Psychedelic Yakisoba western musical shock-fest SPOILERS!

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2003)

Kill Bill is undoubtedly the greatest psychedelic yakisoba western kung-fu musical shock-fest ever made. This is in part because it is the only one ever made. At times I wished it never had been made. You get the feeling somewhere during the film that writer-director Tarantino is like a kid locked in a "Toys R Us" overnight. There are just too many temptations. This film is at times slow, action-packed, witty, banal, humorous, sad, grotesque and beautiful. While the variations in tone waver between the hard-core chops of "Reservoir Dogs" and "spoofishness" that doesn't become Tarantino.

The violence in the film is outrageous and over the top. The clever use of anime is nearly blunted by some inept musical choices. In fact, musically the entire film plays like something out of Ennio Morricones nightmares. At times the blaring music and rythmic shots play like a music video gone wild. I was impressed with the performances. The film is almost an ode to Uma. I can think of worse ways to spend two hours than staring at Uma Thurman's beautiful and unique face. Some of the situations Uma finds herself in are almost incomprehensibly horrible. "Kill Bill" is like watching the "Pulp Fiction" overdose scene for two hours.

The cinematography was almost too polished for the narrative. The film looks very good. I like the 70-ish "feature presentation" bit at the start of the picture.
All in all, I couldn't recommend this film to the squeamish but I would hope that a brave viewer would give this unique picture a chance. I think it will find it's way to the "cult" section in the video store nearest you in the future.