In Kill Bill, Quentin Tarantino proves that he’s the ultimate film consumer. This, his fourth film, borrows from Akira Kurosawa, Sergio Leone, and a handful of other directors. Tarantino takes their blend of cowboy and samurai and adds an ass-kicking feminine twist. It’s action with style, and the film explodes with fighting that is not only thrilling, but artistic.
The heroine, known only as the Bride, is played by a dynamic and determined Uma Thurman. Cameron Diaz has nothing on this ex-assassin, a former member of the Deadly Vipers Assassin Squad (DiVAS), the bad-ass version of Charlie’s Angels. Bill is to the DiVAS as Charlie is to his Angels. All the women are empowered in a cathartic indulgence of the adolescent male’s power fantasy. Thurman perfectly embodies the heroine’s style and tenacity. Having worked with Tarantino in Pulp Fiction, Thurman carries the film with great intensity.
You better not mess with her, even when you think she’s in a coma. The bride is a survivor who, should you toy with her, will kick your ass with her Bruce Lee-style yellow Asics. Thurman isn’t cutesy like Diaz; she’s ruthless and hot. Also, as the queen of Tokyo’s crime scene, O-ren Ishii, Lucy Liu is infinitely cooler than her former silver screen Angel.
The film is presented in disjointed chapters, one of many style choices that heighten the drama. The first image is Thurman’s face in black-and-white, trembling as she is about to be killed. Later, a Texan cop drives up to a small chapel, to reveal the remnants of the crime scene. At the wedding of Thurman’s unnamed character, Bill and the old crew come to kill her. They presume her dead, but the bride survives in a coma for four years.
When she wakes up, it’s psycho kung-fu revenge time. The woman is determined to find and kill all the responsible parties one by one. Piece of cake. After she can wiggle her big toe, that is.
And where has Tarantino himself been? His last directorial project was Jackie Brown in 1997. Apparently, he has been stewing over Kill Bill all this time, as it is his first solo writing project. He ended up with so much content that Kill Bill: Volume 2 will come out next February.
In Kill Bill, the question is never why. Tarantino does what he does. It’s how. To begin her revenge, Thurman must first go to Japan to acquire a sword from world-renowned metalsmith Hattori Hanzo. When he understands that Bill will be killed, he’s happy to help the Bride.
What the movie lacks in plot, it makes up for in style. Every detail of the film, not just costume and cinematography, is aesthetically scrutinized and controlled. Tarantino has a keen eye for a character’s ethnicity and language ability, the placement of Asian B-movie star cameos, the movie’s chapter titles and credits, and even the sound used to bleep out character names (and the fact that character names are bleeped out).
Kill Bill is cool. Really cool. When she goes after Lucy Liu, Thurman must first defeat Tokyo’s meanest gang, the Crazy 88. In black-and-white, she break dance sword-fights the bad guys (who all wear Reservoir Dog suits and skinny ties). All of a sudden, color literally switches back on, along with some funky techno, and the battle continues in brilliant blue fluorescence. The fights culminate in a showdown between Thurman in her yellow track suit and Liu in pure white, against a placid, snowy backdrop. Unlike its low-budget influences, Kill Bill is shiny and sometimes beautiful.
With hot empowered women, Kill Bill appeals to both genders. They may show up in nurse outfits, leather suits and Catholic school getup, but they’re as dangerous as they are good-looking. Even the audience member who hides her eyes when blood is spilling will uncover them when she sees how comically it sprays. Kill Bill is a massive, superficial homage to all of the esoteric B-movies Quentin Tarantino loves. Does this make it superficial? Not at all. With its stylish approach to filmmaking, Kill Bill creates a memorable work, both in technique and style.
