Kill Bill is a masterful audio-visual nirvana. Tarantino has crafted a truly inspired piece of entertainment

Rating: 9/10 (10 August 2007)

Quentin Tarantino's, 'Kill Bill' series, is a roaring revenge story about a trained killer (Uma Thurman) picking off the assassins group who brutally massacred her future family, including her unborn baby. The story is simple but don't be fooled, Tarantino's dual epic is a masterpiece of cinematic art, beeming with visual vibrancy, stunning cinematography and spine-chilling music.
Tarantino is renowned for his vivacious love of obscure cinema, most notably kung fu and western cinema. In that context, 'Kill Bill' is by far his most inspired picture - the film in its entirety is a rich homage to Bruce Lee and Sergio Leone. Tarantino describes Kill Bill as his spaghetti western, his gritty saga of deceit and gore. That would sum up the atmospheric power of the films.
As mentioned before, Kill Bill is a dual epic. Split into two films for the interest of having a sensible film length. Yet the difference between the two volumes isn't just the name. They differ hugely in style. Volume 1 is a more stylised orgy of violence and black comedy with simply chilling show-downs and minimal exposition. Where as, Volume 2 is a more mature piece of cinema, telling the full story of 'The Bride'. In this way, we as viewers get the best of both worlds, boundless entertainment and a smiggen of story.
Volume 1 was always going to be a film that polarised critics. Style over substance was evident and unless a stuffy critic was willing to let his hair down and enjoy himself then he would have hated it. That is what you have to do, relax and admire the art of the film. Everything from the astonishing shot where we see Vernita's daugther's bus arrive through the window to the final showdown between O'Ren and The Bride is shot with depth and passion. Tarantino is meticulous in his direction, like 'Pulp Fiction', he pays attention to detail. The music is thrilling; Tarantino opts for Funky music types matched with aggressive Morricone scores, a combination you wouldn't think would work but it's invariably pulled off.
What's great about Volume 1 is that it doesn't take itself seriously, some of the scenes are just so outrageous that we know it's meta-cinema, we know we're watching a film in another world. Cinema is one of the finest forms of escapism and Kill Bill embraces that quality to the maximum! This is presented both subtly and boldly resulting in a satisfying film to watch multiple times (which I have).
'Kill Bill: Volume 1' is awesomely entertaining, cinematographic art and marvellously inspired.
Absolutely stunning.
9/10