Kill Bill: Volumen 1

Un fashion-junkie puramente visual y acústico con una paleta de estados de ánimo que cambia de color. Pero es erróneo evaluarlo de forma aislada. La primera mitad es un poco sosa, mientras que la segunda no me dejaba respirar. En teoría, en la línea de la segunda parte debería empezar la secuela Volumen 2. Cuando empiece, tengo mucha curiosidad por ver cuál será el clímax de todo el espectáculo. Si realmente viene más gradación, el conjunto de tres horas podría resultar ser una obra brillante. Creo que eso va a pasar. Y me hago la pregunta clave: ¿Es posible que un tema tan sencillo se convierta en una sesión de cine tan espectacular y genial? (07.10.2003)

Como la película muestra en primeros minutos, es la quarta obra del director Quentin Tarantino. Es una letra de amor al absurdo de las series de acción y por lo tanto resulta muy cómica. El humor no consiste en chistes y bromas sino en la hiperbolización. Se ve más una parodía, que algo serio. Dicho esto, no le falta suspense. La historia sigue el personaje de Uma Thurman que sufre golpes peores que su flequillo. El motivo detrás de la protagonista es la venganza. El título de la película ya muestra el objetivo principal de la histora. Aquí veo el único negativo de la obra, no se consigue todo en una película y hay que buscar y ver Volumen 2 para explicar el resto. Por otro lado los personajes y sus relaciones son tan entretenientes, que no me importaría ver 10 horas de esto. (19.07.2023)

Forget about seeing just another Tarantino flick. There’s none of his typical catchphrases, nor a plethora of absurd situations. One of the few echoes of his first two films is the absurd scene in the hospital when "Buck comes to fuck" and then his favourite ordering of the plot into chapters. At times I was emotionally moved, at times I was thinking, "Is he being serious? We're supposed to buy this?" But I didn't move a muscle the whole time I was sitting in my chair. There are scenes with a very magical atmosphere, especially the final duel with in the snowy Japanese garden, with Lucy Liu in a white dress and slippers, falling snowflakes and contrasting with Uma Thurman's yellow suit, all beautifully lit and the interesting sound of a water pump. Or for example the moment when during one of the fights the background suddenly changes to a blue screen with black frames, with only the silhouettes of the fighters in front of it is very impressive. Kill Bill has so many audio-visual sensations that the hour and a half was more than enough. The plot may be shallow (the final sentence made me feel like I was hearing a snippet from a soap opera), but form overwhelmingly wins over content. Tarantino managed to turn a well-trodden genre and not very original premise into a very impressive spectacle. We'll see with Volume 2 if it holds up. PS: This film must be watched in widescreen! It loses a lot with the TV crop. (11.10.2003)

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! (21.09.2005)

A cool rip-off of Shogun Assassin with references to a couple dozen other films. One big stylistic exercise, which in the shadow of the brilliant Volume II completely loses its meaning and unnecessarily takes away from the credit of the whole. ♫ OST song rating: 4/5 (14.05.2005)