Kill Bill (My First Review)

    
     I figure my first review should be a movie that I know fairly well. I LOVE Kill Bill. It is in fact one of my favorite movies of all time. Now anyone that is even remotely familiar with the films will think "WAIT there are two movies, AREN'T THERE?! YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT YOU"RE TALKING ABOUT!!" and to that I say that you'd be half right. There are two films with Kill Bill in the title, however, they are not sequels to each other. In fact, the Kill Bill movies are one story split into two distinct parts, or in this case "volumes", each with its own unique way of telling the story.

     I cannot think of anyone who hasn't at least heard of how crazy the first movie was. Whenever people hear the name Kill Bill, I'm almost positive that they think of the scene where Uma Thurman's character (The Bride) gets into an epic fight with a nearly limitless army of insane thugs inspired by Japanese Yakuza. They call themselves the Crazy 88....but if you ask me there has to be at least 100 of 'em. Anyway, what sticks with people about this particular scene, in this particular volume, would be the OUTRAGEOUS amount of blood that gets spilled throughout the course of this battle. To sum it up, you could create an entire ocean with that blood and it really give something for Moses to part. Ultimately, the whole scene is quite the bloody spectacle.
     Now, for those unfamiliar with why such heavy amounts of gore is fair game in this film, allow me to sum up the plot as revealed in the first volume. The Bride is on a quest for vengeance after nearly being shot to death at her wedding by a man named Bill and his squad of professional assassins. Needless to say, when The Bride recovers, she is hell bent on exacting revenge on every single person involved with her near-death experience. This is pretty much all anyone needs to know when watching Volume 1.  Plot is not something that comes in plentiful amounts, but the movie more than makes up for that with insane action scenes and kick ass confrontations. It's an action masterpiece and all the fight scenes are incredibly well done.
     I also have to give credit to the film's soundtrack. The music does a fantastic job of showing the audience what inspired Quentin Tarantino in making this movie. It borrows elements from a lot of old school martial arts movies. It even pays homage to plenty of those iconic Kung Fu movies from the '70's. Hell during the fight scene I described earlier, The Bride is wearing a costume identical to Bruce Lee's from "Game of Death".  All of these elements blend together beautifully and give the audience something unique, which can still be appreciated even eight years after it was made.

     Volume 2 borrows heavily from spaghetti westerns, and is my personal favorite of the two volumes. This time around there is not so much "movie" as there is a build up to the final confrontation between The Bride and Bill. The action takes a back seat to the plot and here the audience can really see the reasons behind everything and who these people really are. Bill in particular is quite the character. In fact, he remains my all time favorite character and is what makes Volume 2 stand out to me more than Volume 1. David Carradine was spectacular as Bill because of his charisma and talent. He makes Bill a fairly likable person, despite being a self-described "murdering bastard".
     Now I've talked with a few people about Volume 2 and I always hear them say that they prefer Volume 1. To me, that's like saying that you like half of one movie. Sure Kill Bill is separated into two volumes, two separate DVDs, but they are meant to be viewed together. I've always wanted a release where that's an actual option. Now I know that I could just as easily pop in one movie and then pop the next one in right after, but it just wouldn't give the feeling of viewing a double feature as in the older days of cinema.
     If you have not seen Kill Bill then I strongly urge you to watch it. You won't be disappointed.

     Anyway, thanks for reading my first review and have a great day!