Brilliant? Nope.

Rating: 7/10 (10 August 2004)

Kill Bill: Volume 1 is an entertaining look at what Tarantino gleaned from his years of indulging in high-octane, low-brow entertainment. As we all know by now, this movie has elements of anime, chop-socky, chambara, kung-fu, and the spaghetti Western. I had hoped that Tarantino, the most revered of all pop-culture nuts, would be able to combine these elements with the dialogue of Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs.
Such a combo would have been brilliant. But the dialogue is not there, and the cool characters of Tarantino's usual writing are strangely absent. In lieu of the likes of the legendary Mr. Blonde and Vincent Vega, we have "The Bride" Beatrix Kiddo, Vernita Green, and O-Ren Ishii. These characters have meat, but leave much to be desired. The second installment satisfies more in this department.
What's more, much of the material has been pilfered (big surprise here) from other films. Paying homage is not a crime. Kill Bill is a fun and violent tribute to these movies that deserves to be enjoyed, but not worshiped.