Kill Bill - Volume 1

Finally, Tarantino's fourth film is here! We explain why it's not the next Pulp Fiction, but his coolest film yet!

Expectations for Kill Bill are monumental. Unlike this year's blockbuster contenders such as the Wachowski brothers or Peter Jackson; Tarantino's work has already been immortalised in film history and pop culture. So what next?

Uma Thurman's performance in Kill Bill is quite exceptional

Six years is a long time to go without a picture in the film industry. Yet Tarantino has been far from hibernating in a black hole - having played bit parts here and there, watched a colossal amount of movies and furiously wrote a number of pictures in the making, including his latest. I admire Tarantino's ambition to create every film as great as his last. And it is. But don't be fooled - Kill Bill maybe his most violent but it isn't as ground breaking as Pulp Fiction or Reservoir Dogs, because he doesn't intend it to be. Instead, it's set to be the greatest fan boy film you've ever seen! Be prepared for the ultimate orgy of Tarantino film aesthetic, technique and culture.

It's terribly apparent that Tarantino makes absolutely no apology in paying homage here, whether it be Bruce Lee and old school kung fu films, Sergio Leoni and spaghetti westerns, japanimation, samurais, yuzukas, whatever. If you know them - you'll howl with laughter as you see the yellow suit, the kung fu sound effects, the random cussing, the "don't fuck with me" close ups, the silhouette fight sequence, the spinning axe, the anime chapter - it is all very nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Tarantino crafts it all with such love and detail to create tension, atmosphere, danger and madness that when backed with its eclectic soundtracks, it blends in together nicely without feeling too detached.

Be warned, more than ever his storytelling in Kill Bill is almost completely based on motifs, style and reference from other films. This is very well executed by two of Tarantino's key production hands in both the cinematography (Robert Richardson - Natural Born Killers, Casino, Platoon) and editing (Sally Menke - Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown). Fans already familiar to those genres will be offered quite a lot to indulge in but thankfully the action doesn't get too lost in a plethora of wanky references but keeps the whole audience engrossed.

I guess you're waiting for the lowdown on the martial art fight sequences? Well, I was very relieved to discover they were stylistically raw and very bitty and with minimum wirework or overwhelming CG fight sequences. With the aid of Yuen Wo Ping, Tarantino rarely loses sight of what he wants and not what the audiences expect to see after a Matrix and Charlie's Angels overdose this summer.

Without spoiling it for everyone, the fight scenes are awesome and Thurman's character is confidently graceful and exquisite in handling her samurai sword. The main fight sequence, though long, is never tiresome and very loyal to kung fu films - it's almost difficult watching it without feeling déjà vu the whole time. At times it borders on the insane and laughable as limbs and blood spray like rain across the screen. The more blood thirsty of us will rejoice at the annihilation she scores in the nightclub scene, it's total carnage and one that fans will talk about in the pub for ages to come.

Kill Bill possibly the most malnutritioned of plotlines for any Tarantino flick he's written or directed so far. Uma Thurman plays The Bride/Black Mamba, a pregnant ex-assassin who is shot by her boss, Bill, on her wedding day and left for dead alongside her massacred guests. She awakes from a coma four years on, and plots a vengeful world tour to hunt down the Deadly Viper Assassin Squad she was once a part of, greeting each assassin with a little payback as she works her way up to Bill.

The performances in this film are stellar and the casting should be applauded. Like many of Tarantino's back catalogue, characterization takes priority and is extremely key in his presentation of the story. Of the "death list five", we only get to briefly see Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and Budd (Michael Marsden) in this volume - they're clearly left for the deathmatches in the second instalment. I'd be interested to see the Bride's showdown with Elle because she is one scary maniacal nurse!

The Bride's target in the first volume is set on both Vernita Green (Vivica A Fox) who has now settled down, and O-Ren Ishi (Lucy Liu) who is the most powerful gang leader in Japan. It's great to see the stark contrasts between each of the assassins and their back story. Notable cast mentions must also go to Sonny Chiba (plays Hattori Hanzo), Julie Dreyfuss (as Sofie Fatale), and Chiaki Kuriyama (as the very memorable GoGo) who is hilariously depicted as a typical cutesy Japanese girl but - shit - she's a hot killing machine with a very big ball to play with. I'll stop there before I step into spoiler territory.

As you'd expect, Uma Thurman does completely own this film and I would go as far as saying it's her best performance yet. Watching her was like watching Sigourney Weaver's Ripley for the first time, for both their vulnerabilities as well as determinations to grow into the role of a true warrior. Thurman is really special in Kill Bill and shines in both her portrayals of the Bride's victories and hard knocks. There's the brilliant yet poignant bit where she wakes up and you won't be able to help but to suffocate to her realisation of losing her groom and her baby. The usual titillating screenplay might be taking a backseat in Kill Bill, but heck, there's emotion all right and lots of it!

Fans maybe also excited/frustrated to hear that there is both a prequel and a sequel planned to add into the mix. Miramax looks set to cash in on DVD and ticket sales, even if to figure out what the Bride's real name is (check out the web if you can't wait).

Despite lacking in original material; the film is fiercely entertaining, very humorous, and even laugh out loud at some points. There's definitely enough exciting material in Kill Bill that can be spread across two volumes (well, its marketers want us to think so) but it suffers as a consequence, and may have been best released as a four hour film. There are also too many unanswered questions in the first volume and too many things to see in the second that left me with a mild taste of dissatisfaction when I walked out of the cinema. They didn't need to split this into two volumes once again! Do I really have to wait until February?! Grrr... Go on then.

Transistor Sister
Film Critic, Kikizo Movies