Kill Bill Vol.1 (2003)

  Plot Summary

A pregnant bride (Uma Thurman) is betrayed by her boss, Bill, on her wedding day. She is gunned down with eight members of the wedding party. Her attackers are members of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad of which she herself was a member. The bride is badly beaten and finally shot in the head but she doesn't die. Instead she falls into a coma. Four years later she wakes up in hospital. She's not a happy girl! Revenge and retribution are high on her "must do" list...

Review

With Quentin Tarantino in the driving seat on this movie there was high expectations. Probably best known for the innovative, stylish Pulp Fiction, Tarantino, generates interest whether he is in the role of producer, screenwriter, actor or director.

Kill Bill Vol.1 is a violent Martial Arts tale of revenge with lots and lots of blood and severed limbs!  The story has no twists, surprises or complexities and is little more that a tribute to dodgy, low budget martial arts movies. The movie is divided into different "Chapters" or parts which are shown out of sequence. If telling the straight-forward story in this way was an attempt to make things more interesting, it didn't work. The story isn't told well and narratives and even animation are used to try and link the different "Chapters". To make matters worse, because the story is told in parts which are out of sequence the audience actually know the outcome of the last climactic scene of the movie. Where's the sense in that?

The dialogue isn't sharp or witty, which is disappointing when you consider the imaginative dialogue in Tarantino's other movies. It may be unfair to refer to an extraordinary movie like Pulp Fiction but some of the dialogue in Pulp Fiction was sheer brilliance and even a fraction of that would have sufficed!

There are a few reminders along the way of the Tarantino magic and a few stylish bits give a glimpse of what could have been but there isn't enough to save the movie.

Kill Bill Vol.1 is only the first part of a two part movie. Volume 2 will follow early next year. It wasn't originally intended to have two parts and perhaps this is an indication that the movie somehow lost its way in the making. Vol.1 is a bit of a mess and it will take something special in Volume 2 to turn things around.

The Bottom Line: Pulp!

Reviewed by Niall Quinn, Premier Movie Reviews 2003

Genre: Martial Arts Action

Certificate: 18's

Director: Quentin Tarantino

~ Main Cast ~

Uma Thurman

Lucy Liu

Sonny Chiba

Vivica A. Fox

Daryl Hannah

David Carradine

RATING

NOT WORTH THE TIME