HERE COMES THE BRIDE...
Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) -
Weasello Rating:
{****} (Wowza!) {{
Sequel }}
I'm not one to interpret
Quentin Tarantino's latest movie; indeed, I don't even know if there's anything there to interpret. Though I sometimes pretend to be a poet, I'm not really, and I don't "get" any deeper meaning in Quentin's movies. All I know is that the previous movies he made were very enjoyable; and even my action-hating girlfriend loves his work.
Let's see if this movie stands up the same.
Spoilers abound.
Body Count: Good Lord. Jesus Murphy. Just give me a second, let the numbers stop rolling... rolling... rolling... OK, the finally tally is... oh wait, it's rolling again. Rolling... annnnndd... It looks like a final count of eighty-something. No wait, half of those people are still alive, just severely maimed. The final death tally is approximately 26.
One sentence plot summary: A nearly-murdered bride exacts revenge on her would-be-killers and former employer, utilizing her
elite ninja SKiLLz and nigh invulnerability.
The Plot: Well, the plot is quite simple, actually, since most of the movie is action. A woman (the Bride) is shot in the head, and miraculously lives. She was pregnant at the time, and her baby is assumed lost. The rest of the wedding party, including the groom, are all dead.
It turns out that the Bride (Uma Thurman) used to be a member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (D{i}VAS) but decided to calm things down and leave the fold of elite assasins, get married, and live a normal life. As with all elite gangs, there is no escape, and her death was the only choice.
Turns out that the bullet in her head simply put her in a coma for four years (that's all, no biggie). She awakes with a metal plate in her head, and she vows vengeance on the 4 members and 1 leader of the DiVAS.
The movie opens with her assasinating person number 2 on her hit list, then we are taken back in time to learn some plot, and then we see the climatic battle scene that is person number 1 on her death list of 5.
In the end, she is obviously successfull at both murder attempts, and we are left waiting for the sequel to see deaths three four and five.
My Opinion: Wow. I don't know if my girlfriend will be able to stand up to all the gore and the headlong rush of violence. I was settling in for a long, stylish but weird flick... However, the two hour blood fest just flies right on by, and I have to say that I didn't really notice the rush of time.
Quentin's previous movies are quite the rush; mixing a blend of dark humor and subtle action and gunplay, mainly to move a drama-based plotline. They weren't action movies; they were movies with action in them, and that's why my
Wifey liked them so much (she hates action flicks). This movie is the exact opposite.
Kill Bill seems to exist solely to show fountains of blood, death, and maiming. Me, as an action movie buff who enjoys guns and explosions like any other
real man, enjoyed this feature. It was a true, hard-core action film mainly dealing in Samurai Swords and not in guns.
The movie was very stylishly and artistically done with no major unintentional flaws. It was like watching an old kung-fu movie - which is what it was designed to emulate. And I must say, that as sparse as plot is in this film, it was still very enthralling. And the Anime sequence rocks, but I love anime so that might just be me.
The only thing more disturbing than the intense killing and maiming goings-on in the plot of this film, is the fact that
she's only killed 2 of the 5 people on her death list.
Interesting Notes:
- This movie was originally going to be in one piece, as opposed to being split into two movies (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2). It turned out that even while filming, Quentin kept writing and kept making the movie longer. After 2 hours of gore, Quentin and the Producers figured that the audience would need a break. This also gave Quentin a "license" to make two movies totalling 4 or 5 hours, instead of one movie being 2 or 3 hours, thereby using nearly all of the script he had written instead of losing half of it to the cutting room floor.
- 450 gallons of blood were used in the filming of the pair of movies. 450 Gallons of BLOOD.
- Out of the 10 weeks of filming, 8 of those weeks were spent shooting the 20 minutes of big actiony sword-fighting scene.
Lead roles:
Director: Quentin Tarantino (duh)
Writer: Quentin Tarantino (double duh)
Tagline: In the year 2003,
Uma Thurman will
kill Bill!
Running Time: 110 Minutes
Sources: The oh-so-wonderful IMDB, my head, my friends.