Mediocre spaghetti western with too much blood and too little believability

Rating: 3/10 (10 December 2005)

Quentin Tarantino has not done himself any favors with the presentation of Kill Bill. Some have lauded this film as an example of Tarantino's established expertise. I felt that exactly the opposite was true.
While Pulp Fiction still has the ability to elicit feelings of appreciation for its fresh, new approaches after many viewings, Kill Bill left me with the impression that I had already seen more of it than I would have liked to.
There are some plot holes that are weakly patched, and some scenes that were apparently intended to be eye-popping bloodbaths of combat with Samurai swords. There is even a Japanese Anime portion inserted unexpectedly into the movie, which is interesting in its own right, but seems to draw the viewer out of the film rather than more deeply into its plot.
At one point, possibly as an apology for the blatant (almost funny in its exaggeration) bloodbath, Tarantino switches from color to a black and white format. While the switch to b/w, as well as the change to Anime, might be considered examples of Tarantino's brilliant, renegade movie-making style, here they come off as weak props, manipulating the viewer's commitment in an effort to keep us watching a little longer.
I did stay with the film to the end. I also followed it with a viewing of Kill Bill 2. My impression did not change much over the course of the entire viewing.
Kill Bill is an attempt to make a Clint Eastwood Spaghetti Western, with the fragile-looking Uma Thurman as the macho protagonist. Uma does look striking in her leathers, and carries off the performance with style. But she is not convincing as a fighter, no matter how strong and sharp her steel blade might be. The believability factor is stretched so thin at one point, Uma takes on a large group of trained fighters all at once, and of course, whips them like so many playthings. They spew a lot of blood, and die spectacularly. So what.
I will probably enjoy Pulp Fiction many more times. I won't be watching any more Kill Bill.