Sunday, August 30, 2009

Kill Bill vol 1.: A bloody good show. ****

Quentin Tarantino has a knack for making a lot of people angry with his films because of the violence, suggestive dialogue, and criminal or juvenile things his characters do. Well, he isn't stopping with this one, Kill Bill is probably one of the most stylish films I have ever seen and yes one of the most violent ones too but once again Tarantino has created a world that is superbly crafted and very entertaining, Kill Bill is his fourth film and it's a worthy entry into his forray of movies.

Well the title of this movie says it all; Thurman's character, The Bride, get's killed at her wedding but one thing hinders that from being a possibility, she isn't dead. She's actually very much alive and very angry because her daughter is dead so she's going to seek revenge on the people who did this. Now this plot is super thin and not all that eventful but what makes this movie soar is the style it's done in, Tarantino is making a tribute to all of those kung fu classics that he absolutely loves, and yes he does it in Tarantino style. We get a plot line that's scewered, funny and witty dialogue, and a whole lot of cool kung fu. This movie doesn't slow down for plot development or even character development it's just straight up a cool ride. I think this director is one of the only directors that could get away with making a movie that doesn't develop; this movie is just too much fun.

Tarantino films in a couple of styles throughout this movie, we see an anime sequence that's about twenty minutes long that tells the story of O-ren Ishii (Lucy Lui) and yes it's ultraviolent as well, there's the classic villian just like in the old movies where we never see Bill's face, we hear his voice, see his sword but never see his face. There's the whole film noir piece where The bride is in the hospital and Elle Driver (Darryl Hannah) comes walking down the hallway whistling a really creepy song; we then get a split screen view of the reason why she's at the hospital, simply brilliant. Then we have the epic samurai sequence where we learn how important these swords are in Tarantino's world and then we get to see why they are so important in a classic kung fu ending, Tarantino style. Now when I say Tarantino style I mean this; this sword rips through eighty-eighty bodyguards and we see every bit of it but when the sword cuts someone the blood sprays out like a supersoaker spraying everything in sight. This last sequence is ultraviolent and a brilliant tribute to everything the director loves.

Overall this movie won't change you're life but it's such a fun ride filled with incredible style. We get a classic revenge flick that quotes klingon proverbs and has blood spraying across the screen. At the center of it we have a man who has grown up on kung fu movies and finally has made a tribute to all of them. We get a bloody good show, Tarantino style, with funny dialogue, cool characters and some very deranged characters as well. This movie is a blast for many different reasons and you will be thoroughly entertained. Now if only we could see the second half...