When the above quote appeared at the beginning of Kill Bill, Volume One, I knew
I was going to love this movie.
When the above quote appeared at the beginning of Kill Bill, Volume One, I knew
I was going to love this movie.
Uma Thurman stars as The Bride, a former member of the elite Deadly Viper
Assassination Squad (a.k.a. DiVAS) who worked for a mysterious crime lord named
Bill. In the best tradition of such movies as "The Man With No Name", Thurman's
character is known only as The Bride, thanks to the unholy massacre that her
wedding had turned into. The Bride had attempted to leave her violent life as
an assassin, but Bill and the DiVAS sought to end her life altogether, rather
than see her leave. But despite their best efforts to kill her, The Bride
survives, only to spend the next four years in a coma. Bill had a chance to kill
The Bride while she was comatose. He sent one of his DiVAS, Elle Driver (Darryl
Hannah), disguised as a nurse (she even exchanges her standard eye patch for one
with a red cross on it) to spike The Bride's I.V. with poison. But Bill, having
a last minute change of heart, orders the assassination to be cancelled--much to
Elle's extreme displeasure--because he feels that to kill The Bride in her present
state would be beneath them. But Bill should have followed through with his
original plan, for once The Bride awakens, she is raging for revenge, and armed
with Japanese steel, she seeks it with a fury.
And thus we are treated to an eloquently constructed bloodbath as only director
Quentin Tarantino can give us. Told in an intricate, seemingly random style that
jumps back and forth from the present to the past (much like his Pulp Fiction),
Kill Bill pulls you right into the story from the very first frame. The Bride's
long road to vengeance is fraught with extreme violence and a healthy dose of
humor. Tarantino is one of those rare filmmakers who make his audiences react
on a visceral level: whether you are shocked or laughing out loud, you feel
something while watching his movies, and Kill Bill is no exception. The Klingon
quote at the start of the movie pretty much sums up the overall feeling: this is
gonna be a fun, enjoyable ride, so just sit back, relax and take it all in.
Uma Thurman is superb as The Bride, a character that she helped create with
Tarantino while on the set of Pulp Fiction. Thurman easily sells the fact that
she is a deadly assassin out on a mission of vengeance, and you sympathize with
her as well as cheer her onward. The scene in the House Of The Blue Leaves,
where The Bride single-handedly takes on an army of goons known as the Crazy 88s,
could have been ridiculous--yet Thurman, along with Tarantino, both pull it off,
turning the frenzied action into a graceful, bloody ballet of style and kinetic
movement. Lucy Liu is also great as O-Ren, the former member of DiVAS who has
become a crime lord in her own right in Tokyo. Since Bill (David
Carradine) himself is a shadowy figure who is heard but never actually seen in
Volume One, O-Ren has become the central villain of this film that The Bride must take down.
But first she must get past Go-Go (Chiaki Kuriyama) a homicidal Japanese
teenager dressed in a schoolgirl outfit who serves as O-Ren's lethal personal
bodyguard. Go-Go is the Darth Vader to O-Ren's Emperor; she is one of those
effective movie villains whose mere screen presence is formidable.
The extras on the DVD are sparse, to say the least. There's a "making-of"
documentary that previously aired on television. The rock band "The 5, 6, 7, 8s"
--who appeared in the House Of The Blue Leaves scene as the house band--have two
videos of the songs they performed. And there are trailers for another Tarantino
movies…and that's it. Word has it that Tarantino is planning a special DVD set
that will combine both Volume One and Two of Kill Bill. But until that comes out,
this is really the best way to see this fun homage to the "grind house" movies
of years long since past.--SF