Kill Bill: Vol. 1

A purely visual and acoustic fashion-feast with a colorfully variable palette of moods. But rating it on its own would miss the mark. The first half is a bit lifeless, whereas the second half wouldn’t let me catch my breath. The sequel, Volume 2, should theoretically start in the spirit of the second half of the first Kill Bill. If it does start that way, I’m genuinely curious to see what the climax of the whole show will be. If it actually builds up further, as a three-hour whole, it will turn out to be a brilliant work. I believe that will happen. And I’m asking myself a key question: Is it even possible to make such a spectacular and cool film seanse out of such a simple subject? (10/07/2003)

I really like older Tarantino films, and even though they are in genres that I don't particularly enjoy, Tarantino managed to direct them creatively and with added value, which every film fan must appreciate. Whether it was Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction, or Jackie Brown, I always found something that enriched me. Kill Bill marked the beginning of the era of Tarantino films without added value, which may fascinate genre fans with their "purity," but I completely avoid them. Kill Bill pays homage to East Asian action films, which is something that doesn't appeal to me at all. The characters lack even minimal depth, and there's no need to talk about the screenplay. It is completely empty, purposeless nonsense, lacking emotions and character psychology. I would add that it has decent camera work and music, for which it deserves one star from me. Overall impression 25%. (02/16/2008)

Classic Tarantino - some here will celebrate him, others will hate him. Personally, I don't know. Until the final fight I thought it was a decent average, but then it turned into such incredibly stupid crap, with people flying through the air like in The Matrix and blood spurting out of limbs, it made me wonder whether Quentin was just fucking with us. Uma Thurman in the lead role is now a cinematic icon, Tarantino in the chair is admirable, but this is more like one big parody. There are lots of sidetracks from the plot, some scenes are great, others nonsensical as if from another movie, but the finale (girl with a ball, screaming Japanese guys, blood…) killed any attempt at a legitimate action flick and turned Kill Bill into one big WTF. (03/28/2022)

The positives are clear: it's nice and colorful, it's got a good camera and nice hit music. It also has a "cool" pulp aesthetic. That's what pets like, right? And it's sweet postmodern “shit". A beautiful video clip. Great craft, Quentin is good at that. As well as magnificent boredom and the best filmed vacuum I can imagine. Pulp Fiction may have been silly, but at least it had something inside. Kill Bill is only able to pile up clip sequences and obscure the absolute lack of narrative dynamics with subtitled chapters, nice manga sequences, and a stylish (and utterly self-serving) narrative multi-voice. Dear Quentin, I thought I didn't like you, but Kill Bill brings a whole new intensity to our relationship. And Uma is quite pretty... It's a good thing you and I have something to talk about, man. Bleh! (09/21/2005)

Several years after the unbearable hype faded, Kill Bill is still a spectacle that has no equal in the realm of multi-genre action. Despite Quentin Tarantino being somewhat annoying from a media standpoint during this period, his sense of the tempo of revenge, the soundtrack, and the supporting characters were almost perfect. And when Hattori Hanzo appears and I have to swallow all my previous judgements, there is nothing left to do but give it five stars. (04/20/2005)