Kill Bill No Thrill

Rating: Null/10 (2 November 2003)

I am a huge fan of Quentin Tarrantino. I loved Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and even found a place in my heart for his hit and miss Jackie Brown, but KILL BILL Vol 1 was a total disappointment.
Where Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs never shied away from violence and blood, both films contained a hidden cheekiness and clever sense of humour that created a black comedy even when bullets were flying.
Kill Bill attempts this but somewhere along the way Tarrantino has lost his sense of humour.
The violence was over the top and an obvious homage to kung fu killer flicks. But this one just missed the mark. Uma Thurman's BRIDE did a terrific job of convincing us that her character could well be a force to be reckoned with. But the over the top aspect of the film really negated rather than added to the actual strength of her character, making her seem more cartoonish than courageous.
The hospital rape aspects were quite disgusting. I wonder why every time there is a strong female protagonist in the film she has to be raped at some point? Clearly Tarrantino was trying to shed his mysoginist reputation by having a large female cast here, but he has fallen into the same old stereotypes male film makers always make - the women have to be beautiful, have to be raped/beaten or somehow defeated by a male in the story, have to lose a child or protect a child to account for their strength and finally have to be ultimately controlled by a male (Bill in this case.)
Added to this was the Volume 1 aspect. The current trend to create serial movies is annoying at best. But when a movie such as this one wastes so much time having fight scenes rather than moving the narrative along, it really becomes frustrating. Kill Bill VOL 1 could have been told in an hour and we could have seen the conclusion of the film in one sitting. Instead a cheap marketing ploy was used and then time filled with senseless violence.
It's a cheat and despite some memorable scenes and great female performances, Kill Bill failed to ultimately impress.