Tarantino comes through with Kill Bill

The Bride lays crumpled on the ground, her wedding dress stained in blood, as an unseen man named Bill (we can tell by his handkerchief) wipes blood off her face. "Bill, the baby is yours," she chokes out, just as he shoots her dead.

Thus begins Kill Bill Volume 1, the new film from cult-hero writer/director Quentin Tarantino (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction). Definitely one of the most violent and gory movies ever committed to film, this movie is also fabulously entertaining and satisfying to watch.

The plot is simple. Bill is an unseen puppet master, like Charlie from Charlie's Angels, who runs a massive crime network, including the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS). The Bride (Uma Thurman), whose real name is never revealed, used to work for Bill as the deadliest member of the DiVAS, Black Mamba. When she becomes pregnant and tries to leave the organization, Bill has the DiVAS kill her wedding party, and he personally shoots her in the head.

However, the Bride miraculously survives and spends the next four years in a coma being raped by deranged hospital employees. When she suddenly snaps back into consciousness four years later and sans baby, the Bride is understandably upset, and she begins to track down and kill all the DiVAS who betrayed her, working her way up to Bill.

And that's it. There is no more plot and no real surprises, although a few characters' back-stories are explored. Assassin and crime lord O-ren Ishii's (Lucy Liu) past is explained in a beautiful and supremely violent anime sequence, and DiVA Vernita Green's (Vivica A. Fox) character is slightly developed during her confrontation with the Bride. But the plot of Kill Bill is just an excuse to make the movie, not the force driving it.

So far, the movie might sound stupid or formulaic, just another piece of Hollywood action movie trash. And with any other director, it might have been. However, this movie is nothing like anything that's come out of a major studio since, well, since Tarantino's last movie. Kill Bill has all of Tarantino's signature elements – Uma Thurman, snazzy soundtrack, non-linear storyline, fast and witty dialogue and stylized, over the top violence. Tarantino shows that he truly has not been idle in the six years since his last movie – he's been planning his next masterpiece.

All of the elements of this movie are fantastic. The acting is excellent, every shot well composed, and the soundtrack is fabulous. In spite of all the massive violence – and don't get me wrong, pure, unadulterated violence is the main point of Kill Bill – this movie is something more than an orgy of blood. Perhaps only a small portion of viewers (probably adolescent males) will appreciate that, but this film is poetry. The poetry of motion, the poetry of violence; every spatter of fake blood a strangely beautiful sacrifice to the god of slaughter that Tarantino seems to worship.

This is not a movie children should see, and it is probably not a movie for Grandma, either. If you decide to see Kill Bill, you should be aware that you are signing on to see some of the most intense screen violence in film history. This is not a movie for those who grow faint at the sight of blood. However, fans of Tarantino's past movies, samurai movies or action movies should definitely check out Kill Bill. It is one of the most entertaining and original movies to premier in a long time.

Kill Bill (93 minutes) is rated R for extreme graphic violence, bad language, and allusions to sexual abuse. Now playing at all area theatres.