Kill Bill was my first Quentin Tarantino movie. And suffice to say, all that I had ever heard about him was true. He shows you scenes you don’t want to see, shocking you and playing with your mind. The brutality, the violence that a human is capable of, its there in his movie. Kill Bill is not about logic or rational thinking. It is about the superiority of the body and heart over the mind.
“Revenge is a dish best served cold”.
The opening line sets the tone of the entire movie. The Bride wants revenge. And so she shall have it. Bang Bang!
Kill Bill Vol 1 opens with The Bride (Uma Thurman) being shot in the head when she is already badly bruised, about to get married and pregnant. By Bill, of course, and his Deadly Assassination Wiper Squad members. She slips into coma for four years and wakes up one fine day to kill two people within the span of ten minutes. And, thus begins her odyssey of vengeance.
Waiting in the backseat of a truck for thirteen hours, to let some feeling seep into her extremely numbed legs – she tells us the story of Lucy Liu – her background (caricatured), her bodyguards ( the crazy 88’s) and her rise as the don of Japanese mafia.
She moves on to get the best sword in the world and start killing vermin. Clad in a yellow suit and her sword she kills almost fifty people to finally slain the top of Lucy’s head.
Uma could have easily taken a gun and shot everyone in sight. But she had to do it with a sword. Bloody, grotesque, yet; the best action I have seen in recent years. Uma Thurman definitely knows how to move - her actions precise, lithe, almost cat like.
Which brings us to the question, “Why does Bill try to kill her?”
Kill Bill Vol 2 starts off with what actually happened on the day Bill tried to kill her and the unveiling of the mysterious Bill (Carradine). Shot in black and white these scenes actually look like the prologue, they were meant to be.
Now we come to Budd, Bill’s brother and the next one on her list. However, he was forewarned and got her before she could get him. Alive and encased in a coffin, she relives her memories of Pei Mai – a miserable old fool and the best warrior in the world. Trained to kill under him, she uses his tactics to get out of the coffin (this is probably the best scene in the entire movie). Meanwhile, Budd is killed by the Black Mamba, a deadly snake, owned by the one-eyed bitch (I forgot her name). Also, we get to know The Bride’s real name- Beatrix Kiddo [the revealing of her name treated as a separate event (very classy)]. Sword fighting with the Black Mamba lady, she removes her other eye by simply plucking it (gross).
Reaching the end of her ravaging rampage, only Bill remains. But, Bill also has her daughter. Explanations ensue for all the whys and how could you’s? But, still in spite of being the father of her baby, The Bride has to Kill Bill. [This is where Quentin disappoints. Instead of a long, thrilling sword fight, we have a scene that gets over in thirty seconds].
Anyways, The Bride kills Bill and walks away with her daughter. Happily ever after.
However, certain scenes of the two movies are absolutely worth mentioning....the scene where Bill explains why Superman is better than the other comic heroes and the scene when The Bride finds out that she ie pregnant is probably one of the reasons for Quentin achieving his current cult status.
Kill Bill is not a movie for people with little stomach for blood but for people who enjoy good, well executed action, once in a while.