SPOILERS are ahead for Kill Bill.
So, Quentin Tarantino’s Kill Bill just turned 20 years old, and I recently realized I’ve gone all that time without sitting through the cinematic classic that’s highly regarded as one of the best movies of the 2000s. But hey, you gotta cut me some slack here. I was only a couple years older than B.B. when the R-rated bloody revenge flick first came out.
I can actually recall briefly passing the living room, probably in between playing Barbies with my sister or something, when my parents were viewing the showdown between The Bride and O-Ren Ishii, and being intrigued by the mere sight of two fierce and blood-soaked women holding swords. Now that I’ve finally watched both Volume 1 and Volume 2, and witnessed The Bride get through her unfinished business, I have a lot of thoughts to get into about the famed action epic.
Uma Thurman Slays As The Bride, And I’m Never Getting Over It
The number one reason why I'm talking this out is Ms. Uma Thurman’s The Bride. To be honest, from the outside in, Uma Thurman is a revelation in Kill Bill, which I did expect, but not to this degree. If you’ve seen it, I’m preaching to the choir here, but I totally get why The Bride is absolutely one of the most iconic movie characters there is.
She has a Clint Eastwood quality to her where less is more when it comes to dialogue. Not only does she make every single line count kick some serious butt, she also somehow manages to make The Bride feel both larger than life and very much human all at once. She carries the audience through this cathartic feminine rage journey throughout her performance, which reminds me of the very reason why action movies can be so great.
I Love That The Bride Has Both Style And Substance
I expected a movie centered on a woman from the early ‘00s in a skin-tight yellow tracksuit (which Thurman apparently “hated” while filming) and a sword to be some hyper-sexualized male fantasy, but thankfully, I assumed wrong. Kill Bill is not only a blast of an original action story packed with amazing fight sequences and quotable dialogue, it absolutely does justice to its heroine in every way, and with greater care than most leads I’ve seen in the genre over the years.
The showdown at House of Blue Leaves especially had god-tier cinematography and fight choreography, but it’s Thurman’s incredible performance that grounds every shot of Kill Bill in the best way for me. Clearly this collaboration between Tarantino and Thurman was written in the stars. The Bride is a badass action hero in Kill Bill, but I was pleasantly surprised that there was weight to the whole thing as well.
It’s Wild How Much Of A Pop Culture Minefield Kill Bill Is
Throughout my viewing of the Kill Bill movies, I was also struck with how familiar the imagery was to me despite never truly seeing them before. From the needle drops to various shots and scenes throughout, it became very clear to me that Kill Bill is one of those cultural moments in cinema that has undeniably influenced the moviemaking generation across the past 20 years. Of course, Lady Gaga and Beyoncé’s “Telephone” music video, along with SZA’s big hit “Kill Bill,” which has Vivica A. Fox making a cameo, come to mind, but now I know there's so many more.
Kill Bill itself draws from so much of Quentin Tarantino’s own influences that I felt he mixed in a unique and exciting way. It's simultaneously grabbing influences from martial arts, blaxploitation and spaghetti Western films all at once, while also calling back to things like Star Trek and Superman, but somehow it works. How did Tarantino pull that off?
The Anime Sequence Caught Me Off Guard In The Best Way
Speaking of a wealth of influences, one standout scene in Kill Bill was Chapter 3: The Origin of O-Ren, which is an anime sequence in the middle of Vol. 1. It’s an absolutely gorgeous sequence that covers the traumatic childhood of Lucy Liu’s O-Ren Ishii. The scene caught me off guard because I had no idea there would be an animated scene in the middle of the flick. I feel like the moment enriches the film.
There’s a real depth in the chapter through the animation that I don’t think would have hit the same in live action. I love that Tarantino brought in a Japanese anime studio, Production I.G, to produce the scene too. It’s moments like The Origin of O-Ren that offer a richness to Kill Bill that sets it apart from most action movies.
