Album Reviews
Movies
Concert Reviews
Movie Resources
Concert Reviews
Book Reviews

Top 10
Resources
Contact Us

Quentin Tarantino's new movie, Kill Bill Vol. 1, is a spectacular triumph of style over substance. Two of the first things we see in Kill Bill are the dedication "Revenge is a dish best served cold" and Uma Thurman's bloody, terror-filled face as a man off-screen asks, "Do you find me sadistic?" The fact that the dedication is attributed to an old Klingon proverb brought howls from the screening audience, but those were soon silenced by Tarantino's opening image. That contrast of campy homage and in-your-face gore lies at the heart of Kill Bill.

The story is a basic revenge tale. Uma Thurman is the Black Mamba, a former killer for the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS, get it?). When she tries to leave the group, the other assassins, led by their mentor Bill, track her down and kill her. At least they think they kill her, but they've only sent her into a coma. Four years later, she wakes up with one thing on her mind--getting even. So she makes a list: Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu), Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), Sidewinder (Michael Madsen), California Mountain Snake (Darryl Hannah), and Bill (David Carradine).

For reasons clear only to Tarantino, though it may have something to do with the decision to cut Kill Bill into two separate movies, the movie's first fight is actually Uma's second conquest. We know that because when she crosses a person off her list in the first fight scene, another name is already crossed off (we see that encounter later). Tarantino has enjoyed playing with time before, but here it feels somewhat arbitrary.

That's not the only plot hole. Indeed, the story is full of arbitrary moments and superficial characters. In that sense, the movie is somewhat like old kung fu movies, where characters are merely bridges to get to the next martial arts moment. Hard-core Tarantino fans, who've waited six long years for this film, might be disappointed at the film's lack of originality. Gone are Quentin's trademark verbal riffs and interesting
explorations of our multi-racial culture. Kill Bill feels like a straight tribute, reincarnating various motifs from Hong Kong kung fu flicks and Japanese samurai movies. And the pop culture references--a man wearing a Kato mask, a teenage killer in a schoolgirl outfit, the animated flashback--are a homage to pop culture.

The fact of the matter is that Kill Bill encourages you to turn your brain off and let the wash of disturbingly beautiful images cascade over you. But what images! Robert Richardson is one of the world's finest cinematographers, and his contributions to Kill Bill are, at times, awe-inspiring. His lighting and camera movement produce so many jaw-dropping moments I don't know where to begin. There's the incredible sword fight set against a glorious blue screen, there's the intricate crane shot that tracks down the hallways and rooms of a restaurant, and there's the scene in an attic when Uma receives her incredible sword. The best sequence, though, is the movie's final encounter in a Japanese garden. At night. With the snow falling. Richardson's widescreen photography echoes the great Mizoguchi, though this time it's in color.

By turning off our brain, though, we also turn off our heart. So when Tarantino does attempt to introduce emotional pathos, it strikes a false note. In an early scene, Uma Thurman weeps over her lost child for what seems like minutes. But after we've already witnessed a bloody and dispassionate knife fight and a stylized police investigation, the sight of a sobbing woman doesn't have the impact it might in a different film. And when the movie raises the specter that her child might not actually be dead, we've long since given up on the idea of Uma as a mother. She's simply the Black Mamba, the baddest of all bad-asses.

Much has been made of Kill Bill's violence, and violent it is. But the violence isn't the sadism of Reservoir Dogs or the horror of Bad Boys II. Rather, it's violence inspired by comic books and kung fu films. When someone's head gets chopped off, the blood spurts like a fountain, just like the "black knight" scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail. And just like that movie, I found myself laughing at the excess of it all. Indeed the sheer amount of blood and severed body parts in Kill Bill becomes almost comic. Not that I'm recommending this one to my mom, but the violence in Kill Bill bothered me much less than in some of this summer's blockbusters.

