The Moose Hole - Review of Kill Bill (Volume I)

Rating: 9/10 (10 October 2003)

`Revenge is a dish best served cold.'
Quentin Tarantino's fourth film and the first one since 1997's Jackie Brown takes the theme of revenge like Hamlet on steroids. It has not been an easy road for this generation's `It' director. Tarantino once worked at a video rental store before writing the script for Reservoir Dogs that he later directed. It was his directorial effort in 1994's Pulp Fiction that catapulted Tarantino, as well as the independent film company Miramax, into the Hollywood mainstream. Unfortunately his next film, Jackie Brown, which, by the way, was not written by him, was not widely accepted and then Quentin Tarantino dropped off the scene for nearly six years. In that time period he took time off to act in some films but, for the most part, the idea for Kill Bill had been bouncing around in his skull. Now that idea has burst out of that skull in all its blood spewing, gut splattering glory reuniting Pulp Fiction star, Uma Thurman, with the acclaimed cult director in a film series that pays homage to the 70's karate films that many us grew up with.
The story centers on a former member of a group of assassins who seeks revenge for the actions done on to her by her former colleagues. A woman known only as The Bride has waken up from a four year comma after her former boss Bill left her for dead on the day of her wedding killing her fiancé, the wedding party and her unborn child. Unfortunately for the skilled assassin, he made one big mistake: he failed to kill her. Now that she has awakened from her living slumber, The Bride will travel the world picking off her attempted killers one by one including the mysterious Bill. First up on her list is O-Ren Ishi, aka Cottonmouth, and her group of Japanese underground assassins. They better watch out because here comes the bride! The story for Kill Bill (Volume I) is probably one of the best scripts of the year despite being only half of the true plot. In a wonderful bit of technique, Tarantino starts the film off in the middle of story then backtracks to the events that start the chain reaction of revenge. He then flashes backwards and forwards in several instances that offer the best insight into the characters the audience is about to encounter. This gives better meaning to most of the fight sequences that take place in the course of the two hour feature.
A relative bunch of low-profile actors and actresses make up one of the better casts of the year for this film. Uma Thurman, who starred in Quentin Tarantino's breakout film, Pulp Fiction, once again works her magic for the talented director in probably her best film performance. Thurman gives a witty and exhilarating go around with her role as The Bride seeking revenge against her former colleagues. She presents a style to the character that makes you clamor for her all the way to the shocking break point. Lucy Liu has another kick-ass character performance as O-Ren Ishi, the leader of a group of Japanese assassins. The only problem with this role is that it makes Liu feel type-casted into this sort of character. Not that she bad at it, she's extremely effective in her performance, but you get the feeling that eventually she may get bored with these roles but if it works for her then ignore this comment. Vivica A. Fox doesn't really get to show much acting ability as her character is killed off in the first fifteen minutes of the film but what she does show is her amazing fighting moves, which is the only evidence needed to prove her worth in the film. This is only a small portion of the full cast, the rest of which will appear in Kill Bill (Volume II) coming February 20th.
Overall, Kill Bill (Volume I) is a wonderful kick-off point for Quentin Tarantino's best work since Pulp Fiction, despite only being half of the entire feature. Though that being said, there are a couple of things to pick at including the well-choreographed action sequences. It wasn't exactly the sequences themselves but the rather large amount of blood and gut spilling that occurred during them that had more then one person squirming in their seats. Granted having your arm or leg cut off results in a large amount of blood loss but does that blood spew out like a fountain? The campy style of violence that occurs in Kill Bill (Volume I) may seem disturbing as the feature starts off but by the end, it doesn't seem so unnatural, which says something our culture's customization to violence and bloodshed in films. The pacing of the feature seemed well balanced but definitely dragged near the end as the film wrapped in a spin-chilling conclusion for the time being. But other then those small squabbles, Quentin Tarantino gives an eerie insight into what the concept of revenge does to the human psyche and what it could potential lead people to do if not controlled. It is said in the film, revenge is like a forest. Men (and women) can easily be lost in it and lose track of where they started or where they were going, so caution must be taken when start off on this path. The famous cult director starts off with accelerating beginning; let's hope he can deliver on what the chilling twist promises.
My Rating: **** ½ out of 5