Style to Kill For, but No Substance....

Rating: 5/10 (1 April 2005)

There will be many people who will hate me for what I am about to say, but here goes. I went into Kill Bill Volume 1 excited. Quentin Tarantino has made some amazing films. Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction still blow me away today. Now, after watching this new movie from QT, I left the theater feeling undeniably disappointed.
First of all, Kill Bill is arguably one of the most stylish movies to be released in 2003. I mean seriously. The film has imagery to die for. The fight sequences are spectacularly choreographed, exciting, and ludicrously violent (an homage to kung-fu films). The set decoration is awesome (loved the House of Blue Leaves), Uma's tracksuit is killer (also an homage, this time to Bruce Lee), and the cinematography is gleefully kinetic. The soundtrack also brings down the house, and is one I would consider adding to my CD collection.
That being said, Kill Bill is beautiful. Yet, there is the age-old truth that looks only go so far...
What many people seem to dislike Kill Bill for is the absurdity of the gory violence, for they feel it takes away from the seriousness of the film. It has been said many times, by Tarantino himself, that Kill Bill is an homage to the grindhouse films of the 70s, and the magnitude of the violence is intentional. In other words, it fits the style of the film. And again, the style is really something. But after awhile, the awe and shock of the yellow tracksuits and severed limbs begins to wear off, and it becomes apparent that beneath all the excess of the film, there is not a core, as in Pulp Fiction, but a hollow void. Uma Thurman's character is passionately vengeful and she makes the best of what she is given, but besides being wronged by Bill and the Deadly Vipers, there is barely any depth to her. The film moves far too quickly to feel a genuine attachment to The Bride. Yes, she is put through hell, and therefore we feel sorry for her. Yet, our relationship with her never quite reaches a level beyond that. And because of the latter, Kill Bill felt very empty to me in the end. I can see why it is rated so highly though. Because it's easy to win over an audience with style, which is what Kill Bill is all about. This is only my opinion. Others may disagree with me. Sure the film is an homage to past movies, but that doesn't give it greatness. Nor does style. The most revered and expertly crafted movies have all offered something similar; a story with emotional depth and complexity that goes beyond the standard Hollywood fare. It saddens me to see that Quentin Tarantino has sunken to a lower standard. After all, he is praised for his script- writing from previous films. I remember when I saw the first trailer for Kill Bill. A subtitle read "Miramax Presents.......The Fourth Film by Quentin Tarantino". I rest my case.