Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) (R)

Kill Bill Vol. 1 (2003) (R)
Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Chiaki Kuriyama

Daddy Says:

When Kill Bill Vol. 1 came out it had been six years since director Quentin Tarantino had directed a feature length film. His previous one, 1997's Jackie Brown had failed to replicate the success he had seen with his first two hits Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction. After such a lengthy hiatus, expectations for this new film were quite high. And luckily for us, the film ended up being quite good. So good, in fact, that rather than cut out too many good parts, he decided to split the film up into two "volumes".

Kill Bill Vol. 1 begins the story of The Bride (Uma Thurman), a top assassin, and part of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, headed by Bill (an off screen David Carradine). She got pregnant and wanted out. At her marriage to a man we don't get to meet, Bill and the rest of the squad put an end to that. She is beaten, and with a final shot to the head from Bill, left for dead.
Except she didn't die. And after spending four years in a coma, she wakes up with one thing on her mind: revenge.

Like the best of Tarantino's movies, this one steals from a great number of sources. Very little of his movies can be called original, but by taking a bit from here and a bit from there, he manages to conjure up something which can be called original. We certainly haven't seen most of this "kung-fu revenge film" material all in one place before. There is very little actual characterization to the parts played by the talented actors here. But what is here is a great deal of style. This is one of the most visually engaging movies I've seen in a long time.

Be warned though: this is also one of the most violent, bloody flicks out there. To keep the rating down to an "R", Tarantino turns the film black and white during an especially bloody fight scene. In this world, people don't just get cut by swords and fall over. No, here they spray geysers of blood.

Rating for Kill Bill Vol. 1: ****1/4

Daughter Says:

Kill Bill Vol. 1 lives up to its reputation as a Quentin Tarantino film. With its out of order storytelling and its gruesome violence, you are disgusted but amused by it. The moral of this story is simple: what gets put out there, comes back. And Uma Thurman creates that perfectly

This also doesn't just stay in color or go to black in white, but at one point in the movie it goes cartoon to explain one of the character's childhood. This cartoon was very well drawn with the help of many people and helped us prepare for the worst of the goriness.

This movie's blood was nasty beyond compare, but that doesn't stop me from liking this movie. It had great action scenes that really stood up to many Japanese kung-fu movies, even though it is American directed and produced.

I was very impressed, so my rating for this movie is ****1/2.