Is this `Charlie's Angels' taken seriously?

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2003)

Rating: *** (out of *****)
What next for Quentin Tarantino? After crafting two of the most talked about films of the 1990's in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction, and then trying his luck with an Elmore Leonard adaptation (Jackie Brown), what more can this man prove? Well, why not move into the martial arts world?

His latest film, Kill Bill, tries to do just that. Unfortunately, I can't make a final judgement on how successful the whole film is as yet, for I am only reviewing part of it. By taking what appears to be a linear story, dividing it in two, and stretching out these two `volumes' into 1 hr 50 min. segments, Tarantino has regrettably bowed down to the money-grabbing demands of the distributor (although he  and they  claim otherwise). It's hard to watch this in the cinema without the unease that Miramax are ripping filmgoers off. A shorter running length with an intermission would have been far more appreciative.
Putting Miramax's greed aside, Kill Bill Volume I succeeds  to a certain extent. The dialogue and characters that you know Tarantino for best take a back seat to the technical side of things. But his mark is certainly on the film, and, as our protagonist, Uma Thurman shows a kind of ruthless glare and authority that I once felt was beyond her reach.
The film opens with our heroine, known as The Bride, facing up to a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. The squad has five members: O-Ren Ishii, aka Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu  a Charlie's Angel suddenly gone tough, eh?), Vernita Green, aka Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), Budd, aka Sidewinder (Michael Madsen), Elle Driver, aka California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah), and the infamous Bill (David Carradine) who we don't even see, yet. They all thought they had killed her in a wedding massacre  they were wrong. She recovers from a coma, then she begins her revenge.
Kill Bill has a very Pulp Fiction-esque chapter-like structure, but the similarities end there. In some ways, this film is a straightforward, arty and sometimes overly pretentious hybrid of The Matrix and Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
The first hour is really enjoyable. The development of O-Ren's character (with a nice bit of anime to help) sets the ball rolling for some very interesting moments. However, Tarantino allows some scenes in the second half of the film to drag on for too long. This serves little purpose except giving us the chance to gaze at admittedly beautiful scenery and choreography (the latter courtesy of the Matrix man, Yuen Wo-Ping).
Comparisons with The Matrix Reloaded will be inevitable. Yet I must admit that at the end of Volume I, I didn't feel quite as cheated as I did when I first saw the end of Reloaded. This film does not end so abruptly, and we are clearer about the situation. There's a nice twist at the end, too (even if it feels too convenient). So it's not so much an unclear plot that annoys us as the fact that, in a matter of months, we will have to part with more money to see how it all turns out (for little reason).

You may find another clear similarity with Reloaded in the closing battle. If you take out the blood and gore, the fight would easily fit into place in that film. Indeed, watching The Bride survive the hardest of attacks makes you think she may be some kind of Superwoman. (Although I wonder if it was such a good idea to use flying effects in the final showdown, for they actually look a little out-of-place in a battle where most of the fighting is firmly on the ground.)
It's good to see Tarantino having a go at this sort of film, even though if we see many more films like this, the genre really will become overexposed. Nonetheless, his fans will be kept more than satisfied, and the final twist should help ensure that many will look forward to Volume II.