Uma's going to Kill Bill; Do you care if she does?

Rating: 6/10 (24 March 2004)

I saw Kill Bill in it's opening week here in the Netherlands. I was looking forward to a Tarantino who I fondly remembered for the great films like Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and for the fascinating story of Natural Born Killers.
However, I also remember Four rooms. I also Remember From dusk till dawn. Perhaps even Jacky Brown. I will also remember Kill Bill the same way; Why? You will ask, when it has these great references to classics? Why when cinematography and imagery is so great? Why when it has so many different styles of filming?
For three reasons; the first reason, the great films Taratino made had great plots in which he added depth, witty conversation and/or unexpected variations. Kill Bill lacks all of these and good directing does not make good on this.
The second reason; despite the fact that I am a movie fanatic, Tarantino referring to the movies which inspired him to make Kill Bill does not spell originality to me. It annoyed me mostly for lack of it. Critics love it for this but people who never experienced or seen American movies from this period will see it just as an action flick with "cool" bloody scenes.
Mia Wallace from Pulp Fiction really appealed to me. As a character and a presence. The Bride had no radiance whatsoever. She couldn't scare an eight year old.
These are the reasons why Kill Bill does not appeal to me. Maybe Tarantine is picking up his pace again after relatively a long time of silence. Maybe the next episode will have the quality which made the others great. Maybe the plot in Kill Bill2 will twist like a snake on a hot plate. Or maybe he should have started doing these things in volume 1 so I would care if Uma Kills Bill.
6 out of 10