The Bride's The Queen: Tarantino's First Half Of Perfection.
Written: Oct 11 '03 (Updated Oct 13 '03)
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Everything; Uma's performance; the battles; script; soundtrack; and on and on...
Cons: Nothing at all; maybe to violent for some.
The Bottom Line: To skip Kill Bill is the biggest mistake a movie fan can make. It's all we've ever dreamed of and more.
|
|
|
| ssteveszykk's Full Review: Kill Bill Volume 1 |
"I like women, especially beautiful ones. If they have a good face and figure, I would much prefer to watch them being murdered than an ugly girl or man." -Dario Argento
What's better than some a s s kicking by the hands and feet of a female. If you answered nothing, than you and I would find ourselves well acquainted. Beginning with the exploitation films of the 70's and 80's such as revenge flicks The Last House on the Left (which features a mother castrate a man with her mouth... ouch), I Spit on Your Grave (which features a woman do... everything you could never imagine) and the blaxploitation flicks featuring goddess Pam Grier (who Mr. Quentin Tarantino wisely placed as the lead in his incredible third feature Jackie Brown) to female horror film leads, who find themselves defeating those who have so unfairly sliced and diced their friends and lovers to recent television programs such as Dark Angel, Buffy and my favorite Alias (which feature young ladies overcoming all odds and proving their strength), kick a s s ladies seem to always be the most interesting characters. And to draw some parallels, Kill Bill features Uma Thurman doing just what I love to see, killing - killing a ton of people, and best of all; it's part of a revenge scheme. Revenge is yet another theme I am unnaturally in love with, willing and partial to cheer for those seeking the satisfaction of revenge, such as killing those who killed your friends, family, and even left you for dead (as is the case in this film). A ladies revenge picture helmed by genius Quentin Tarantino - was their any question that this film would be the brilliance it is? Once again, if you answered no, than you and I would get along well.
The plot's simple and since it's everywhere I'll leave it out of here. Instead let me guide myself to discuss the fight scene than we see first, but that does not actually occur first chronologically in The Bride's (Uma Thurman) quest to kill Bill. Featured is Vivica A. Fox, who delivers a fiery little performance as Vernita Green, codename Copperhead, a woman who handles her knifes better than a Japanese chef. Her battle with The Bride is hilariously interrupted by her very young Daughter's arrival home from school, which was showcased in the trailer, and which is genuine Tarantino brilliance. The fight itself brought flashbacks to the season finale of Alias's second season, where my favorite spy gal Sydney Bristow (played amazingly by the gorgeous and talented Jennifer Garner) battled it out with the evil clone (sort of) of her best friend, Francie. The fight was throughout the house of Syd, just like here with The Bride and Vernita going at it in the latter's home, using house hold appliances and furniture as shields and weapons. Both fights end as expected, which I won't directly spoil here, but I think it's very blatantly obvious. Both fights also feature tools used for a fire-place as weapons, and I couldn't help but imagine my dream fight coming true, with Jennifer Garner and Uma Thurman having their selves a dandy little brawl throughout, say, my house (call me ladies). But this is a review of Kill Bill not my life story.
The fight scene mentioned above is one of the few featured in this film. The scenes are absolutely incredible, especially the House of Blue Leaves sequence which highlights The Bride's maiming and destruction of somewhere around 80 assassins, all - to keep the vocab relevant - henchmen of Lucy Liu's awesome O-Ren Ishii character, who is wonderfully portrayed in a performance not to forget, and, in a perfect world, acknowledged by some type of awards ceremony. This massacre in particular pulls out all the stops, pulling some Crouching Tiger here, and some Hidden Dragon there, defying gravity and the odds as The Bride shows up each and everyone. The choreography is brilliant and beautiful, raw yet nicely stylized, and the cinematography is also to be noted, awesomely sinking into black and white, which same may not appreciate, but I enjoyed one hundred percent. By the demise of the last of the assassins I came to a haunting and shocking conclusion - as much as I love me some Sydney Bristow, she's got nothing on Uma's Bride, and maybe I'd rather see them join forces than see my little Syd go bye-bye. Getting back on track, the conclusion of this sequence - or chapter (the film is separated into chapters) - the showdown of O-Ren and The Bride is incredibly well-paced, and perfectly minimalistic, with a pay-off that is both hilarious and exhilarating.
