A Brilliant Ballet of Death
Kill Bill will influence all kung fu movies from this day forth, in the same way that Pulp Fiction influenced all crime movies. Tarantino brings it all to this film, creating an extremely successful homage while maintaining the feel of a unique film. There's no doubt in my mind that this was directed by Tarantino, his genious smeared all over the movie that no other director could hope to accomplish. It's been seven years since the last Tarantino film, and it has been well worth the wait. His skill has been refined, and the result is a masterpiece.
Taking inspiration from the greatest revenge movies of all time, Kill Bill tells the tale of The Bride (Uma Thurman), who is tracking down and killing her former associates. Why is she doing this? After she left the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, her boss, Bill had her killed on her wedding day. The whole ceremony is wiped out, but the The Bride manages to survive, but loses her unborn baby. Waking up froma coma four years later, she vows revenge on those who did this to her.
This is only Volume 1, so The Bride is only able to sqaure off against two of her associates, the first being Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) and O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Lui). The rest only have small parts in this film, those being Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Bud (Michael Madsen) and of course, Bill (David Carradine). The story is told in the same manner as Pulp Fiction, meaning it doesn't go in chronological order. It bounces around, and finally leads up to a massive showdown against O-Ren Ishi. This is a compelling feature, and is done in a more polished way than found in Pulp Fiction. It makes the story much more interesting, since if it was told in chronological order, it would have been a very boring ending. Instead, that ending makes for a very exciting beginning.
So while the story is interesting, the real star of this movie are the fights. It is here that we truly see Tarantino's mastery. The fights are blood-soaked homages to old samurai movies, and they also set standards of their own. You won't find any CG here, as Uma Thurman takes on 88 hitmen at a time. Every one of those men are real, and is all choreographed with such a brilliance. Limbs are hewn, blood sprays into the air, not even bothering to heed realism. The camera rolls with The Bride as she dances along the floor, attacking from all angles. The film slips into black and white, paying homage to those older samurai films, and this probably keeps the movie from an NC-17 rating. While the violence is over the top, thus making it easier to watch, there are a few scenes that are genuinely disturbing. A tongue is stretched to its breaking point, a head is slammed in between a giant metal door and the wall. It's all part of the movie, and clearly a part of Tarantino's mind. They're so disturbing it doesn't feel out of place at all.
This certainly won't be a movie known for its acting, especially since much of the dialogue is just a few lines at a time. The funniest and most interesting conversation is remarkably in Japanese, but you can clearly see Tarantino's wit, and knowledge of Japanese culture. Uma Thurman is really only allowed one scene of emotion, the rest is exacting revenge in the most heartless way possible. O-Ren Ishi is the most fleshed out villain in the movie, as we see her past and how she comes to power. This makes facing her at the end of the movie that much more important.
Kill Bill is the finest movie made so far this year, even though it was incomplete. I would have preferred to have the movie all at once, but Tarantino uses a very effective cliffhanger. Kill Bill will have some heavy competition for best film of the year with The Last Samurai and Return of the King, but I don't doubt that it will be in the top 3.