The Popkorn Junkie :: Kill Bill Volume 1

      Revenge has long been the inspiration behind many films and novels. A classic example is found in the pages of Moby Dick where Captain Ahab peruses the white whale in a reckless and deadly obsession fueled by his desire for revenge at all costs.

      In the films “Jaws” and “Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan” both had strong themes of revenge central to their plot. For example, Khan desired revenge against Captain Kirk to the extent that he was willing to risk his life, freedom, and the lives of his crew to obtain it. In “Jaws” Quint places his crew, ship, and life in peril rather than allow his pride to be wounded and admit that he needs help in bringing in the shark.

      In Quentin Tarantino’s new film “Kill Bill: Volume 1”, audiences are introduced to Black Mamba (Uma Thurman), a former assassin who is attacked and left for dead by her fellow employees on her wedding day. She awakens from a coma four years later with a steel plate in her head and a score to settle.

      After escaping from the hospital undetected, Black Mamba sets off for Okinawa to mentor under a sword maker and prepare her body to take revenge. With the aid of a specially made sword, Mamba sets out to locate and kill her former cohorts especially her boss Bill (David Carridine) who put a bullet in her head on her wedding day.

      Tarantino tells the story in a stylistic and at times bizarre manner that uses foreshadowing, flashbacks, black and white scenes, and anime in a non-linear story that jumps around nearly as much as the aforementioned Black Mamba during a fight scene. Thurman does solid work in a very demanding and physical role, yet does not get much sympathy from the audience as many have a hard time feeling tremendous sympathy for a person who is a stone cold killer. Lucy Liu provides a fine supporting performance as the head of a crime syndicate named O-Ren Ishi who is sought by Mamba, as she was present at the wedding day massacre.

      There has been much mentioned in the media of this film being divided into two pictures rather than releasing a three-hour picture. In many ways, this is a disservice to viewers as after a fantastic action sequence, the film ends in under whelming fashion with only a slight bombshell of information being announced. While this does add a degree of interest, it does not provide the big hook that may be needed to make casual viewers want to pay to see the completion of the film rather than wait for the video.

      That being said, Tarantino has provided viewers a film that is a dazzling combination of action and visuals that will delight some and frustrate others who are looking for more depth. The film shows that Tarantino is a talented and visionary filmmaker who is the master of mixing action, quirky characters, over the top action, and twisted humor to create a symphony of theatrical originality.

-- Gareth ( 2 1/2 out of 4 pops )

Talk about this film with other Popkorn Junkies

Other Junkie's opinions.....

Billy Ray ( 4 out of 4 pops )

Every Quentin Tarantino film I have ever seen (all of them) have been four pop pictures, and "Kill Bill Volume 1" is no exception. Tarantino just oozes perfection with this film and has managed to create what I think will become a pop culture phenomenon just like "Pulp Fiction" did back in 1994. Sure, this one has a big budget and lacks the indie clout, but it is flawless nevertheless. Uma Thurman is terrific, and I am not a huge Uma Thurman fan. And, how long has it been since Daryl Hannah was in anything mainstream? Tarantino, as with Travolta, Grier, and Forster, has they cool little habit of bringing back familiar faces to the big screen. This is an absolutely perfect film with everything in the right place. I cannot wait for volume two, and Tarantino is one of the best directors of all time.

James ( 4 out of 4 pops )

Whoa. Holy moley. After 6 years of anticipation and hype, I was scared this would fall short, but then again, this is Tarantino we are talking about. In fact, I am going to make a bold statement, "Reservoir Dogs", "Pulp Fiction", and "Jackie Brown" all seem pale and boring in comparison to "Kill Bill". That is saying A LOT. I thought I would never say those words about "Pulp Fiction", but "Kill Bill" tops them all. Uma is has this performance to a T, she's totally kicks butt...and arms, legs, heads, any part of the body that protrudes enough to be severed. The violence and gore in this film is so sexual and pornographic that I lost count of the number of climaxes I experienced in the course of watching this film. So of course, get a babysitter. Of all movies to NOT take the kids, this takes the cake. I am amazed it got just an R rating. But I don't care, it's cooler than cool, and the Hattori Hanzo samari sword is the fine metal equivalent to a wallet with "Bad Motherf'er" on it. One last thing, to all those people wrongly criticizing this film for lack of delicious dialogue (which isn't even true), don't understand that this film is Quentin's grindhouse film. This film wasn't about the dialogue that made "Pulp Fiction" so great, this is an entirely different genre. It would be like reviewing "The Lion King" and ridiculing it because it wasn't live action and the lions weren't real.

Mike ( 3 1/2 out of 4 pops )

Quentin Tarantino is a master at creating "cool" and imaginative scenes and Kill Bill is filled to the brim with such neat sequences and with great music to back them all up. Some people have complained about the violence and blood in the film but all of this is so far over-the-top cartoonish stuff that you end up laughing at it rather than being disgusted by it. And Uma Thurman is just perfect as the revengeful wife left for dead. Who would have thought that Uma would look so perfect fighting and doing all this swordplay? I did miss the usual great Tarantino dialogue that was so evident throughout his previous films. The film also needed more of the quirky Tarantino'ish humor. There was certainly some cool funny stuff in the film, but not to the extent that I had expected or that the film needed. I'm also thinking that it might have been better to have just one long film rather than divide the story up into two movies, but I gotta see the next one to confirm this. I also hope that we learn more about the past of Uma's character than we did in this first installment. But go have a great time watching this film, there isn't a dull second in the whole movie.