It has been six years since a Quentin Tarantino written and directed movie hit theaters. “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” marks Tarantino’s directorial return since “Jackie Brown” and 1994’s cult classic “Pulp Fiction.”
The “Kill Bill” story revolves around the ultimate revenge through martial arts. The movie opens with Bill (David Carriadine, TVs “Kung Fu”) killing a bridal party leaving The Bride (Uma Thurman,”Pulp Fiction”) for dead.
The Bride, also known as Black Mamba, survives a seemingly fatal gunshot wound to the head. She wakes from a four year coma after a mosquito feeds off her flesh.
From the moment of her miraculous revival, she vows vengeance on the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad and Bill. They all are responsible for the death of her unborn child.
The former colleagues on The Bride’s “Death List Five” all show up in the movie, but “California Mountain Snake” Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and Buck “Side Winder” (Michael Madsen) appear briefly in flashbacks.
The movie is broken down into five non-sequential chapters focusing on the demise of Vernita “Copperhead” Green (Vivica A. Fox) and O-Ren “Cottonmouth” Ishi (Lucy Liu). The others are featured in “Kill Bill: Vol. 2,” which is set to hit theaters in February.
“Kill Bill” is true Tarantino at the top of his game. The man effortlessly strings together a film that blends black and white sequences, slow-motion and even an extended anime sequence.
The anime portion of the film depicts O-Ren’s background. Tarantino uses anime to deal with material that would most likely be too sensitive for audiences to sit through. A scene deals with a Mafia boss’s pedophilia, and if shot live, the MPAA might have given the film a NC-17 rating instead of R.
The truly amazing aspect about this movie is seeing martial arts and swordplay from the likes of Thurman, Fox, Liu and hundreds of extras. All of the lead actors make you believe they can fight with the skill and grace shown on screen.
Speaking of fights, there are a lot of them in “Kill Bill.” The fighting sequences undoubtedly will leave audiences with jaws dropped all the way to the ground.
In the showdown with O-Ren, The Bride manages to take out her entire team single-handedly, including her Crazy 88 Fighters.
This 20-minute fight is similar to one fight in “Matrix Reloaded” where Neo battles the Agent Smith clones. The only difference being The Bride kills individual people, and those fortunate to be left alive will spend the rest of their lives missing limbs.
The only problem with “Kill Bill” is it ends after 93 minutes. Its extreme cliffhanger leaves audiences wanting more.
Miramax pressured Tarantino to split Kill Bill into two movies rather than editing to a three-hour running time.
Despite that, “Kill Bill: Vol. 1” is a solidly great movie with beautiful sets, eye-catching color and plenty of heart-pounding action to last until Vol. 2 is released.
And as a warning: this movie contains a lot of blood (done in a comical manner, but blood none-the-less). Those who have strong stomachs should see “Kill Bill: Vol. 1,” and bring Pepto for those with weak stomachs.