Somewhere in the midst of the madness Tarantino slips an absolutely incredible anime sequence, describing the life of O-Ren Ishii. The blood-soaked animation is absolutely incredible; an emotional and beautiful mini-revenge tale of it's own. The art is beautiful, and somehow it seems to fit perfectly into the film. Whether it was done to avoid an NC-17 rating, or to homage and get recognition for the often underrated anime genre, it's successful and memorable; a pleasure to watch from start to finish just like the entire film is.
Those two adjectives can also be used for the entire duration of Volume 1 of The Bride's killing spree. Quentin Tarantino has once again crafted an incredible script, providing many memorable lines, but really relying more on visuals than his previous films. Although, it's not to often you'll here a line such as "lucky for her, he was a pedophile" with the her being a 12 year old girl. And only can Quentin Tarantino make "wiggle your toes" sound as cool as it did here, and once again Tarantino messes with time, making it all the more fun to follow and watch unfold, as it Memento's occasionally and Pulp Fiction's often.
However, Uma Thurman is also to be praised and praised and praised and praised and awarded and awarded and praised for her awesomely brilliant performance which made me leave me wishes for Pam Grier to have some sort of part behind. She delivers always, speaking Japanese wonderfully, speaking English even better, and always utilizing Tarantino's script. Her expressions, her delivery and her fierceness made everything have much more purpose, and made it so much more enjoyable. Without her this movie would have been missing something (that is if Jennifer Garner wasn't in the role instead), as Thurman makes you root for her to the fullest even when she's doing such horrible things as killing in front of a child. Her character of The Bride, who's real name is always bleeped out when mentioned, is easily the greatest character to be put to screen this year, and I can guarantee she will not be topped. I don't predict Oscar nominations for this role, but I do wish and pray someone will recognize her for delivering the single most enjoyable and incredible and intense performance, possibly of the new millennium. Ambitious statement indeed, but when my evidence is the performance in Kill Bill I worry not about justification. Uma simply was that d a m n good.
As was every single actor whose face was shown (bad choice of expression as David Carradine's character of Bill - yes the one she wants to kill - keeps his face off screen, but whose voice and vocal performance is enough to send shivers down spines.) Sonny Chiba shows up in an absolutely hysterical sequence, playing Hattori Hanzo, a master swords maker who goes against an oath he has made to God, by providing The Bride with her weapon of destruction - a sword with the blade strong enough to cut up other swords that could be the equivalent of the Wal-Mart brand. The awesome Asian body-guard played by Chiaki Kuriyama, Go Go is a 17 year old feisty little thing dressed in school girl outfit that puts little Ms. Britney Spears to shame and armed with a pointy ball on a chain(which is a description that gives it no justice, and I apologize). Kuriyama is becoming my cute little Asian favorite, after her slick performance in Battle Royale, and now this incredibly heartless portrayal whose "Hiii" is clearly a highlight of a film overflowing with highlights upon highlights. Takako would be proud.
Getting back to Quentin Tarantino, the soundtrack he has gathered is flawless. And I mean Pulp Fiction flawless. He continues to compile soundtracks that defy what a soundtrack actually is, pushing boundaries and creating scores that are vital to the film's story. The opening credits are graced with Nancy Sinatra's gorgeous rendition of Bang Bang (My Baby Shot Me Down), and an original score from The RZA is an incredibly musical collection, creating some d a m n fine compliments to what is seen on screen. An excerpt of Quincy Jones' Ironside score is used multiple times and makes for some priceless revelation scenes. Tomoyasu Hotei, a, I believe Japanese artist strikes cold with Battle Without Honor of Humanity, which has been featured in nearly all of Kill Bill's trailers and teasers. It's, to use the best word possible, cool and in the film even better, making for an awesome and unforgettable here come the bad-a s s e s sequence (you'll see). No filmmaker uses music like Tarantino does, and that's just one of many reasons why he is the greatest thing to happen to cinema in the 20th and 21st centuries.
There's so much to mention that I can't possible mention it all. Quentin Tarantino's fourth film is brilliant, fun, emotional, and powerful with just the right dose of humor and drama. The fights are breathtaking, and Uma is simply astounding. And best of all, we've only seen half of it, and if the incomplete story can rank up their with Pulp Fiction, Reservoir Dogs and Jackie Brown, I can only imagine how absolutely perfect the whole story will be. Kudos to Quentin for defying Hollywood and delivering a movie that - as cliché as it sounds - reminds us why we all became fans of the media in the first place.
10
Recommended:
Yes
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
ssteveszykk
|
|
Member: Steve
Location: NY
Reviews written: 50
Trusted by: 12 members
About Me:
It's funny to grow up with this site - my old reviews are horrifying/embarrassing/hilarious/nostalgic.
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.