Kill Bill: Volume I

I did not realize it's been that long until I wrote the title for this review... time flies. But the good thing about it, is that Kill Bill doesn't feel dated. I guess that's the advantage of making an homage movie with elements that are purposefully reminiscent of old movies... the final result is pretty timeless. This is pure Tarantino having fun creating something straight from Wire Fu and Chambara movies I'm sure were part of his childhood. Other movies may have more impressive fight choreographies but to this day the Lucy Liu / Uma Thurman fight is one of the best executed: pacing, cinematography, music... just perfect. Highly recommended as a classic Tarantino that doesn't age.

Pros: 1. The bright colour palette does a wonderful job at highlighting the over-the-top nature of the film. 2. The entire animated sequence of the O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) origin story is gorgeously animated, as well as being impactful and brutal. 3. The score envelops the movie in a pulsating lively aura, and adds reems of energy to the scenes. 4. The action and fight scenes are incredibly entertaining and brilliantly choreographed. 5. The editing is mostly top-notch, especially with the quick cuts adding a lot of vibrancy to the fight scenes. 6. The costume and set design create the outlandish world perfectly. 7. Both Uma Thurman (The Bride) and Lucy Liu deliver great performances. 8. The sound-mixing is very crisp and clean, and it adds so much weight to the action scenes. 9. The make-up and art production is off-the-charts and, in regards to the gore, helps to make the deaths to feel more potent in their execution.

Cons: 1. The slow-motion used is extremely unattractive and pointless. 2. There is annoying minor usage of stock action screams.

Just saw Kill Bill: Vol. 1 and was surprised, to be honest, at how incredibly GOOD this film is. Here is a craftsman (or artist, if you prefer) at the top of his game. Some of the shots are simply incredible; the score is, for the most part, vintage Tarantino selections- and the RZA does a very good job at filling the blanks; Uma Thurman is a great female lead, for sheer presence (and decent acting chops). Even Lucy Liu, who I expected was going to re-hash her Charlie's Angel character, burst on the scene like a flaming nunchuck.

The stringing together of the scenes was impeccable. The transitions, the intercutting between dialogue, the flashbacks... I simply could not get enough. Tarantino IS, indeed, having fun here. He is giving us a film that may not go down as a classic, Pulp Fiction style, but that shows us what is yet to come. I doubt that he's lost his writing talents (as some have claimed), and I actually disagree that the dialogue in the film is "poor", or that there are "no memorable lines" (Empire). The kung-fu genre has never been a particularly good park to display Shakespearean writing virtuosisms. The lines work fine. The plot is simple enough, but Tarantino takes a burger and serves it as "steak tartare with sauce au poivre and asparagus terrine". He basically manages to cram so much information into the film that plot is simply irrelevent. What is relevent is the Bride's thirst for blood, her primal sense of vengeance and our total devotion to her. Bill, of course, is one of the greatest characters to ever NOT appear on screen. Overall, a great movie and an example of how a filmmaker's tool is not his pen: it's his eye.

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) is a unique film. I've never seen anything quite like it. My commentary for this film is almost all positive. First off, the cast really blew me away, each and every actor did a great job with their respective roles. Uma Thurman is a terrific actress and she was definitely the right choice to play the lead character. Thurman commands this role and you are transfixed by her in every scene she's in. It's not just the action sequences that she is great in, she's just perfect for the role all around. And it wasn't just her that I loved, I also liked Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, and Lucy Lui. They all showed off their acting chops here, especially Fox, I personally loved her short time she's in the film. The writing is well done, I especially enjoyed Thurman's dialogue, the well written dialogue and the impressive way that she delivers that dialogue all comes together to make something great. I think most movie goers will enjoy this acclaimed movie, as long as they're not too conservative that is. I say that because the violence is truly graphic and very bloody, but in a strange way it kinda works for this one. I'm usually not a big fan of that, but here it works. Good job Tarantino! 8/10.

It's a hefty price to pay, preparing for your wedding day, as your jilted lover Bill, arrives in time to maim and kill, left unconscious, comatose, muscles wasting, decompose, four years later you awaken, and you feel a little shaken, so you start to wiggle toes, then start looking for your foes, there are several scores to settle, you know how to use sharp metal.

The Bride starts to track down her past acquaintances and leaves them under no illusion how cold her revenge can be when it comes to finding the whereabouts of the titular Bill. In the style of several classic film genres from several countries, if the pursuit of ultra-violent and vicious vendetta with serious loss of blood and body parts is your thing, then you've come to the right place. Also contains great dialogue.