If you can't take the heat, stay out of the House of Blue Leaves...

Rating: Null/10 (28 October 2003)

Once again, Quentin releases a film built to befuddle those who can't quite swallow cinematic violence, unless rendered devoid of all possible dramatic power, so as not to upset a general audience, or disgust someone's date...
Fair enough. I remember those screenings of 'Pulp Fiction" that found people heading for the doors even before Uma got a needle in the chest, and certainly by the time Christopher Walken describes in such detail how he protected the sole inheritance of a fellow P.O.W. to his only son.
Yep, "Kill Bill Volume I" is not "Jackie Brown," "Pulp Fiction" or "Reservoir Dogs," as it surely was not intended to be. Yes, Quentin is definitely reveling in his opportunity to offer his own unique take on the martial arts/ revenge films of his youth. Did he go overboard, losing his way in cinema styles he only thought he could use to tell a story?
Or, as I surmise, isn't this film the kind of wild, off-the-wall kind of presentation we should have hoped for from QT by now? The kind that rabid fans of Asian action cinema go nuts over?
"KBVI" is a big, broad blast of a violent comic book. I don't think there's any mistaking that this film's ultra-violent visuals can be taken as a statement to all those critics who have taken umbrage with QT's violent content 'til now, dubbing artful, effectively presented action as "too graphic" while absolving other films that dull down their content, despite often greater body counts, and sicker acts. I suppose "Freddy Vs. Jason" finds its' audience only because it falls beneath so many critics radar...
To those expecting, or demanding, the dialogue driven stories of QT's previous films, there is some memorable dialogue to be had (Lucy Liu gets the big "Samuel L." style speech of this film), but be prepared for a much wilder and violent visual ride.
To those who get itchy around Tarantino, and never liked "Pulp Fiction" or "Reservoir Dogs," I say stay away. If you never appreciated violent films before, you will hate this one. Perhaps actively. And the world doesn't really need a bunch of disenchanted filmgoers ready to take bloody revenge on QT.;^)...
However, to those who can take this movie for what it is, a big broad opera of betrayal, violence and revenge (or, at least, half of one), I urge you to go and enjoy it on the big screen... ...and then on DVD...
But I do wonder: How can you actively hate a film that offers Uma Thurman in the Bruce Lee track suit from "Game of Death" duelling with an army of Catos...?