Samurai Cracked: "Kill Bill Vol. 1"
Today's movie of discussion is Quentin Tarantino's first entry in a two-part (insert appropriate movie genre HERE), Kill Bill Vol. 1. Quick warning, I like this movie, but there are many things about it that left me flabbergasted. I'm going to do my best to make sure my critique here doesn't sound like a jumbled mess, but I can't promise that this review will flow smoothly. So, here we go...
Having previously seen Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and the third act of Inglorious Bastards, I had a small idea as to how Tarantino-ish this Tarantino film was going to be coming into it. What I mean by that is I had minor expectations that this film was going to be set in a grounded reality (where magic and superpowers don't entirely exist), but a grounded reality that Tarantino has put his own unique spin on, and a story within that reality told in its own unique format. Yet for some reason (probably because I had just woken up), I completely forgot those expectations the moment I popped in the DVD, and I was caught off guard by so many things - familiar and unfamiliar - throughout the viewing.
In terms of familiarity, much like in Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill V.1 is told in an out of order, nonlinear format with flashbacks and flash-forwards. I've seen it done in a Tarantino movie before, and yet I was still taken by surprise by some of the time-jumps. Not the first time-jump from the Bride getting shot in the head to when she knocks on Copperhead's door, but rather the jump from after the Bride kills Copperhead in front of her daughter to before the Bride's near-dead body had been sent to the hospital by the sheriff.
Then there's the similar non-realistic plot-points that Tarantino likes to use so much. In Django Unchained, that plot-point was a black man in the south being allowed to walk around as freely as he did, let alone be a bounty hunter. Here in Kill Bill Vol. 1, the plot-point is a "Chinese, Jap-American halfbreed" (as the decapitated Boss Tanaka put it before he lost his head) becoming the leading mob boss in Japan. Now granted, the excuse used to justify Cottonmouth's (which is the name of a Luke Cage villain, Luke Cage being Tarantino's favorite comic book character) power grab - mention my heritage and I'll cut you - is showcased in a way that makes more sense than a black slave turned bounty hunter in the south. Still though, given how territorial mobs can be, the idea of an entire gang letting an outsider claim and maintain power over their organization without putting up a larger fight than we saw or heard on screen seems like a stretch.
Both of the examples listed above are examples of Tarantino breaking the rules of conventional filmmaking and replacing them with his own rules. Other eye-widening examples of that include the use of anime to fill in various story gaps, the hilarious amount of blood-gushing gore (both in anime and live-action), the lack of reaction from the daughter witnessing her mom die, the removal of shoes in the middle of the snow, and the allowance of swords out in the open on planes.
Where the real head-scratching comes into play though are the moments in which Tarantino breaks his own rules. A mass suit and tie ninja fight in black and white, after the Bride had already fought a few ninjas in color prior. The sudden inclusion of Latin music in the final samurai battle between a blonde and an Asian-American in Japan. Most notably for me though was the inability of the Bride to break every other sword after breaking her first attacker's sword with ease, especially with all the hyping up of Hanzo steel this movie does. Tarantino is a brilliant artist, but if he's going to play by his own rules, then he should at least be consistent with those rules.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 is a great movie, but it's also a purposely chaotic movie told from the mind of a chaotic man. When you are purposely chaotic with your art, you are bound to violate whatever personal formula you were trying to follow at least once, and Tarantino does break a few of his own rules in this movie. Those rule-breaks took me out of the story a few times, and the chaotic nature of this film is partly why this review is equally as chaotic in nature. There's a part of my brain that's still processing the roller coaster this movie took me on, and that's causing this review to sound less like a well-thought out review, and more like the non-angry rant of a guy who snorted sugar thinking it was cocaine. So, if you haven't seen Kill Bill Vol. 1 like I hadn't until a few days ago, watch it for yourself and strap yourself in for a mindfreak. Also, if you have to write a review of it, then I feel sorry for you, because this is not an easy movie to review.
Having previously seen Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and the third act of Inglorious Bastards, I had a small idea as to how Tarantino-ish this Tarantino film was going to be coming into it. What I mean by that is I had minor expectations that this film was going to be set in a grounded reality (where magic and superpowers don't entirely exist), but a grounded reality that Tarantino has put his own unique spin on, and a story within that reality told in its own unique format. Yet for some reason (probably because I had just woken up), I completely forgot those expectations the moment I popped in the DVD, and I was caught off guard by so many things - familiar and unfamiliar - throughout the viewing.
In terms of familiarity, much like in Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill V.1 is told in an out of order, nonlinear format with flashbacks and flash-forwards. I've seen it done in a Tarantino movie before, and yet I was still taken by surprise by some of the time-jumps. Not the first time-jump from the Bride getting shot in the head to when she knocks on Copperhead's door, but rather the jump from after the Bride kills Copperhead in front of her daughter to before the Bride's near-dead body had been sent to the hospital by the sheriff.
Then there's the similar non-realistic plot-points that Tarantino likes to use so much. In Django Unchained, that plot-point was a black man in the south being allowed to walk around as freely as he did, let alone be a bounty hunter. Here in Kill Bill Vol. 1, the plot-point is a "Chinese, Jap-American halfbreed" (as the decapitated Boss Tanaka put it before he lost his head) becoming the leading mob boss in Japan. Now granted, the excuse used to justify Cottonmouth's (which is the name of a Luke Cage villain, Luke Cage being Tarantino's favorite comic book character) power grab - mention my heritage and I'll cut you - is showcased in a way that makes more sense than a black slave turned bounty hunter in the south. Still though, given how territorial mobs can be, the idea of an entire gang letting an outsider claim and maintain power over their organization without putting up a larger fight than we saw or heard on screen seems like a stretch.
Both of the examples listed above are examples of Tarantino breaking the rules of conventional filmmaking and replacing them with his own rules. Other eye-widening examples of that include the use of anime to fill in various story gaps, the hilarious amount of blood-gushing gore (both in anime and live-action), the lack of reaction from the daughter witnessing her mom die, the removal of shoes in the middle of the snow, and the allowance of swords out in the open on planes.
Where the real head-scratching comes into play though are the moments in which Tarantino breaks his own rules. A mass suit and tie ninja fight in black and white, after the Bride had already fought a few ninjas in color prior. The sudden inclusion of Latin music in the final samurai battle between a blonde and an Asian-American in Japan. Most notably for me though was the inability of the Bride to break every other sword after breaking her first attacker's sword with ease, especially with all the hyping up of Hanzo steel this movie does. Tarantino is a brilliant artist, but if he's going to play by his own rules, then he should at least be consistent with those rules.
Kill Bill Vol. 1 is a great movie, but it's also a purposely chaotic movie told from the mind of a chaotic man. When you are purposely chaotic with your art, you are bound to violate whatever personal formula you were trying to follow at least once, and Tarantino does break a few of his own rules in this movie. Those rule-breaks took me out of the story a few times, and the chaotic nature of this film is partly why this review is equally as chaotic in nature. There's a part of my brain that's still processing the roller coaster this movie took me on, and that's causing this review to sound less like a well-thought out review, and more like the non-angry rant of a guy who snorted sugar thinking it was cocaine. So, if you haven't seen Kill Bill Vol. 1 like I hadn't until a few days ago, watch it for yourself and strap yourself in for a mindfreak. Also, if you have to write a review of it, then I feel sorry for you, because this is not an easy movie to review.
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