Samantha Cormack
Matthew Haupert Humanities 9 June 2019 Movie Review: The Kill Bill Series Labeled as the most iconic Tarantino film of all time, Kill Bill deserves all the credit it gets. Although it is sometimes overshadowed by Pulp Fiction, Django Unchained, and The Hateful Eight, the love for this movie by its fans is unmatchable. The basic premise of the Kill Bill series is a woman waking up from a coma, and immediately going after rightful revenge. The Deadly Viper Assassination Squad was responsible for killing her and everyone at her wedding. The Bride survived the shooting, but in the process lost her baby that she was pregnant with at the time. The leader of this squad? Bill, an ex of hers. Bill also happens to be the father of her baby, and now she’s hungry for revenge. She goes after every single member of the D.V.A.S., getting closer and closer to her ultimate target, Bill. With it’s amazing attention to detail, female empowerment, and astounding storytelling, Kill Bill is a legendary movie series. The attention to detail in Kill Bill is like no other. One of the scenes that I like to point out to others is in Volume 1. Hanzo is a famous swordsmith who made a blood oath to never make a sword again, and has kept it for 28 years. The Bride (the main character) asks Hanzo to make a sword for her. She convinced him to by telling him that the “vermin” she wants to kill is one of his former students, Bill, who he owes a big obligation. Hanzo then writes Bill’s name in the condensation on the window. The Bride comes up to the window and smudged out his entire name, leaving but one small spot of the B. After a good 5 seconds of her staring at the smudge, she goes and smudges out the rest of the B she forgot . Although this may seem like a very insignificant scene to draw attention to, I find it to be a great representation of the attention to detail in this movie (and Tarantino's trademarked perfectionism.) Usually, directors would have not bothered to add that five seconds because “it’s not needed.” Which is true, it’s not needed. But that’s what makes Tarantino stick out. Have you ever questioned the logic of a movie? For instance, someone breaks into a house and touches a bunch of things WITHOUT gloves on. You’re sitting there watching the movie like, “dude, you’re totally gonna get caught if you leave fingerprints.” Tarantino feels this. In Pulp Fiction, this same scene happens. A guys breaks into a house, takes a gun that isn’t his, kills someone with it, and leaves the gun on a table in the house. He is about to leave, but he looks at the gun for a few seconds, and then gets a tissue and cleans the gun of fingerprints. It brings a sigh of relief from everyone watching the movie, and Tarantino leaves the audience at ease. Kill Bill also has great representation of female empowerment and feminism. Uma Thurman, who plays The Bride in Kill Bill, said during an interview at The Karlovy Film Festival, “Women would come up to me and they would say that somehow or other – they’d share a little bit — that that film helped them in their lives, whether they were feeling oppressed or struggling or had a bad boyfriend or felt badly about themselves, that that film released in them some survival energy that was helpful, and that is probably one of the most gratifying things that I have ever experienced in response to a piece of art” (qtd. In Barraclough). This goes to show that Kill Bill has done more than just entertain the audience. Kill Bill provided empowerment, and inspired many across the world. This movie is a big punch in the face to the phrase “you fight like a girl.” There are countless scenes of The Bride demolishing foes left and right, and she is a strong advocate of the idea that you can do anything. In Kill Bill Volume 2, she quite literally digs herself out of a grave after being buried alive in a coffin. She is able to do this after remembering her years of torturous Kung Fu training, thus breaking herself out of the coffin with her fist. Watching The Bride go through years of training and working hard to get where she wants to be is incredibly inspiring. Last but not least, Kill Bill does an astounding job at storytelling. The story itself is a satisfying tale of revenge, making it easy to rewatch over and over again. The movie has a great balance of action and heartfelt emotion, making it a well thought out story rather than it just being explosions and fights 24/7. For example, arguably the most epic scene in the entire series, The Bride fights the Crazy 88, which is a squad of 88 fighting masters, and she defeats every single one of them at the same time. On the contrast, we learn later in the series that her presumed deceased baby has actually been alive all these years, because she went through labor while in her coma. Bill has been taking good care of her, and The Bride is reunited with her daughter, which makes for a very touching scene. Adding on to the aspect of great storytelling, another great example would be O-Ren Ishii’s origin story. This whole scene comes as a wonderful surprise for the audience, as it is fully animated. Because of O-Ren Ishii’s Japanese origin, this story is done completely in a manga/anime art style, which makes for a really epic animation, and yet connects with her culture and where she comes from. This makes for effective storytelling because we are learning not only about her origin story, but her connection to the Japanese lifestyle through the style of animation. Kill Bill is an overall fantastic movie. Not only does this movie serve as a fun movie to watch, but it has done much good for the word by empowering women. It has great storytelling, attention to detail, and keeps you on your toes the whole time! In all, I’d recommend Kill Bill 100%. Citations: Barraclough, Leo. “Uma Thurman Explains How 'Kill Bill' Role Empowers Women.” Variety, 3 July 2017, variety.com/2017/film/global/uma-thurman-kill-bill-quentin-tarantino-women-1202486243/.
1 Comment
Samantha Cormack
6/10/2019 09:22:26 am
This year I've improved in my writing a lot, especially argumentative writing. I find that when I'm writing something I'm passionate about, my writing turns out a lot better. I've learned that I still need to improve my vocabulary and spelling, which I will continue to work on for next year.
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AuthorI'm Samantha Cormack, and this is my blog for my 10th grade year of 2018-2019! If you would like to know more about me, visit the home page and you will find my biography. Archives |