Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003)

Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, David Carradine, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Julie Dreyfus, and Sonny Chiba
Grade: A

The hardest thing is to figure out which one is better, Kill Bill: Volume 1 or Kill Bill: Volume 2?

Summary

In El Paso, Texas, we open to see “The Bride” (Thurman) in a wedding dress, laying on the ground, battered and beaten. We then hear Bill (Carradine) threaten her. Even though she says she’s pregnant with his child, Bill shoots her in the head.

We then jump four years ahead to see a fully recovered Bride, as she pulls up to Vernita Green’s (Fox) house. Green, code name Copperhead, is a former assassin for the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad responsible for what happened four years earlier. She is now a suburban housewife, and the Bride (code name “The Black Mamba”) shows up and goes straight into fighting Green until Green’s daughter comes home. They stop momentarily but plan on meeting up later to fight to the death. When it was seemingly over for the time being, Green tries to shoot the Bride and misses, prompting her to throw a knife at Green to kill her. Green’s daughter sees the aftermath, prompting the Bride to tell her she will be waiting if she wants to find her in the future for revenge. She crosses Green off of her hit list and heads off in a truck with “Pussy Wagon” written on the back of it.

We then jump back to that fateful day four years earlier in Texas. Cops survey the horror scene of the entire wedding party being killed. They observe the Bride and after a comment, she spits blood on the one guy. Realizing she’s still alive, she’s brought to the hospital. She’s in a coma and because of this, the one-eyed Elle Driver (Hannah), code named California Mountain Snake, goes to kill her in her sleep. Just as she was about to poison her, Bill calls her and tells her not to, purely out of respect for the fact that she was able to withstand everything that previously happened. He then says they’ll get her when she’s alive and can fight. Driver gets pissed but agrees. On the way out, she tells the Bride for her sake, to not wake up. Later, she does wake up. She is horrified to learn she lost her baby but doesn’t have too much time to react because nurse Buck (Michael Bowen) walks into her room with a random guy (Jonathan Loughran). She acts as if she’s still asleep, as Buck explains to the guy that it’s $75 to have sex with her lifeless body, though he can’t leave any marks on her because they’ll get caught. When Buck leaves the room, the Bride kills the guy and eventually Buck as well. He takes his truck (The aforementioned Pussy Wagon) and jumps into the backseat. However, she has to spend time trying to teach herself how to walk again since her muscles atrophied. As she tries to wiggle her big toe, she thinks about the people she has to kill in the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. One of which is O-Ren Ishii (Liu), code named Cottonmouth.

Thirteen hours later, she is able to regain the strength in her legs, take control of the vehicle, and head out to begin her personal mission of vengeance.

My Thoughts:

In a brilliant homage to kung fu films of the 70s, grindhouse cinema, and the over-the-top violence of action movies from previous eras, Quentin Tarantino once again shows us why he’s one of the most creative filmmakers of his time. The plot is fairly simple: this beautiful assassin wants Bill dead. However, the way we get there, taking two movies to do so, is a wild and fruitful exploration into this vibrant, brightly colored spectacle Tarantino worked his ass off to create for us. It’s funny how original someone can be by taking several other filmmakers’ ideas and molding it into their own vision of something totally different while being respectful to those they borrowed from. That is the talent of a true filmmaker and is yet another reason why Tarantino is one of the best ever. Yes, it’s true that pretty much any good filmmaker borrows an idea from another and puts their own twist on it because there’s only so many ways to create a story, but when you watch something like Kill Bill, it’s the first time you actually think of this consciously. This is how electrifying the film is. You want to give the credit where it’s due. This compliment isn’t exclusively for Kill Bill: Volume 1 either. It’s rather evident in all of Tarantino’s wildly imaginative films.

Now, my opening statement of this review was the question of which Kill Bill movie was better. Let it be known that the full intention was to release both as one film. However, it was obviously too long, and Tarantino didn’t want to cut anything, so this was the compromise. Because of this, it’s kind of unfair to rank one against the other because it’s supposed to be watched as one production. Keep this in mind.

Anyway, it probably wasn’t necessary for the film sequence to be this out of order, but it definitely adds a different vibe to it to make it more memorable. It’s similar to Pulp Fiction in that way, though this is presented as more of a storybook. I could see if people had an issue with it though because if you really wanted to critique this heavily, you could argue that the writing feels as if Tarantino started making it up as he goes along.

“Okay and now the Bride goes here to kill this woman. Oh, I forgot to tell you: She’s also a super assassin, and she watched her parents die. Oh, and then, she hunted the bad guy down and killed him. Did I mention he was a pedophile? Anyway, so now The Bride wants to kill her…”

See what I mean? It’s like he’s playing with his action figures. When you break it down like this, it’s kind of stupid. With that being said, the way it’s presented on screen is actually pretty damn cool! For instance, that whole sequence talking about O-Ren Ishii’s life is completely animated in an anime-type of way. I’m not really a fan of anime but you have to think about all the positives. Not only was it visually striking and unexpected, but it saved money on the production, and allowed for the scene to be more brutal because it’s presented in a cartoon format. Also, a lot of anime can get pretty violent, so it’s also respectful to the art form. It wasn’t a gimmick, it was just a really cool storytelling device that gives Kill Bill this never-before-seen, graphic novel-feel you don’t see in mainstream film. Going along with the violence point, this backstory scene is vitally important to understanding the character and her motives, but it also might be too visceral for real actors to act out. Making the whole thing animated was a genius move because it allowed for Tarantino be as violent as he wanted and felt was necessary. You can see by the bloodshed that he did just that.

