I steal from every movie ever made.

Rating: 7/10 (3 May 2004)

I think that this quote from film maker Tarantino perfectly captures Kill Bill and its endless references to other films. The excess references artful or annoying? I still have not decided.
Some of the things that follow Tarantino films make my skin crawl. For example the rabid fans, the geeks with their black t-shirts and their obsessive record and DVD collections. The ones that refer to the director as 'QT.' Another example would be all the fashion crap that seems to travel. Vain celebrities who hope to get noticed by being at QT's premieres. I hate Hollywood! Will there now be a million duplicates of Kill Bill? I hope not.
I have extremely mixed feelings about Tarantino and his films. His movies are ultra-violent with little redeeming value. 'Kill Bill' shows Tarantino to be a kind of Godard of Violence. The problem with a film like Kill Bill is that it seems that you really have to be a teenager to enjoy the movie. I am sure many adolescent males will love this film along with its cult movie flavors. Kill Bill reminded me of when I first discovered Manga. I thought it was the cool new thing at the time. Anything with super-violence appeals to you when you are a teenager! I am older now and have left Manga and comics behind. But this film and its popularity proves that some people still reside at this developmental point. What is with all the comic book films?
My main complaint of Kill Bill is like a comic book, there is no psychological depth to any of the characters. The figures in this film could all be action figures from your local Wal-Mart. The plot is that a woman goes to get married in Texas. Her old assassin pals show up and kill everyone at the wedding chapel. The bride is left for dead but survives. She proceeds to enact revenge by killing literally hundreds of people.

That is the movie in all its simplicity. That is why Kill Bill bugs me. The film is like a glossy magazine for people with ADD. It is pretty, glossy with beautiful people plastered all over it. But it has absolutely no depth. What is interesting is that Tarantino films used to be synonymous with clever dialogue. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction were cool because they had some interesting dialogue. Remember Steve Buscemi as Mr Pink? Remember Samuel. L. Jackson and the path of the righteous man? Yeah, that was some cool dialogue! Moreover, the films of Tarantino all speak like he does, in that motor-mouth random fashion. In Kill Bill the dialogue is very minimal, which actually surprised me.
The major factor in this film is that it is a 70's or 80's action film that has all the terrible idiocy taken out. It is a 'Delta Force' with no Chuck Norris. it has high production values, good acting, superb direction and nice choreography. In other words it is everything an action film is not. But it is also as standard as any action film gets. This is exhibited by the usual revenge plot that we the viewer have observed so many time in other action films.
Tarantino must be congratulated for making an action film that is not stale. This standard action flick still manages to be fresh even though the material is not. It is well filmed and I liked the animation sequences. But animation interjected into a live action film is a double edged sword because it reinforces the idea that you are watching nothing more than a comicbook. For me it makes the film seem like it lacks depth. What is interesting here is that there is another film that suffered from the same problem as Kill Bill. That film was Natural Born Killers. Actually written by Tarantino but directed by Oliver Stone. The film threw in a lot of things, including an animation sequence. This detracted from N.B.K and made it seem even more shallow than it was. the constant insertion of different styles detracted from the film. Most notably the dysfunctional family sequence set to a sitcom format.
However Kill Bill is the better film and there are some good things about it. The fact that you have some damn fine looking woman fighting, this is always a good thing! Samarai swords and swordfights are cool. There is no way of getting around that fact! I thought it was quite amusing to have a kung fu fight set in a domestic setting! There was another cool bit where the Bride tells a young gangster off by smacking his bottom with a sword. 'This is what get for messing with the Yakuza!' YOU GO GIRL!!!' There is another great bit where the Japanese sword-maker states that if God were in a swordfight with the Bride and his sword, God itself would be cut. This is a nice touch and reminds the viewer that Tarantino still has his dark sense of humor.
But the main problem with this film is exhibited by the final part of Kill Bill. Ultimately the movie is one long video game. It reminded me of when I played Enter the Matrix on the playstation two. But then I have never really been a kung fu movie fan. Kill Bill is a film that will not linger in my mind. It is not my kind of film but at the same time I can recognize Tarantino's talent. This is volume one and I don't really care what happens in volume two. I was pretty indifferent to the characters because they had the character development of WWF wrestlers. I kept expecting the Rock to appear at some stage. But in a film such as this, who wants character development? Watching a film like Kill Bill makes me want to see something character driven like Six Feet Under to compensate. I give this a 7 out of 10 and feel a definite ambivalence.