Welcome back to the realm of mortals Quentin

Rating: Null/10 (14 November 2003)

Having seen Kill Bill today, I think Quentin Tarantino is in danger of remaining a 90's icon instead of assuming his rightful place in the pantheon of great film directors. You get the feeling that the weight of expectation from his legion of fans is now too much for Tarantino and is stifling his creativity (much the same as George Lucas with the last two Star Wars flicks).
The main problem with Kill Bill is that it is all homage and nothing else. You take away the references to Kung Fu, Samurai and Female Blaxploitation films (and any other obscure genres that I might have missed) and the whole edifice comes crashing down. The references are none too subtle and in the end, you feel like you're watching a comedy show that's parodying these genres.
Kill Bill uses techniques that we've seen before in Tarantino movies, such as the non-linear plot, but here they do not serve any purpose. Then, there are things that are sadly lacking. Instead of the smart, sassy dialogue of Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, we get the hokey martial arts mumbo jumbo (yeah I know it's supposed to be a reference to Kung Fu movies). Having a couple of women call each other Bitch is about as clever as it gets.
And really, I think Quentin needs to get counselling for his foot fetish before it gets out of hand. Instead of gratuitous nudity (of which there was ample opportunity to display in the film), we are treated to several loving close-ups of Uma Thurman's toes.
Despite all this, I still enjoyed the film. Tarantino has captured the essence of the genres he is paying homage to - I don't think anyone else could have done it so well. The fight scenes are OK and the decapitations and arterial bleeding are as good as I've seen in any samurai film. And Chiaki Kuriyama is genuinely creepy as the teenage killer.