Tarantino's 4th film. It's different, but still impressive.

Rating: 9/10 (8 July 2010)

When I first heard of Kill Bill in 2003, saw the trailer, etc. I though this has to be crap. Just violence, and violence and no structure. then I forgot about it. The a few years later I started looking into Tarantino films. I saw his newest one, Inglorious Basterds, and I though; "wow, this is pretty good". It was refreshing to see someone with a unique and classical directing style. Then I saw Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs, and already I considered him one of the greatest directors ever. Then after having seen Death Proof (not his best by the way) I figured; " you know what? it's about time I sit down and watch Kill Bill volume 1". So i sat down and saw it, and these are my thoughts on it.
Despite not being the kind of movie I like, I really liked this movie. Okay that sounds weird, but it's how it is. Revenge movies, and Japanese movies, and especially anime is on the bottom of my like list, hate me if you wan't but I fail to see the attraction to it. However, this movie is so well made, I put all of that aside. The tag line "Tarantino's 4th film" as if it is very relevant, is well placed in it's context. When I saw Reservoir Dogs I though; "no way this is his first film! It's too good". He made two more films, and didn't disappoint, so his fourth movie surely had to be a cinematic masterpiece, and I personally think it should qualify as such. It has a visual style both corny and artistic at the same time. He really taps into the heart of a good exploitation film. It is a surprisingly profound movie.
But now that I've praised this movie, I guess the complaint should be written down as well. I only have one complaint about this movie, which isn't actually much of a complaint. The violence. And don't get me wrong, I am not against violence in films in any way. inf act I often think it's very important to make a good and shocking film. However I think that there is only one thing that stands int he way of Quentin Tarantino's artistic abilities; he's need for violence. His Grindhouse feature following Kill Bill; Death Proof proved this point. The violence got in the way of the story,a nd the story got less impressive. I understand Tarantino's need to channel his violence ideas through films, but I'm afraid he might go too far one day. this film an example of how that might one day ruing his films.
Having set that aside, I give this movie a 9/10, and finish by saying, I really look forward to Kil Bill volume 2.