A Bloody Masterpiece!!!!

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2018)

Quentin Tarantino conceives Kill Bill as an homage to grindhouse cinema, including martial arts films, samurai cinema, blaxploitation films and spaghetti westerns. It's an ultraviolent exercise in pure visceral action and spectacle with a succession of increasingly incredible and insane setpieces culminating in some of the greatest fight scenes in film history. Kill Bill is definitely a true masterpiece with a classic story about a brutal betrayal and an epic vendetta.
"Four years after taking a bullet in the head at her own wedding, a former assassin, simply known as The Bride, emerges from a coma and decides it's time for payback with a vengeance. Having been gunned down and lost her baby by her former boss and lover, Bill and his deadly squad of international assassins, it's a kill-or-be-killed war she didn't start, but she is determined to finish."
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox...
The movie is obviously a case of style over substance. In essence, it is just a basic revenge flick without too much depth or meaning. This, however, is exactly like how Tarantino intended it to be. Kill Bill Vol. 1 is simple, straightforward, completely over-the-top, but above all, beautifully shot and superbly directed. Its story comes totally secondary, as Tarantino used this movie as an experimental tool to mix several, mostly Asian cinema, styles together and blend it into one big visual experience of violence and unusual over-the-top looking sequences. His aim was style and with that, Kill Bill Vol.1 most certainly does not disappoint. The story may be simple but it's not poor nor boring at all. It's all about a woman's quest of vengeance, after being betrayed by her former companions and her ex-lover and boss, who tried to kill her at her wedding ceremony. The result? She lies in a coma for four years and after she wakes up, she realises that the baby she was carried in her womb is gone. It's kinda interesting and touching at some point.
The violence is definitely brutal and straightforward, as gallons of blood are spilled in front of the camera. But all of the violence is done in such a, deliberately, over-the-top and fake looking way, that it becomes more entertaining, rather than shocking or stomach turning. It even becomes poetically beautiful to watch at times. It also contains a manga anime sequence on it, which makes the movie even more impressive. The action sequences are definitely the best parts of the movie and they are well choreographed and shot. When things get too graphic, the film simple conveniently switches to black & white or turns to other creative cinematic solutions. The power of this movie is definitely its visual style and overall style of directing. Tarantino uses different themes throughout the movie but yet it manages to create one big unique identity. It never feels incoherent or disjointed in its style or storytelling.
Moreover, dialogue is sharp, music is brilliant and Uma Thurman is truly superb as The Bride. I can honestly say that this is her best role out of her career. Also, really superb in her role is Lucy Liu as The Bride's opponent, O-Ren Ishii. Again, also her best role yet. Daryl Hannah also gives an impressive performance, even if she only appears in one scene. Unusual, over-the-top but strangely intriguing, entertaining and overall brilliant.