  Kill Bill Do you remember before Matrix Reloaded came out, we heard rumours of the 100 Smiths fight? Then we heard from the producer, Joel Silver, about how scenes like the 'burly brawl' would redefine they way that people made films. So, like the good sheep we are, we all went down to the cinema, the hype doing its job and packing us in. Smith appears, bit of gabbing and then... Neo hitting a bunch of fake looking blokes. Followed by a fake looking Neo hitting a bunch of fake looking blokes.
And then, after 5 minutes on repeat, Neo flies off. Ho hum. That is one off the funniest things about Kill Bill. Quentin Tarantino, wonder-brat director, has, with the House of Blue Leaves scene, on a much smaller budget and without state-of-the-art CGI, made the Walchowski's look very silly. Tarantino's previous three films, while they have been decried as bloody and violent, have actually had a surprising lack of 'action' - sure, we have a car crash, decapitations by both katana and gun and a shoot out in Pulp Fiction, but there has never been a real 'fight scene', instead relying on the dialogue and the character's reaction to the situations drive the films.
As a first attempt to become an action director in the style of, say, John Woo, Kill Bill sacrifices these characteristics to become a balls-out revenge movie. The plot centres on The Bride, played by Uma Thurman, a character created by Thurman and Tarantino during a conversation on the set of Pulp Fiction (Hmm, wonder how that conversation went. "Quentin, in a future film, would it be great if I played this woman who was getting married...","...and then gets left for dead in a motherfucker of a shootout in the church, at which point she becomes an ice-cold bitch bent on revenge! Nice idea, Uma"). A former assassin who is left for dead in an attack on her wedding day by her boss and former colleagues, The Bride wakes up from a coma four years later, intent on revenge for the death of her husband and unborn child. The film catalogues, in chapters, the attempts of The Bride to take out the former members of the hit squad.
In Vol. 1, we have the story of her recovery from a coma and her meetings with two of her attackers. Each opponent of The Bride's takes the story into different genres that inspired Tarantino's film career. For Copperhead, we are taken into 70's exploitation films, with a sassy black woman facing off in a fight with knifes. Incorporated into this, is the usual QT black humour, with Copperhead's daughter turning up half way through the fight, then being told to go to her room while her mother and 'old friend' catch up. However, it is the story of O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) where Quentin shows his flair for action. The story of O-Ren Ishii has many influences shining through. We have an anime history of O-Ren, a samurai style tale as The Bride tries to obtain a sword from a retired master and a Bruce Lee style 'one vs. many' fight in The House of Blue Leaves. The House of Blue Leaves is just a stunning half hour of action. We have The Bride taking on the Army of 88, a schoolgirl assassin named Go-Go (a treat for Battle Royale fans like myself) and a final confrontation with O-Ren.
Again, we see more black humour, with the telling off of a school age assassin and the reaction of the club owner to seeing the carnage on her dance floor. One area where the film suffers may be from the splitting of the film into Vol. 1 and Vol. 2. While the character of O-Ren Ishii is developed brilliantly, we know little of the Bride's back-story (Why did she quit the squad?
Who was the husband? ) apart from 'wanting revenge'. There is also little of the memorable dialogue that sad bastards can quote to each other that we usually get from Tarantino. Be warned that this is an incredibly violent film. With various body parts removed on characters throughout the film, gushing arteries and a disembowelment by a schoolgirl, this will not to be everyone's taste. However, if you are a fan of good, solid action and a taste for black humour, you will not do any better than watching this.
While it may not be a masterpiece, it is still one of the best films of the year and I look forward to Vol 2. a lot more that I am looking forward to Revolutions. 5/5 Note: If I finally get around to reviewing Nemo, it means I have only reviewed great movies so far. This tends to be because I try to avoid crap and only watch what I think I'll like. This is obviously no good, so I need suggestions from you for bad films I can review. And Inno, lend me Tomb Raider. 
