Tarantino. Still clueless after all these years...

Rating: 7/10 (8 June 2004)

Let me just say that I have never been a big fan of Tarantino from the start so don't let my comments get to you too much. Tarantino has always been and still is... clueless. What amazes me is how high a ranking this movie has at IMDb. Tarantino never was and is not a fan of martial arts films. But more importantly, he has no respect for the martial arts genre nor for the Asian culture. I truly feel that Kill Bill is a result of Mr. Tarantino watching a few "martial arts" films, then cashing in on the Matrix influence (i.e. American public now loves martial arts fighting.) All I can give him credit for is finding a good martial arts director. That's it.
Now before all you Tarantino fans go ballistic on me, let me explain my disgruntlement. Tarantino claims to have paid homage and tribute to many genre, including spaghetti western and martial arts films in Kill Bill. But I ask, just how do you pay "homage" to a genre when you are insulting it? Case in point... Tarantino lumps Chinese and Japanese into one genre and one CULTURE. Anyone with HALF interest in martial arts OR Asian films will tell you that they are completely different. There are obvious references to Bruce Lee. Uma Thurman is wearing a yellow jump suit with a black stripe, as does Bruce Lee in "The Game of Death". She fights the final battle in a Japanese garden, as does Bruce Lee in "The Chinese Connection". In fact, I am nearly positive that the garden in Kill Bill is exactly the same as the garden in the final battle scene in Chinese Connection. BUT TO HAVE THIS IMAGE OF BRUCE LEE FIGHT IN THE SAMURAI STYLE IS SHEER IGNORANCE AND IDIOCY. Having a Chinese icon fight in a Japanese style is like having a Jew fight with a swastica banner engraved on his/her chest. It just doesn't make sense. Most Asian nations were oppressed by the Japanese before WW2 and "Chinese Connection" explicitly depicts this oppression. Turning it around and having the hero, in this case Uma Thurman who is obviously suppose to represent Bruce Lee, fight in the style of the enemy is a complete insult. Perhaps if you are not familiar with martial arts and the identity and the genealogy from which it spawns and what it means to the culture, I can give you a glimpse of the magnitude of the insult by saying something like "Rap music was invented by Vanilla Ice". Get the point?
I guess ever since Tarantino made a fool of himself at the MTV Movie Awards by constantly saying Jackie Chan's name incorrectly, my esteem of him as a director, but more importantly, as an intelligent individual, plunged like a 747 on fire. But this "tribute" to martial arts film is the icing on the cake.
I love action films. I always have and always will. Fight club, The Matrix, and every Jet Li films will always have a place in my movie library.
But this hodgepodge, confused, rip-off of a film is not anywhere near the "classic" status that has been given by the members of IMDb. Furthermore, it seems that a vast majority of the people here believe that if you copy ONE movie, it's a rip-off, but if you copy a dozen movie, it's a tribute... Well now I know the magic formula. My next movie will be Obi-won will be searching for the Lost Ark but is opposed by the Mummy and Scorpion King so has to go to the Godfather for help. But since the Godfather has been killed by the Joker, Obi looks for help from Conan the Barbarian, who is currently in battle with Aliens...