As a whole though, I really enjoyed Kill Bill: Volume. 1. The action was intense and the story, though a bit outrageous at times, is perfect at re-creating the outrageousness of those old martial arts films, with elements of samurai cinema and blaxploitation getting sprinkled in here and there. Hell, the mission of the Bride and a lot moments seen can noticeably be found in the spaghetti western genre as well, despite being a modern film. Whether you love him or hate him, you’re never bored with a Quentin Tarantino film, and the blending of genres is a big part of that. It’s always something Tarantino excels at, and it’s never been more evident here.

Uma Thurman is absolutely fantastic in this film and its sequel. She’s able to be a full-on action hero, taking on thousands of adversaries believably, making the Bride an all-time level protagonist by the end of the first film. She’s that good. The action just comes naturally which tells me how hard she must’ve worked with the choreographers because the fighting sequences are crazy fun and flow perfectly. The challenge is making Thurman a credible member of an assassination group. She needs to look like she can kill anyone in any sort of capacity regarding combat. For the story to feel authentic despite its enigmatic (and sometimes unbelievable) presentation, you can’t phone something like this in. Everything relies on Thurman going all-in as a killer. Well, it goes without saying that Thurman did exactly what was needed and knocked this out of the park. Additionally, she had a great acting performance too, something action heroes aren’t necessarily known for. When she tells Vernita Green her having a daughter doesn’t change a thing and she’s still going to die, you believe it. It’s the certainty she speaks with that makes this tale of revenge all the more entertaining, making us lust for the bloodshed as much as she does because the Bride wants it so badly. It’s not just a one-note, “everyone must die”, Sylvester Stallone character either. Thurman has some moments in both films where you really feel for her and understand why her quest is so important to her.

It’s heartbreaking to see her wake up from her coma and immediately clutch her stomach to find out her baby is gone. Very few people know this feeling but seeing her cry to silence in the hospital room was a very moving scene. It’s also cool at the same time because based off of the marketing for the film, you would never expect in a million years for a scene like this to be included and you being moved emotionally because of it. However, with this, we become attached to the character in short order, so when she goes on her killing spree, it comes from a heavy heart that has already been through hell and back…

…and there’s still so much movie left to experience!

The rest of the characters are very well thought-out and extremely memorable. Daryl Hannah would’ve been unforgettable already as an assassin with an eye patch, but she is able to put together a very memorable supporting villain, albeit a small one. Don’t get too mad though, there’s a lot more of her in Kill Bill: Volume 2. The always underrated Lucy Liu was also a great antagonist, and her backstory added an indelible amount to the entertainment of the in-depth second half of the film. Vivica A. Fox surprised me as well and her “suburban mom” character fighting Uma Thurman, as her daughter comes home from school, was a very funny way to set the off-kilter tone of the film. The action is violent as all hell, but there are a lot of funny moments to break up the tension. It’s very well-placed, but you should expect this coming from a Tarantino extravaganza by now, right? What I do love about films like Kill Bill is that you can see how much the filmmaker loves the films he’s emulating because his attention to detail regarding the story, the moments, and the characters’ depth are otherworldly. The energy is infectious, and his passion is evident.

Side note, “The Bride vs. The Crazy 88’s” might be one of the greatest fight sequences I’ve ever seen. It had everything from the imagery to the music, to the sword fighting, to the brutal killings, to the outstanding fight choreography and virtually everything else needed to make its mark in the annals of action cinema history. This fight sequence might be the sole reason why I might rate this film higher than Kill Bill: Volume. 2 (if I had to). The cherry on top to this magnificent saga was the mythology surrounding Hattori Hanzō (Chiba) and his sword-making. The entirety of that half hour really stood out to me and made me care deeply about this war that the Bride is set to embark on.

Tarantino’s passion for all different types of genres of film is on full display here. When you enter the world of Kill Bill: Volume 1, it’s hard to not have an appreciation for the director’s incredibly imaginative and inventive style, making what could’ve been a simple action film centered around revenge into a brutal, over-the-top, real-life cartoon, visually striking martial arts film you can’t forget.

Nevertheless, you need to watch this film in conjunction with Kill Bill: Volume 2 as the filmmaker intended. It’s the ONLY way to view the film. If you only watch one of two parts and think that’s fine, there is a special place for you in hell.

Fun Fact: Tarantino originally envisioned Warren Beatty for the role of Bill but decided to re-write it for Carradine as the role expanded. Bruce Willis was also considered. Michelle Yeoh met with Tarantino for an undisclosed role too.