Kill Me Uma!!!

Rating: 9/10 (8 November 2003)

Tarantino hits back with a vengeance with perhaps the best action film of the year. Its hip, it's funny, it's stylish and lord does it kick your booty. Quentin has taken inspiration from Honk Kong movies of the seventies, mixed it with a funky soundtrack and has churned out something superbly entertaining and at times extremely gory. The film has the odd moments of trademark QT dialogue but this feels so different to his other films, it is a real departure.
The direction is stylish, Yuen Woo Ping's choreography is outstanding as usual and this is just a very entertaining Kung Fu movie, offering something different to the Matrix shenanigans which Kung-fusiasts have been dying for in Hollywood cinema with all the crappy Martial art turkeys like The Transporter and Romeo Must Die. Only Monsieur Jackie Chan has made enjoyable Martial Arts movies in Hollywood in recent years, good ones are few and far between with most choosing to copy the Matrix ahead of the real origins.
As with all of QT's films the movie boasts a superb cast. Firstly, Uma Thurman is excellent in her comeback, she has not done anything major since the stinker that was The Avengers. She strikes back to the crown jewels with ferocity and karate kicks the face of the cinema going public as if to say `I'm back!' I soothed my groin with a bag of frozen peas and thought `You're so welcome Uma, you are so welcome!' When this film was first announced, aside from the feeling of excitement that had me and any movie enthusiast jumping with excitement, I couldn't help but think, Uma Thurman, all size 6, 8 stone of the lass, in a Kung Fu movie, with samurai swords and lord knows what else, all the fighting, all the stunt-work, wire work. Okay a little chauvinist perhaps and then there's all the Charlie's Angels and the Matrix women kicking ass, would she be able, or would there be a bloke in an Uma wig jumping around the room and hacking off peoples arms. Boy were my mild doubts proved needless. I was with the audience in awe when you see her plain as day unleashing Kung Fu badness. Of course I did have a similar reaction to Keanu Reeves in The Matrix, the fact that the training beforehand and the fact he did most of the fighting himself made it altogether more enjoyable. Her performance is also top rate, holding the movie together. The rest of the cast are all very good too, with Lucy Liu, Darryl Hannah and the legendary David Carradine amongst others.
This movie is enjoyable, it seems very authentic, you really feel like your watching a film out of 1970's Hong Kong, and at times it is typically modern. The cinematography is crisp and striking, the score is authentic and pulsating. As per usual the soundtrack is great too. Overall a great flick, it may lack the intelligent scripting of QT's first two films but in terms of sheer escapism this is his best. ****1/2