Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Uma Thurman as an anti-superheroine RELEASED IN 2003 and written/directed by Quentin Tarantino, "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" is an action/thriller/fantasy starring Uma Thurman as The Bride who seeks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her, a group of which she once belonged. Her journey takes her from El Paso to Pasadena to Okinawa. Vivica A. Fox, Lucy Liu, ravishing Julie Dreyfus and Michael Madsen appear as various assassins or accomplices. "Kill Bill” is a creative mish-mash of 60s-70's Bond-isms, Spaghetti Westerns and martial arts flicks, but with modern production values. It sometimes plays like a superhero movie in that The Bride is essentially an anti-superheroine who mows down literally armies of skilled fighters, e.g. the overly drawn-out B&W fight with the Crazy 88s. I loved the inclusion of Ennio Morricone's "Death Rides a Horse." On the downside, there’s an overlong lame anime sequence and the characters lack substance and realism, but who can deny the film’s pizzazz? Sure, it’s style over substance, but it’s entertaining in a voguish, quirky way. Since both parts were meant to be ONE MOVIE, it’s mandatory to see “Vol. 2” to properly appreciate and appraise “Kill Bill.” The second part fills in the holes. THE MOVIE RUNS 111 minutes and was shot in Texas, California, Mexico, Tokyo, Beijing and Hong Kong. GRADE: B/B- (6.5/10)

Interesting usage of anime to tell O-Ren's back-story, but I wasn't really a fan of the cartoonish blood splattering and gratuitous fight scenes.

Awakening from a lengthy coma, the expecting "Bride" (Uma Thurman) embarks on a lethal killing spree to avenge herself on those responsible for killing her fiancée and to find out just what happened to her unborn baby. She has a past - formerly a soldier in the "Deadly Viper Assassination Squad" - she formerly dated it's leader "Bill" (David Carradine) - and so in theory has her work cut out for her as she seeks her revenge. Well, except that is, that the aforementioned "DVAA" could not hit a barn door with an Howitzer. Despite their overwhelming numbers, their supposedly expert training and resilience, "Bride" mows through them as if they were wheat to her combine harvester. This film has no jeopardy whatsoever. Thurman looks great and packs quite some charisma into her performance, and Tarantino presents a quirky style to the story, but that story is hackneyed and unremarkable. The characterisations are undercooked and frankly nondescript and the fact that we know there is to be a part two, only robs this all too quickly of any sense of menace. Gory and bloody, yes but so what? A strong and feisty woman lead? Yes, but again - so what? The action scenes are well enough choreographed, but the whole thing has a relentlessness to it that really underwhelms. This director usually makes good use of his soundtrack, and the strong and powerful tones of Nancy Sinatra do tee this up well, but afterwards I'm afraid it just descends into mediocrity and I really struggled to appreciate anything different or innovative about this. Disappointing.