Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1: Directed by Quentin Tarantino. With Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah. After awakening from a four-year coma, a former assassin wreaks vengeance on the team of assassins who betrayed her.

“Sure itu0026#39;s outlandishly violent and bloody. Can anyone expect Tarantinou0026#39;s movie not to be a true mind-blowing, adrenaline-pumping shocker? Of course not! Gritty and slick, his first installment of KB rocks with moody western imagery, the u0026#39;60s and u0026#39;70s-era of Hong Kong martial arts-action, the influences of the ritualistic samurai swordsmanship, and Japanese anime. Like in all his films, Tarantino never fails to merge dark humor with terror. Itu0026#39;s impossible not to smile over the Shaw Bros.u0026#39; iconic introduction ploy and the De Palma-esque split screens. Observe the `Carrieu0026#39; blank-starry eyed image settled on The Brideu0026#39;s gory face as sheu0026#39;s introduced to the audience. Perhaps, Uma Thurman in her yellow suit is a salute to the yellow-suited Bruce Lee in his last film, The Game of Death. Or is The Bride u0026#39;Just another little Western girl playing at being a samuraiu0026#39; – as O-Ren Ishii blatantly puts it?u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThis filmu0026#39;s a sampling of the Tarantino u0026#39;fury,u0026#39; short of the Tarantino customary fiery tongue. It celebrates the Tarantino trademark of avoiding the use of computer-generated CGI special effects. Itu0026#39;s almost as if Iu0026#39;m watching a colorful and bloodied kabuki stage thatu0026#39;s displaying a stunningly massive tournament of multi-layered kung-fu and female samura sword-fighting styles to dazzle the audience. Itu0026#39;s examining how Tarantino catalogues the great stylistic elements of his favorite u0026#39;old-schoolu0026#39; filmmakers and transforms them into a phenomenally creative and mesmerizing film. Yep, thereu0026#39;s a great deal of captivatingly artistic boldness in this film. Powerfully portrayed and not to be easily forgotten. Violently brutal and gloriously gory without doubt, and yet so aesthetically operatic and astoundingly artful. The music and lyrics that accompany the scenes are astounding. They set the moods so appropriately with the events.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003enEven at u0026#39;The House Of Blue Leavesu0026#39;, we get to see Tarantino weaving the artistic styles of Lucio Fulci, Chang-Che, Sergio Leone, Kurosawa, Zhang Yimou and Busby Berkeley to bring the audience a stylistic exhibit of remarkable montage grandeur. The themes of betrayal and revenge come off strong. Every camera shot and scene seems to scream out, non-stop, `Kill Bill and all of Billu0026#39;s DVAS members.u0026#39; My adrenalineu0026#39;s still flowing as Iu0026#39;m recalling the scenes. Tarantino has make a solid point with this film to show that martial arts scenes should stick to the artful and realistic choreographic treatment to sustain the true spiritual spirit of martial arts. A+”