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Kill Bill: Volume 1

Quentin Tarantino has gained superstardom and has done so with barely a handful of movies under his name. This guy is so good and if you haven't realized by now, I suggest getting to know his credentials for he is an unusual, visually explosive and phenomenal genius at making movies come alive. Music is another element that Tarantino uses quite remarkably in every frame-by-frame shot where it is heard. The music, just as important as the words spoken or the scene being directed, is laid out perfectly.

The story of Kill Bill is quite simple, a bride who was once part of a brutal assignation group called the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad is now betrayed by those members on her wedding day. The whole wedding party and those a part of the ceremony viciously slaughtered in front of her. The bride herself beaten and a slug in her head put there by the big guns himself, her boss, and past lover, Bill (David Carradine), and father of her unborn baby.

Years later, after awaking from a coma, revenge is all she is hungry for.

However, that is where the simplicity ends. Once the film starts, it just doesn't stop and even when the action slows down, it's the facial expressions, the music, the personalities of each of the characters and the direction that keeps the intensity, the uncertainty, the continuing want of knowing what will happen next burrowing its way under your skin.

The bride (Uma Thurman) a.k.a., Black Mamba, makes a list of those who did her so very wrong and now she goes in search of them, one by one, until she slays them all. We also get background information on one of the Squad members who is shown in Anime. That whole sequence was one of the most bloodiest and riveting I've scene in awhile. A very cleaver approach, having a part of this story being told through that medium, it was an amazing sequence that not only was disturbing, but also let you get a peek inside of that character's mind.

Music is one of Quentin Tarantion's trademarks and he, again, pulled it off with the greatest of ease and brought a fascinating collection of music to his film. "Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down)" by Nancy Sinatra is just perfect for this movie. At first I couldn't place who was singing it or if even it was an older or newer piece of music. When I found out, I was most impressed for the placement of the song and totally crazy about it, in general, and for the opportunity to hear this fantastic song for the first time and for Nancy's gorgeous singing, of course.

The music performed by the 5, 6, 7, and 8’s was hyper and fun. Overall, very interesting, it definitely worked out well. How cool was it to use The Green Hornet score? Very cool and you will see just how cool it was used.

Kill Bill is a work of art, an outrageous combination of splattering bodies, bloody grotesque images and psychotic humor. Incredible action sequences that draw you into this wild illusion and the pulsating acting that leaves no question in my mind how awesome the performances were. Truly, this is an exceptional film, by one of today's best and brightest writer/director names in the movie business. The look of the film is striking, colorful, loud and deafening with its visuals and action sequences that leap off the screen.

The acting is as memorable and mesmerizing as the story and martial arts scenes. I was blown away by Uma Thurman (hello, Oscar, where are you?), as well as an incredible performance by Lucy Liu playing the role of O-Ren Ishii, a.k.a. Cottonmouth, ruler of the mob underworld where she dominated the scenes. It was a brilliant role for her to play. Her character, to me, had me feeling sympathetic and sad of her past, but that changes because she changes into something greater than evil itself.

Vivica A. Fox was sexy, humorous and so cool as the character of Vernita Green, a.k.a. Copperhead.  She was a smooth, feisty powerhouse, but she also had a moment where sorrow was felt for her in what she did, but what comes around goes around and Copperhead is first on Black Mamba's list.

Daryl Hannah, who played Elle Driver, a.k.a. California Mountain Snake, was crazy and unforgettably charismatic. She wasn't onscreen for long, but when she was she was dynamite and I just loved her personality -- wicked, strange, and temperamental.

Who really blew my socks off was Chiaki Kuriyama who played Go Go Yubari, the 17-year-old body guard to O-Ren Ishii, whose psychotic and chilling personality were equal, if not more dangerous, in her fighting abilities. She was hot s**t to say the least.

Julie Dreyfus, who played Sofie Fatale, lawyer, best friend, and 2nd in command to O-Ren Ishii, will also taste the venom that Black Mamba will messily give to her. Her performance, quite good, especially at the end where you see a different side of her, a loss of her once strong image, weakened and pitied.

Recommended? I'd have to be out of my head not to recommend this movie. Sure, it's as bloody as Hell 10 times over, but the story takes precedence over it all. The agony, the sick crime put upon this woman and the loss she suffered. She needed to find some kind of punishment for those who betrayed her and peace for herself in all from which she suffered. She saw her family massacred on her wedding day, had a bullet blow her head to smithereens, lay in a hospital bed where heinous things were done to her, all the while being in a coma for years. This lady has massive issues to get off of her chest.

Kill Bill - Volume 1 is one of the best films of 2003; a classic!

I raise my glass to you Mr. Tarantino and look forward to the future of movies to which you will give life. You are a master! 

Written by: Lynda Dale MacLean

Reviewers Rating: 9
Reader's Rating: 8.83
Reader's Votes: 6

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