SaviouR's review of Kill Bill Volume I
Let me tell you, a fan of Quentin Tarantino flicks ever sinced I watched Pulp Fiction, that this time around we all got the royal screwjob, courtesy of the dickheads at Miramax. It is more than obvious that Miramax just wants to cash in on his movie, because of the fact that they have not had a bona fide hit for quite some time. They can bring over all of the foreign movies they want, chop it up and it will still not go well. If they had to split the movie, they would of at least let Quentin Tarantino make an ending of Kill Bill Volume I, in lack of better wording, shitty. When one makes a movie with a sequel for sure, they must be like surgeons and carve it out with much precision. In this case, it was a butcher's blade; too many loose ends...
The main problem with Kill Bill Volume I is, as I stated, the splitting of the movie that causes one too many loose ends. When you watch any other movies that require several parts, it is told in a fashion of chapters, like the Star Wars series, the Godfather series, The Lord of the Ring series, etc. The ending in this one is incomplete, and insulting to any viewer of film. Go send hate mail for Miramax for this bullshit.
If you do not know, Kill Bill Volume I is a straight forward revenge flick that includes everything Quentin Tarantino loves; martial arts that defy the laws of gravity (you can thank Yuen Wo-Ping and his masterful skill in doing so) and so much blood and gore that it will probably remind you of another insanely gory movie (mine was Saving Private Ryan). The main character known as "The Bride" a.k.a Black Mamba, who is played by Uma Thurman. On her wedding day, Bill sends out his D.i.V.A.S. (Deadly Viper Assassination Squad) to kill everybody in that wedding. Her husband-to-be was murdered, "The Bride" was brutalized and then shot in the head, and her unborn child was stolen from her. The people responsible for this act was Bill (David Carradine) and the D.i.V.A.S.. O-Ren Ishii a.k.a Cottonmouth is played by Lucy Liu, Vernita Green a.k.a Copperhead is played by Vivica A. Fox, Elle Driver a.k.a California Highway Snake is played by Daryl Hannah, and Budd a.k.a Sidewinder is played by Michael Madsen "The Bride" goes after Copperhead and Cottonmouth first, leaving the other three for Kill Bill Volume II.
Of course, seeing how Yuen Wo-Ping is in charge of the action sequences, they are incredible, and I dare say more impressive than the ones in The Matrix Reloaded. Quentin Tarantino did not use any CGI (he himself believes that CGI will ruin Hollywood) and only uses hidden wires. He pays many homages to many things that influnced him, like Sonny Chiba, H.K. action flicks, anime, etc.
One thing missing from the usual Quentin Tarantino movie is the crisp and intelligent dialogue, which was a downer for me. The other Quentin Tarantino traits, like cultural jokes (anybody remember the little chat Vincent Vega and Jules Winfield had in the car in the beginning of Pulp Fiction). Quentin Tarantino still uses the style of not showing the events in chronological order. At times it does not make sense, but hopefully it is cleared up in Kill Bill Volume II.
As for the acting, it was decent. I was worried about his cast selections (besides Sonny Chiba) because the actours and actresses were all sub-par. Uma Thurman's "The Bride" is believable, but not compelling. Lucy Liu's acting was decent, and probably her best work, although that is not saying much for her. Vivica A. Fox damn near feels like a token Black person. Sonny Chiba, of course, probably gave the best performance in the movie as Hattori Hanzo.
Bear in mind that movies told in parts (as in series) are rather hard to grade, because we are only being told a piece of the story at a time. Until the sequel comes out, I cannot give a "true" rating until I watch it. You can thank Miramax for doing this.
SaviouR's grade on Kill Bill Volume I: Three out of four stars