Cady's Take:

The Five Culprits: O- Ren Ishi aka Cottonmouth (Lucy Liu), Vernita aka Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), and of course, eye-patch wearing Elle Driver aka California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah). Budd aka Sidewinder (Michael Madsen), and the uber-hated Bill, will have to wait for volume two to be executed. Each of the main characters seems to have an intricate, carnage-strewn backstory, and you sense that the end of Vol. 2 will tell all those outrageous, dovetailing tales.

Inspired by Japanese samurai movies, Chinese martial-arts films and spaghetti westerns, Kill Bill is an exploitation flick at heart. The delightful and surreal visuals are accented with a perfectly pulsing soundtrack and I loved the animated storyline in the middle of the film! Naturally Kill Bill is a blood-bath extravaganza, so you might end up covering your eyes at times- but don’t miss this Movie!!!

I will never again let the hype surrounding a film prevent me from seeing it. While I am well aware that 99% of the time the hype will kill your enjoyment when seeing a movie that “everyone” is talking about, a movie like “Kill Bill Vol. 1” makes it worth the risk.

Quentin Tarantino makes a film that just happens; moving out from a central point like the ripples in water when a stone hits the surface. It moves quickly yet purposefully and it offers thorough explanations for all of its characters and their relationships without feeling staged or contrived. His actors inhabit their characters which leads me to believe that working with him is as Zen-like as watching this movie. One great thing about “Kill Bill Vol. 1” is that all the main characters are women; however you hardly notice this fact at all. This is no “chick-flick” – Uma Thurman, Daryl Hannah, Lucy Liu, and Vivica A. Fox are fierce and beautiful and perfect. I have never been a fan of Japanese fight films, but I think I am ready to give them another shot because any film that could inspire one like this is worth at least one more look. Tarantino uses camera angles, black and white, and Japanese anime to tell his story with effective results. Even with the deluge of information and the constant visual movements “Kill Bill Vol. 1” is a seamless opening to this two-part series.

Uma Thurman plays The Bride, a former member of a death squad who has her entire wedding party killed (groom included) at her reception by the other members of that squad. Left for dead The Bride wakes up four years later as a nurse stands at the foot of her bed, explaining to another man the rules for raping the “comatose” patient. I have never been a fan of Thurman’s but she is perfect in this role, a more conventionally “beautiful” actress may have been less effective. Her face has character but is difficult to read when the scene requires. I am intrigued and anxious to see Part 2 and I urge everyone to rent Part 1 this weekend.