Kill Bill: Vol. 1

Quentin Tarantino loves his movies. And here I thought I was a geek for attempting to average a movie a day over the course of a year, yet here is Tarantino pulling out reference after obscure reference to create Kill Bill: Vol. 1. And a creation is what Kill Bill is. In it Tarantino pays homage to everything from the blaxploitation to kung-fu genres that have all but disappeared over the last 20 years from North American cinemas, while laying the groundwork for the spaghetti western that might await us in Vol. 2.

Uma Thurman plays The Bride, a former assassin who’s out for revenge on her old boss, Bill (David Carradine’s hand) who back in the day meant to have her killed. And on her wedding day no less. And while she was very much pregnant to boot. Left for dead, Bride pulls through and makes a hit list of her former colleagues, each of whom she will seek out and kill. This first installment has Bride go after Vernita Green, aka Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), and O-Ren Ishii, aka Cottonmouth(Lucy Liu). And just like something you’d find in classic and non-classic Westerns alike, there’s showdowns and gasping onlookers, including those sitting in the theater trying to come to grips with all the blood and flying body parts. But have faith, oh you faint of stomach and Kings of Queasiness, Tarantino will ensure a good time to those who are willing to stick it out.

Although my experience with Kung Fu flicks is about as extensive as my experience with skydiving (ie, never done it), I felt a certain familiarity with almost every shot of Kill Bill. Tarantino is a film junkie and proud to talk about it whenever he gets the chance. Kill Bill exists in a world of homage. If you take the film at face value, you’re likely to hate it. Rather, I’d argue Kill Bill exists in a world that you might only find in Tarantino’s head. How else could you explain the mixture of gravity-defying stunts, self-aware dialogue and potluck of stylistic choices? And although I love Uma as much as the next person, I have my doubts as to whether she could actually take out more than 60 people in a single sequence.

For some Kill Bill will be an exercise in seeing how many references they can pull from it. For others, the movie will be little more than an over-the-top tribute to blood and gore. For me, Kill Bill was all about fun. I’m a big fan of the non-linear timeline when it comes to any sort of storytelling. My guess is Tarantino is too since he has a definite thing for starting somewhere in the middle and ending around the same spot. Beginnings and endings don’t necessarily have anything to do with physical time. The details in between are what flesh out a story and there’s an art to revealing the right details at the right time. If you look even a little closely at Bride’s hit list you’ll notice that O-Renn is crossed off at the beginning of the film. Yet Tarantino still created a shroud of suspense when the two finally met at the end of the film. Although the outcome was put right there in front of me (not to mention Vol. 2 is on its way in February), I still questioned whether or not Bride would survive and there’d be some sort of swerve. But like a good feud in professional wrestling, Tarantino takes the beginning 90 minutes to build up to this showdown. We learn about the details of the Bride’s life and how O-Renn came to be as powerful as she was. With both back stories in place, the two could then duke it out in a fight to the finish, one that is as memorable for its gorgeous aesthetics and background ambiance as its action. The fight works not because of who wins and loses but because Tarantino makes you want to watch it. So barring an alien invasion, chances are you’d leave liking what you saw in the scene simply because of the way it was set up.

Much of Kill Bill is in the same vein. There’s no substance here. It’s a glossy B-movie made by talented people. It’s all about energy. It’s constant and, for me, addicting. The costumes, the music, the over-the-top dialogue – it all equaled a good time without the pressure of finding something more. Had I been a genre junkie I might have made a game out of references. But I was just as happy to let Tarantino bombard my senses. Although I was ready for the next half, I do see why it was split into two films. Not only does it double the potential box office (the obvious business answer), there is a lot to absorb. And unlike a movie like The Matrix Reloaded that arbitrarily splits itself in half, there is a sense of a complete movie in Kill Bill Vol. 1. For the most part what is brought up in this picture is resolved or at least brought to a point of contentment. The cliffhanger ending does seem a little tacked on, but it had me salivating for more and certainly did fit within the genre blasting. With that in mind, bring on Kill Bill: Vol. 2.