Don't go too far in your praise: it's merely okay

Rating: 7/10 (19 October 2003)

I have, for a long time, been skeptical of whether Quentin Tarantino was a worthwhile talent. Certainly Pulp Fiction was a seminal film of the 1990s, for better or worse, and Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown were at least worthwhile. But it was my burgeoning opinion that his style of goofy, self-referential filmmaking was already irrelevant, and that the cinema, even American cinema, had moved beyond anything he could accomplish. And, watching Kill Bill: Vol. 1, I realized pretty quickly that I was absolutely correct. With a new crop of young proto-auteurs that has been born since QT made Jackie Brown in 1997, Kill Bill seems awfully trite. I predicted a while back that, if Tarantino didn't make a masterpiece this time around, it would be the end of him. Well, now I think I was wrong about that. Kill Bill is far, far, far from a masterpiece, but it's not a disaster. It's somewhat mediocre, but entertaining enough that I will see its second installment (and the fact that it comes in two parts doesn't annoy me at all, in fact, as I believed it would; it ends very well), and probably the next movie Tarantino decides to make. As for the film, it's all style, no substance. I spent most of the movie wondering whether I liked it or not. And there was plenty in the film that I didn't like. The story is very poor, not compelling in the least, and the characters are dreadful. The pacing is way too slow, and the dialogue is extremely awkward at times. But the action sequences are fun, if too bloody (I'm not that big a fan of violence, to tell you the truth). I, very unfortunately, had to go to the bathroom during the longest action sequence. I don't think I will ever see this movie again, but I might just to see everything in that balletic melée. But what tipped me over from dislike into indifference was mostly the technical stuff. The costume design is fabulous, as are the cinematography and music. And the production design is some of the best I've seen, a shoo in for an Oscar nomination. Some of the editing during the fight sequences was annoying (this certainly doesn't compare to real martial arts movies, so the Shaw Brothers logo at the film's opening is a huge tease), but a lot of it was very good, too. While the shifting in time wasn't necessary, it worked well. What pushed me from indifference into approval was the animated sequence. It is the only exceptional thing in the film. It reminded me a lot of Peter Chung's work (he created Aeon Flux, which is perhaps the greatest work of animation in the last decade; this sequence seemed particularly influenced by the silent Aeon Flux cartoons from Liquid Television), but my theatergoing companions did not allow me to stick around and watch the full of the credits. I did see that it was animated in Tokyo, but any other info would be much appreciated. So, in full, Kill Bill is very worthwhile, hardly great (I'd already call it extremely overrated  some of the reviews I read last week I find a bit embarrassing), but a decent, Sunday afternoon entertainment. You might even want to wait for DVD, as you'll most likely get to see both installments as one long film (although I have doubts that it would even work as one movie, considering that this first part is nearly two hours long as it is). 7/10.