Regular readers of this column will know that Kill Bill is usually the kind of movie I decry--excessively violent, lacking in character or plot, the triumph of hyper-style. Yet, I had a great time and was genuinely disappointed when the movie abruptly came to a halt. Part of my enjoyment came from the sheer bravado on display. The movie's surface is so uniquely beautiful and the homage is so heartfelt it's hard to resist being pulled into Tarantino's universe. But there's also something fun about a popcorn movie, a movie that doesn't require you to think but just asks you to sit back and soak it all in. Unfortunately, Hollywood's popcorn movies are usually so lazy and poorly made that my brain kicks back on. Kill Bill, however, holds the dream long enough that we lose ourselves in its world.

J. Robert Parks 10/13/2003

Revenge has long been the inspiration behind many films and novels. A classic example is in the pages of Moby Dick where Captain Ahab peruses the white whale in a reckless and deadly obsession fueled by his desire for revenge at all costs.

Both films Jaws and Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan have strong themes of revenge central to their plot. For example, Khan desires revenge against Captain Kirk to the extent that he was willing to risk his life, freedom, and the lives of his crew to obtain it. In Jaws Quint places his crew, ship, and life in peril rather than allow his pride to be wounded and admit that he needs help in bringing in the shark.

In Quentin Tarantino's new film Kill Bill: Volume 1, audiences are introduced to Black Mamba (Uma Thurman), a former assassin who is attacked and left for dead by her fellow employees on her wedding day. She awakens from a coma four years later with a steel plate in her head and a score to settle.

After escaping from the hospital undetected, Black Mamba sets off for Okinawa to mentor under a sword maker and prepare her body to take revenge. With the aid of a specially-made sword, Mamba sets out to locate and kill her former cohorts, especially her boss Bill (David Carridine) who put a bullet in her head on her wedding day.

Tarantino tells the story in a stylistic and, at times, bizarre manner that uses foreshadowing, flashbacks, black and white scenes, and anime in a non-linear story that jumps around nearly as much as the aforementioned Black Mamba during a fight scene. Thurman does solid work in a very demanding and physical role, yet does not get much sympathy from the audience as many have difficulty feeling tremendous sympathy for a person who is a stone cold killer. Lucy Liu provides a fine supporting performance as the head of a crime syndicate named O-Ren Ishi who is sought by Mamba, as she was present at the wedding day massacre.

There has been much mentioned in the media of this film being divided into two pictures rather than releasing a three-hour picture. In many ways, it is a disservice to viewers as, after a fantastic action sequence, the film ends in under-whelming fashion with only a slight bombshell of information being announced. While this does add a degree of interest, it does not provide the big hook that may be needed to make casual viewers want to pay to see the completion of the film rather than wait for the video.

That being said, Tarantino has provided viewers a film that is a dazzling combination of action and visuals that will delight some and frustrate others who are looking for more depth. The film shows that Tarantino is a talented and visionary filmmaker who is the master of mixing action, quirky characters, over the top action, and twisted humor to create a symphony of theatrical originality.

Gareth Von Kallenbach  October 19, 2003

Wiggle your big toe.  Then wiggle your other toes.  Then stand up.  And make haste to the nearest theater showing Kill Bill, Vol. 1. This film is the brainchild of director Quentin Tarantino (Jackie Brown, Reservoir Dog) and Uma Thurman (Batman and Robin, Gattaca), thought up as they were sharing Big Kahuna burgers during the filming of Pulp Fiction.  Thurman plays The Bride, a former member of a sort of “evil Charlie’s Angels” called the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad.  Bill, the “evil Charlie,” had her (so he thought) and her wedding party killed.  Well, now she’s back to take them out one by one.  That is the plot.  That is the entire plot.

What makes Kill Bill, Vol. 1, the first must-see film of the year are the visuals.  Tarantino relies less on his trademark dialog than in any of his previous films.  But he gives us an origin sequence entirely in anime, a fight sequence that looks like a slightly overexposed grayscale, and lots of sword-fighting in tribute to Bruce Lee and classic Asian cinema.

The screen is drenched with blood and violence, but it’s done quickly and cleanly, so if you were disturbed by the “anticipated terror” violence of, say, the ear amputation of Reservoir Dogs, that’s not the kind of thing you have to worry about in Kill Bill, Vol. 1.  But if you are disturbed by sexy women in hot yellow jump suits, then by all means stay away.

Dan Singleton October 19, 2003