Movie Minx

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Darryl Hannah
Directed by: Quentin Tarantino

Plot: The pregnant Bride is attacked and left for dead by her former leader/lover Bill and his gang of assassins. Waking from a coma four years later, she vows revenge and draws up a hit list.

But is it any good?

It was a long wait for Tarantino fans after the rather limp follow-up to Pulp Fiction, Jackie Brown, in the late ’90s. Then Tarantino delivered a double-whammy: two movies back to back. Some whined they shouldn’t have to pay twice, but coughed up anyway, and ultimately the Kill Bills were a hit, although by no means copies of Pulp.

For one thing, they’re very martial artsy, and apparently Quentin’s homage to B-grade films of the ’70s, Bruce Lee movies and spaghetti westerns, which certainly aren’t everybody’s cup of tea. Vol. 1 in particular delivers animation, action scenes of gushing blood from all areas and clashing samurai swords, kung fu in a suburban kitchen, decapitation and scalping and more. So it’s not for the faint-hearted and mostly lacks the witty banter QT is famous for.

Most people seem to prefer this one, although I prefer Vol 2 just a wee bit more - it expands on character development, for one thing, and despite having less blood, it’s darker. QT clearly has a penchant for burying people alive, as witnessed again in the episode of CSI he directed. Vol 1 mainly introduces the characters, sets up the plot and gets the action going. The action scenes are extremely well-choreographed and stylish, the soundtrack is flawless as usual, and Uma Thurman flings herself into the role of the vengeful bride with aplomb.

Thurman was more in the press at the time because of her marriage breakup with that cheatin’ Ethan Hawke (is he MAD?), but here earns major kudos for kicking ass with a determined fierceness that overrides the still-excellent Lucy Liu as the murderous Viper and the eyepatch-wearing bitch Darryl Hannah. Bill we see more of next movie.

Despite an extreme ignorance of Japanese anime and a luckluster response to martial art/western movies in general, I loved this. The combination of the surreal, the excitement, the sympathy and the yellow tracksuit make for one bloody good movie (excuse pun). QT is a brand, it’s his movie and he was right to divide this story in two. It ends in just the right place.

My rating: 8.5/10

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