What you hear about KILL BILL being the most violent movie ever made & “it’ll make you physically sick”….IGNORE IT! I nearly didn’t see this movie because the media had messed up my head to thinking it was disturbing, offensive, sickening. What a big mistake that would have been. KB is a lot of things……it’s funny, breathtaking, genius, amazing…..but it is no way offensive as most films are e.g. TX Chainsaw Massacre or Final Destination. All the violence is either morally justified (Vernita Green, Oren & The Crazy 88) or comically justified (Go-Go&some of the Crazy 88 scene)
From the get-go, this is CLASSIC TARENTINO. And if you’re a fan of Tarentino, you’re gonna love this from the first minute. This is about dedication. The ppl who are saying this is no Pulp Fiction would be right but that doesn’t make it a negative aspect & personally I enjoyed KB a whole lot more!
The movie opens in a Texan church, The Bride (Thurman) is laid out, hole in her head from a gunshot, pool of blood next to the hole, bouquet strewn on the floor along with the rest of her wedding party, Nancy Sinatra’s Bang Bang echoes atmospherically in the background as if playing in the church. The whole thing was so amazing I had a lump in my throat (& not from felling sick as the critics predicted!)
The next scene is Uma, now four years later & standing outside a Pasadena home. A home belonging to Vernita Green (Fox), one of the DIVAS, who shot The Bride. This scene is the most confident of the movie. Uma&Vivica fight like bitches, using tables, coffee mugs, cereal boxes & ant other household weapon available. But their scuffle is broken as a school bus pulls up…..with Vernita’s daughter. They stop for a moment as her daughter walks in flabbergasted at the mess until the fight resumes from Vernita attempting to shoot The Bride. through a cereal box. I’ll stop right there. They don’t however!
We then reverse four years back to the Bride in her comatose state. Elle Driver trying to inject her, the orderly trying to rape her, her waking up in the middle of it all with metal plate in head & minus baby all adds to the comically black chaos that unfolds on her escape from hospital. It’s truly HILARIOUS! Tarentino’s signature black comic uniqueness is here to stay.
Probably the most amazing section of the movie & the most eventful is Chapter 5 (final chapter in Vol 1) – THE HOUSE OF BLUE LEAVES sequence, which includes the ultra cool Oren (Liu) walking down the corridor scene, Crazy 88 following, with her 2bodyguards Go-Go (Kuriyama) and Yuki & attorney Sofie (Dreyfuss), all walking to the blasting title track music by Toyashu Hotei They are unaware however that The Bride is hot on her tail.
The fight with The Bride & Go-Go is comical as hell with Go-Go’s crazy weapon of choice – ball&chain & crazy outfit of choice – Japanese schoolgirl. She then stalks & attempts to kill Sofie Fatale by slicing off her arm---NOT gory!! I was expecting fountains of blood & actually it was no more than the arm decapitating scene in Addams Family which may I remind u all, was a PG rating!
The not-as-long-as-the-critics-said scene where she memorably & heroically takes on The Crazy 88 is BREATHTAKING. The whole scene takes place in B&W to make it watch able to western audiences & is absolutely unmissable. The stunts are amazing & may I sat credit to Uma who conducted all stunts herself including wirework, knife throwing, sword fighting, hand to hand & kicking. The axe in slow mo bit is fabulous as several limbs are unleashed from the 88’s bodies. But don’t be put off – I’m usually under my chair at alotta movies – this was not the case here. The violence isn’t at all sadistic. It’s swift & gracious & often comical! And don’t forget who’s she’s killing … they deserve it!
Probably the best scene is the gracious fight between The Bride & O-Ren Ishii in the Zen garden, which poetically opens up from the room strewn with carnage of blood & limbs in contrast to the calm snowy garden, where O-Ren is literally scalped by UMa’s sword. The main key to why this movie is so classic is the soundtrack & this scene’s no exception. Santa Esmerelda’s Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood flamenco rhythms play as the two ladies duel…East meets West. Best meets Best.
I actually had a tear in my eye as O-Ren topples over into the white snow, white kimono stained with blood, snow still falling graciously from the black sky.
In a Tarentino recipe for perfection he includes breathrtaking settings, ultra cool dialogue, ultra cool chraracters & a classic soundtrack to make what I beleve to be the BEST movie I ever did saw.
Well Done Q.T….u truly are a GOD.