Mini Review #118: Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) (Patreon)

Wow Quinten Tarantino! What a crazy fun revenge flick with insane action and filmmaking techniques! While I have always admired Tarantino's filmmaking from a writing perspective, I had never once thought of him as an action director. But Kill Bill Volume 1 proves that he can not only write and direct great dramas, comedies, and thrillers, but he can also direct action. I loved how stylized the action was in the film! It felt like I was watching a movie from Asia rather than from Hollywood and I think that was exactly the point. It felt, at times, like I was watching a movie like Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon with all the floaty wire work and disobeying the laws of physics. Every single fight was entertaining from the one v one in a suburban home as a kid comes home from school to the 1 v 1 million people fight at the end of the movie. All the fighting just works! Besides the fighting though, the soundtrack for this film slaps so hard it is unbelievable. "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" is a certified banger from start to finish and will have you dancing up and down your house non-stop. I loved that the soundtrack felt very Old Western at times with Rock and Asian influences. And just like the music, the filmmaking behind this movie was so creative and unusual when compared to other mainstream Hollywood movies. From the random camera zoom ins to the insane siren moments that fit so well with the absurdity of the film. It all just felt like a breath of fresh air! And don't get me started on that black and white fight at the end! I know that it was black and white to avoid a maturity rating of some form but even then, it WORKED in the movie... how did they manage that. Finally, Uma Thurman is great in this. The lines she does have are so cool and cold but most of this movie she spends silent and fighting, using her body language to tell a story. She was great and I am so excited to see her in the second one! Oh and that cliffhanger though!!!