A plethora of things to like, excellent film

Rating: 10/10 (11 October 2003)

Kill Bill: Volume 1 is the best film of its genre - although it is difficult to try to categorize this movie (like most Tarantino films).
Kill Bill conveys many of the usual Tarantino traits, such as unique and clever style and witty dialogue. Aside from the obvious, the quality of the soundtrack might suprise you. The rapper and hip-hop producer The Rza did an amazing job with the Kill Bill soundtrack. In some scenes The Rza slowly transforms erratic sounds into well orchestrated and rythmic music. At other times he captures the intensity of the situation and gets you amped up for what is about to follow. In a few scenes he completely side-swipes you with a suprisingly out of place tune, given the situation. The music is always in perfect sync with the action. All in all, The Rza did a spectacular job.
As far as the movie goes, it is a highly entertaining action flick. It is clever and fresh, a welcome hour-and-a-half diversion from the Matrix inspired crud that has been hitting the box office in waves lately. It was amazing to see both Sonny Chiba and Gordon Liu in a major US production (both of which had great parts). The interaction between The Bride (Uma Thurman) and her enemies, the other assassins especially, was some of the best dialogue in an action film in years (since the first Matrix). The anime scene detailing O-Ren Ichii's past was amazing.
Even my powderpuff loving, gore hating girlfriend enjoyed this movie. 10 out of 10, great movie, it succeeds in everything it set out to do.