doesn't live up to expectations... (!some minor spoilers!)

Rating: 6/10 (28 October 2003)

...and my expectations weren't that high to start with. Kill Bill vol. 1 has its fine moments, though never really memorable. The fight scenes are quite gory and over the top, but not truly shocking nor are they genuinely funny in their wackiness. The characters are rather flat and most of the times recite dull lines in boring dialogue. I don't know what to make of this film, because the ambitions are unclear. If it was to show the audience what a great actress Uma Thurman is, then the least they could to was to give some more depth to her character. Now she's just a cold, vengeful killer in yellow leather with a katana blade. I remained completely neutral towards The Bride throughout the whole film. Did Tarantino want to show how well he could write a screenplay on his own? He falls short. The story never comes alive, not even with the little - rather predictable - twist at the very end of vol. 1. I definitely will go and see vol. 2, but only to watch the end of the story with my own eyes instead of having other people tell me. The fate of the Bride and Bill doesn't affect me one bit, and that's something I regret.
Parts that are very OK though: the sunglasses on the dashboard, the anime part and the bickering between Hattori Hanzo and his assistant.