665. Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Daryl Hannah

Director: Quentin Tarantino

Running Time: 111 mins

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 is an American film about a woman, known as The Bride, who emerges from a four-year coma having lost her child and her husband, and as a consequence, she wreaks vengeance on the assassins who put her in this situation in the first place.

Of all of the Tarantino films, this is surely one of the most fun and cool. An incredibly simple story, just about seeking revenge, is showed in a hugely entertaining and intriguing way, which makes it unbelievably engaging to watch.

I have to say that one of the reasons this is so effective is because of how it looks and is set out. It’s all based around the character of ‘The Bride’ from some comic book or graphic novel, and it really feels like you’re reading a comic.

One of the reasons for that is the screenplay. It’s all set out in chapters, there’s crazy one-liners, exciting character development and a melée of mad action all the way through, that’s both exciting and hilarious to watch.

Also, the stunning cinematography in this film really adds to that comic book atmosphere. The mad swish-swash camera shots during the sword fights, the bright colours like a manga story or something, the changes from live-action to Japanese animation, and the crazy spurting blood every time a character gets their arm, leg or head chopped off all makes for a comical watch throughout.

The main character, The Bride, is also massively intriguing. While it all seems to be a simple enough case of just revenge, you see at certain points throughout that there could have been other factors leading to this ultimately insane killing spree, however it’s all mysterious enough to be hugely interesting.

Finally, Uma Thurman’s performance as The Bride is fantastic. It’s brilliantly easy to believe that she’s a wife-to-be turned vengeful killer, and throughout, she’s so overly tough and violent that she’s also a hilarious character to watch.

Overall, this gets an 8.3, because it’s so entertaining and interesting, while also being extremely good-looking due to its quite original cinematography.