman is a gracious beauty that is commanding as The Bride; she really rocks in this role. Lucy Liu delivers a slithering performance in one of her best roles as the powerful O-Ren Ishii. Other actors make appearances with their characters, but they will be seen more in Vol. 2, such as Daryl Hannah’s Elle Driver, Michael Madsen’s Bud, and of course David Carradine, who plays Bill.

Though this film is so ultra-violent that it can come across as silly, what Tarantino presents is just a wickedly cool tornado of grindhouse cinema (kung-fu films, spaghetti westerns, samurai films). Tarantino himself calls this film a “duck press” of all the knowledge that he has absorbed from grindhouse cinema in the past 35 years. Though a little wide and over the top, it is still very admirable the work that Tarantino presents in Kill Bill-Vol.1. Though it is not a Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill-Vol. 1 is a kick-butt movie all of its own.