Shallow and unoriginal

Rating: 1/10 (26 October 2003)

Absolutely the most shallow film I have ever seen. Yes, there was style, but what's the point of style without substance to back it up? The gore and violence was over the top but instead of comedic, I found it banal and disturbing. Sure, the squirting blood was funny in Monty Python, but as with everything in comedy, it's only funny the first time, and then it just gets lame and pretentious. Tarantino tries to make a homage to martial arts, anime and all sorts of B flick movies, but one gets the feeling that he never understood the soul of those movies. Martial arts movies are fun to watch because there isn't too much blood, some anime are great because they have good storylines and B movies are fun just because they have over the top dialogue and silly stories. While I have never seen other Tarantino movies, this one doesn't motivate me to run towards my nearest Blockbuster. As someone else said, this is only a "juvenile fantasy" unworthy of the films that it pays homage to. Tarantino's "style" is an endless amount of bloodwash and gore, mixed with stolen shots. It is B movies rehashed, but even a homage needs some hint of originality. Unfortunately, Kill Bill sadly lacks in that aspect. The worst part of all of this is that our society is so inured and cynical that we can somehow find this entertaining. What a sad commentary on American pop culture.