Critic's Grade: A

Nearly six years after Quentin Tarantino's last movie (the unorganized "Jackie Brown"), it was as if the brilliantly sadistic and demented director has vanished off of the Earth. In those six years, film making went to Hell and back again, and now, Tarrantino has returned, this time with his magnum opus "Kill Bill." The film was so incredibly buge that it had to be split into two movies (for both a time factor and level of violence), with "Volume 2" due out on April 16, 2004. But will "Volume 1" be good enough to make audiences see the second? Is "Kill Bill" a masterpiece, or is it another Tarrantino flop?

After completing work on "Pulp Fiction" in 1994, Quentin Tarrantino and Uma Thurman came up with the concept for the character known as "The Bride," a woman who has everything she ever wanted taken away from her due to a violent past, with her surviving a horrific massacre and seeking revenge on those who betrayed her. Uma Thurman stars as The Bride, AKA "Black Mamba," a former assassin who worked for the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, or "DiVAS" as it is often referred to, which is headed by the unseen Bill (David Carradine). After wanting to escape the torments of the group, Black Mamba gets pregnant (with Bill's child) and hopes to start a new life with a man she met (he isn't featured in this film). Unfortunately, the wedding party ends abruptly as Bill and his other DiVAS kill everyone in the small Mexican chapel. Of course, Bill made one big mistake: He never killed the Bride. She manages to survive four years in a coma after being shot in the head, and when she wakes up, she discovers the pain and torment that has been going on inside the hospital ever since she arrived. She has been sold for sex, her child was taken away from her, or worse, probably killed, and the DiVAS have disbanded. After killing the doctor who sold her body for sex for scheming sickos in the hospital (Buck, who likes to, well, think of a four letter word that begins with "F" and rhymes with "Truck"), the Bride steals Buck's vehicle (a tongue-in-cheek, specially decorated "shag" wagon with an inappropriate name) and travels across the country to Pasadena, California, to kill the one known as Vernita Green, AKA Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), who herself has started a family. After a fight within her house, take it back a step, where the Bride tavels to Okinawa, Japan, to visit a master of martial arts and weaponry named Hatorri Hanzo (Sonny Chiba), a sushi bar operator. The Bride needs a sword made especially by him in order to fight her first subject, O-Ren Ishii, AKA Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu), who has been promoted to the head of the Tokyo underground. The Bride takes her hand crafted sword to Tokyo, where she winds up with a large, bloody battle with Ishii's suit and tie wearing thugs, eventually leading into a showdown that is "Vol. 1's" climax.

Plenty of things worked with "Kill Bill: Vol. 1." One thing's for sure: The movie does not focus on realism at all. It took 100 gallons of blood to make "Kill Bill," and the first half has to contain the most. Blood spills from the tiniest flesh wounds, like a tear in a bag of water, and it sprays from severed limbs like water from a fire hose. The movie is definitely not for the squeamish, as limbs go flying, body parts are chopped off and sadistic sexual moments are featured throughout the tongue-in-cheek epic. The full, 250 minute movie itself is split into volumes, and each additional scene is split into chapters, with "The Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves" being the bloodiest. Towards the end of the scene, at least two hundred arms, legs and heads are scattered across the floor, into which the Bride replies: "You can leave now, but keep your limbs where they are. They are mine now." In fact, the film is so bloody and gore-filled, it just becomes funny after a while. The movie also fades into black and white, as I imagine the blood verges on overkill. The movie is Tarrantino's homage to the martial arts movies of the 1970s, Japanese anime and the Italian spaghetti westerns of the 1960s. The movie serves no purpose other than to entertain, and it does just that.

Of course, as I had mentioned, the movie verges on overkill. In the chapter called "The Origin of O-Ren Ishii," the scene gets so bloody that it had to be animated. Who knew a nine millimeter could remove a man's leg? Who knew that a knife wound could cover an entire room with gallons of blood?

The camera work is excellent, and the dialogue, when there is dialogue, is amazing. Of course, a movie like this doesn't need words to be a great film. However, if you are illiterate, this isn't your movie, since about 35% of the film is Japanese with English subtitles. Quentin Tarrantino is one of the top ten most brilliant people alive, and his way of thinking and producing these great movies is simply astonishing. Uma Thurman produces major laughs in a movie that seems unlaughable. While you may feel for her character, you can't help but be confused if she is the anti-heroine or the villainess.

However, although "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" is a great and well made movie, compared to "Pulp Fiction" and "Reservoir Dogs," it is a far cry from excellence. There are no new catch phrases, and although there are loads of pop culture references, no one will be repeating anything from the film, unless they are total Tarantino geeks. I should also note that if you plan to see this movie, the characters played by Michael Madsen (Bud, AKA Sidewinder), Darryl Hannah (Elle Driver, AKA California Mountain Snake) and David Carradine (Bill) are not huge parts, but they will be in "Vol. 2," so try to wait it out four more months.

"Kill Bill: Vol. 1" ends on a cliffhanger, one that should keep fans blood thirsty for the second half. Brilliantly acted and well written, "Kill Bill" has so far impressed me. But while I, and many others, may be impressed and astonished, we can't help but ask this burning question: How good will "Kill Bill: Vol. 2" be compared to this?

My Score: 9 (out of 10)

All Reviews by Jordan Boyd
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