Review of Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003) by Kai82 — 04 Mar 2021

An awesome movie and a small bit of a disappointment at the same time for me. For clarification: I saw the movie a little later than my friends and colleagues. They praised this movie as masterpiece and because of this I was really hyped for it.

In general I say many parts of the movie are masterpieces and these deserve full praise. The final in the House of blue Leaves for example is one of the most awesome movie scenes I have seen and everyone who watched it agrees (=have yet to find anyone who dislikes it).

However not everything is that good and Quentin Tarantino agrees as he put the House of Blue Leaves scenes at the climax and not in temporal order as he said the movie would be weaker otherwise (Shown also in the to do list of the bride in one scene if I remember correctly).

The movie itself is a mixture from revenge drama, martial arts movie (eastern), action movie, samurai drama and (spaghetti) western featuring also anime sequences. This works actually well. You can feel the love and care that was put in it with a lot of homages.

The movie starts with a woman in a wedding dress just called the bride laying wounded in a chapel (I think her name is not even mentioned in part 1 or I missed it). An assassin team just killed everyone except her when the leader of the team Bill shoots her in the head.

Years later she reawakens from coma and will go on a vendetta against her tormentors. This is the start of a unique revenge story with lot of style. The story is engaging and the characters enhance the experience.

The fights are masterfully crafted and never fail to deliver. The humor works well in this movie be it a parody like form or the truly black one. There are also countless references and homages in this movie and I am fairly certain that I missed a lot too.

To shorten it: Alone from this I am hyped to rewatch it. Lets go to the awesome cast. We have Uma Thurman as the bride and I say this is a flawless performance. Lucy Liu as O-Ren Ishii is also a highlight of the movie and delivers an awesome final.

David Carradine as Bill is the type of bad guy the viewers love and also the ladies (I am not sure if he is even fully shown in part 1). Vivica Fox as Vernita Green has only a shorter appearance but fully delivers in it.

Daryl Hannah is a character you love to hate and I say she is the one with the smartest approach for the bride (called of). For the rest of the cast I say they have a great cast even for the smaller roles.

In this regard there is no misstep. I must also praise the style and visuals. A lot of care was made by Quentin Tarantino and he had clear ideas and visions. By this we are clearly at a 10/10 description.

However there are a few flaws. Not all parts are good and the movie takes a while to gain momentum and a very few times it is to over the top for me. I think it is maybe just me and I had to high expectations.

In general this is an awesome movie and I think I give a total bonus point for style, characters, presentation and the House of blue Leaves climax. I think I own everyone a warning as volume 2 is weaker for me.

I also think that it is not the best Tarantino movie as Inglourious Basterds and the classic Pulp Fiction are better while I still have to watch Reservoir Dogs and Once upon a time in Hollywood.