Stylish, mindless violence

Rating: 6/10 (18 October 2003)

To give Tarantino credit, Kill Bill Vol. 1, like his other movies, is a well crafted, stylish, and entertaining picture. Technically speaking, it is solid on virtually every level. Unfortunately, it is also a literal blood bath of fetishized violence on par with the goriest of horror movies.
Normally, I can handle seeing limbs chopped off, or geysers of blood streaming out of a decapitated torso, or a close up of a handgun blast to a head, but that's because usually there is some kind of meaningful reason attached to it. In other words, I accept some degree of violence to tell a story.
Sadly, Tarantino just seems to really like violence for its own sake, and Kill Bill appears to be just another vehicle for his desire to bring carnage to the screen. It's basically another iteration of "From Dusk til Dawn", which had a flimsy story constructed to justify a slaughter of humans and vampires. The notable difference is that instead of self-defense, the Kill Bill "protagonist" is motivated by pure revenge.
Perhaps if we knew what was going on, we could really get behind our "hero", and rationalize all the killing as good. But the film tells us nothing. We don't know why she is involved with her enemies, what she has done to earn their hatred, or what kind of person she is. Is she honorable? Is she a modern day samurai? Or is she just a psychopathic killer with a penchant for swords?
If you want blood, you'll love this movie. If you want some kind of context for violence, a good story about honor in battle, or something with any kind of meaning, don't waste your time. Check out "Ghost Dog" or "Gladiator" instead.
KB Vol. 1 gets a 5.5 from me.