‘Elle And I’ Is Definitely My Favorite Chapter
Upon my first viewing of Kill Bill, my biggest reaction occurred during Chapter 9: ELLE and I in Kill Bill Volume 2. In my opinion, It’s a perfect sequence that encapsulates why I connected with Tarantino’s revenge film. There’s a grimeyness to the scene as Michael Madsen’s Budd messily makes a margarita for Daryl Hannah’s Elle in his trailer. As the scene unfolds, we see Budd’s deadly snake bite, Elle slyly reading from a notebook about the Black Mamba as he meets his end to Elle, and The Bride’s showdown that ends with The Bride taking Elle’s other eye after saying “Bitch… you have no future.” It’s brutal and super fun at the same time.
The Final Showdown Between The Bride And Bill Blew Me Away
Revenge is fun and all, but I’m not one to enjoy senseless violence. So the fact that Kill Bill provides such a great storyline that backs all of The Bride’s bloody acts, it leveled up my love for this film. Not only did this woman almost get murdered by her ex just one day before making plans to get married and move on, it happened while she was pregnant and in her wedding dress.
Bill is certainly among the most horrible movie bosses that got what was coming to him. Their final showdown was also such a great scene too, especially because of how emotional it was for both parties involved. I love that it wasn’t this drawn-out sword fight. It was an intimate death that builds the moment she gets to his home. Who Bill is and how everything wraps up shocked me in the best way.
Kill Bill’s Happy Ending Made All The Difference For Me
I also loved that Kill Bill had a happy ending. It wouldn’t have been the same movie if The Bride went through all this trouble and rode off into the sunset alone. The moment when she cries on the bathroom floor before returning to her daughter also struck me because it made The Bride a three-dimensional character. She’s not this robotic killing machine. The journey was emotional and meaningful to her. She took back her life and I love that Tarantino put space in there for The Bride to have a good cry after all that.
I Understand The Kill Bill Movie Debate Now
From the outside, I’ve heard about this controversy about whether Kill Bill is one or two movies for years without understanding what people are talking about. Now that I’ve seen both movies, which turned into two volumes at the studio’s request, I totally get why it’s a conversation that has remained fresh over the years. It’s clearly one story, and I don’t think you can possibly watch the first movie by itself. I’m happy it’s two because if Tarantino had decided to cut down the story to one movie, some of my favorite scenes, like The Origin of O-Ren, might have been removed.
I Found The Volumes To Be Uneven On Their Own
At the same time, sitting through four hours in one go is rather excessive, in my opinion. I opted to watch Kill Bill on separate nights, which made me feel a bit unsettled about how it was presented to audiences. Vol. 1 is more focused on the action and establishing the story and its style, whereas I felt a lot more happens in Vol. 2 in regards to dialogue and the plot moving forward.
Now that I’ve seen it, I know what’s coming in each part, but after quitting it at Vol. 1 on the first night, I had a ton of questions. Honestly, that had to be purposeful, but on their own, each volume is a tad uneven to me. All in all, I’d say Kill Bill is just one of those uniquely ambitious stories and while I find the Volume 1 and Volume 2 as separate projects disjointed, getting through the whole thing is worth the journey.
Kill Bill Is My New Favorite Tarantino Movie
Going into this viewing, I totally respect Quentin Tarantino movies and see why he’s thought of as one of the most iconic filmmakers of our time, but plain and simple, it’s just not always my cup of tea. I haven’t seen them all, but the one's I have pressed play on I haven't felt any mind-altering way about. Pulp Fiction has been my favorite Tarantino movie up to this point (because, duh), but Kill Bill gave me a newfound respect for the filmmaker that’s making me do a double take on my prior feelings about his work.
Now that I’ve seen both Kill Bill movies, I am pleased to report that it’s definitely a pair of movies I’ll be watching again and recommending to fellow friends who have skipped out on it like I had over the years. It’s safe to say Kill Bill exceeded my expectations, and the only “R” I feel is regret for not getting to this classic sooner. It holds up rather well, and now I've found my new favorite Tarantino project.
