Not bad, but lacks a twist

Rating: 7/10 (5 November 2003)

Tarantino has always been an eclectic filmmaker, lacing his pictures with overdoses of quotes from and references to the kind of stuff he used to watch when young, as well as during his job in a video rental. Each of his previous movies, however, was something more than just an amalgamate of classic style elements. Every one of the movies he was involved with up till now, the ones he directed himself as well as those he only scripted, had something more... to set them appart... Tarantino's movies were sophisticated, delicately balanced yet in your-face-exploding-powerfull coctails, and every good coctail has a *twist*. So did Tarantino's flicks until this one : it was the twist that made them totally original, "Totally Tarantino (TM)" so to speak. It's hard to describe what the Tarantino twist is about : it has to do with a combination of many elements - plot, dialogue, the way he directs his actors, portrayal of events.
An that is what "Kill Bill" lacks. Don't be misunderstanding me : I totally appreciate the amount of work Tarantino put in this one - which is to say : obviously A LOT. The fotography is quite perfect, in its dynamic as well as its static qualities. Sometimes the camera moves frenetically, sometimes it stays still and shows the full beauty of the battle choreography. Every time, it is well thought out : every move of the camera, every part of the scenery, every color, every piece of clothing worn by the actors - it all adds up to a painstakingly crafted visual masterpiece . The music, as allways, is the perfect accompanyment to each piece of imagery presented. Tarantino's direction is tight, effective and spotless. And still : there is something lacking. None of Tarantino's basic plotlines ever were anything new or original. Yet he did manage to present them as such. None of the Tarantino dialogues ever were high literature. Yet they lingered on in the collective cinematic memory. None of the Tarantino's actors, except for Harvey Keitel, were really anything great (don't start me on Travolta, Jackson or Madsen please). Yet, Tarantino got way more out of them than they ever were worth. And that is what's lacking in KB : the dialogue seems bland, the plotting linear and featureless, the acting very well directed but without any real "spunk". "Jackie Brown" was already suffering from this effect, but it's only gotten worse with this next installment. Maybe Volume II will have more to say. Maybe he should have left it a single movie. I do think KB was better than JB, simply because I love the burlesque that drives this movie. But still : it lacks the twist.
I can't stop thinking Tarantino should also have directed all of those movie scripts that were eventually outsourced to people who simply couldn't create Tarantino's vision : "Natural Born Killers", "True Romance" and even "From dusk till dawn" would all have made better true Tarantino products than "Kill Bill". Final conclusion : go watch it for it's technical brilliance and the fun in finding and naming the movie and TV quotes, and hope that we get more *true* Tarantino goodness in chapter 2.