Quentin who?

Rating: Null/10 (19 October 2003)

Spoilers
At times, ignorance is a blessing. Not having seen a single one of Tarantino's movies, I am free of any baggage that may impair my immersion in total enjoyment of the ride in Kill Bill. Specifically, I am not distracted by thoughts such as how KB is similar to Pulp Fiction, or different from Reservoir Dogs. There are more than enough movies that KB reminds one of anyway, from Game of Death (Bruce Lee's yellow sport outfit in a gender switch) to Matrix Reloaded (100 Agent Smiths turned Japanese), not to mention the Kinji Fukasaku's movies to which KB is paying tributes.

The synopsis can be taken care of in a few words. The avenger (not to be confused with one of Uma Thurman's previous movie roles) works on a list of five, and in the process picks up a masterpiece of a Japanese sword from a grand master. At the end of this `volume 1' (which in turn consists of five `chapters'), the score is two down, three to go, plus an almost predictable hook. See you in a few months, folks.
The ride I thoroughly enjoyed, including the fights, the photography, the direction and the music, particularly the music. Just about every scene is accompanied by music that depicts the mood with uncanny accuracy. My choice for the top three, in order of appearance, are the following: the chilling tune (mainly whistled) at the attempted murder of The Bride lying unconscious in hospital, the tranquil accompaniment during the sword selection, and the exciting overture on the converging journeys to the House of Blue Leaves (the Bride in a plane; O-ren Ishii and her cohorts in a fleet of automobiles).
A few words on the cast and characters. Uma Thurman is well chosen and nothing further needs to be said. Lucy Lui's character received a lot of sympathy in this movie. The fate O-ren Ishii suffered was at least as tragic as The Bride's even though no loss of child was involved. She is the only adversary that The Bride respects. Legendary Sonny Chiba plays grand master Hattori Hanzo who wields a new blade for The Bride. In making the spectacular fantasy Storm Riders (1998), when Hong Kong moviemakers could not find a Chinese-speaking actor with sufficiently formidable presence to play the villain Conquer, they turned to Chiba. Twenty-year-old Chiaki Kuriyama plays the seventeen-year-old, mace-swinging, blood-chilling bodyguard in a schoolgirl look. Her choice seems obvious, as she was one of the most ruthless contestants in Kinji Fukasaku's Battle Royale. Two members of the cast we saw only a preview of. One is Daryl Hannah playing probably the most venomous of the vipers. The other is Gordon Liu (Tarantino's much admired Hong Kong top martial arts star) playing Johnny Mo, a Green Hornet look alike, but a villain. While Hannah will come back in Volume Two in continuation of her venomous activities, Liu will play a different character: Pei Mei, the Bride's teacher.
Finally, it is quite amusing to see the restricted rating worldwide. Any normal, mentally healthy teenager brought up with today's cinema world will only laugh his head off (deliberate choice of words) with the proliferation of severed limbs and explosive gushes of blood throughout the movie. Give them nightmares or make them violent grownups? Let's be serious. Better ban Roadrunner first.