awesome awesome awesome

Rating: 9/10 (11 October 2003)

This movie is packed to the teeth with awesomeness, what more can I say? Hard-hitting, raw, over-the-top action sequences, stylistic flourishes as only Tarantino can provide, and an orgy of extreme, comical violence, it's a feast.
There were moments during this film when I would spontaneously laugh at the overwhelming coolness of it all. Of course it's an exercise in style, of course it's excessive, that's the point. Tarantino knows he's made a hyper-cool film; it shows on every frame. The arrival of KILL BILL VOL. 1 is a breath of fresh air in mainstream cinema. After a decade of sub-par imitators and annoying tangential side projects by Quentin, his return to the screen is nothing short of a revelation. Finally, the re-arrival of a filmmaker who simply takes so much joy out of making movies. I would put the Coen brothers in that same category as well, so their return to the screen is another dream come true.
Granted, the film has some problems - it drags at times, but only rarely. Otherwise, I'm hard pressed to think of another negative. The cast is solid, especially Uma, who has this incredible, larger-than-life magnetism here. She is manifest badass. She must have gone through hell training for this movie, because I'd really believe she could take on 88 guys at once.

This movie lives up to the hype and then some. An adoring homage to Asian martial arts, Blaxploitation, Grindhouse gore, and especially the Shaw brothers films, KILL BILL is Quentin Tarantino acknowledging the influences that have informed his work all along, and, with a stroke of a samurai sword, totally surpassing them.