i’ll say this first: i’m not a fan of quentin tarantino. i think a lot of people go into his movies already believing he’s this acclaimed cinematic guru of sorts, but all i see is a drunk dude with a camera and overactive imagination. i’m probably breaking all sorts of coolness codes by not championing his work, but there you have it.

as for the kill bill movies — which honestly could have been edited a bit better to make one decent longish film instead of two choppy ones (can anyone say “instant money-maker”?) — they were interesting. it was pretty neat to watch all of the crazy martial arts with cool music playing in the background. however, it gets really old, really fast. vol. 1 was action-packed, but lacking drama; vol. 2 was lacking action, but packed with drama. it created a strange balance for me that i didn’t completely see as intentional, but rather as a poor decision on the part of tarantino.

the story itself is a unique one. i wasn’t quite sure if i liked the idea of bill and his gang of assassin misfits or if i thought it was simply ridiculous. it danced on that fine line separating creativity and pure lunacy. uma thurman never gives me anything to look forward to with her acting, so i wasn’t surprised that i felt nothing for her character in the film. lucy lui was constantly a bitch on ally mcbeal — granted she wasn’t cutting people’s heads off — so i didn’t expect any variety in her performance, either.

it seemed like tarantino squished way too many genres into this film: the old western, the romance, the maternal-love story, the kung-fu flick, the japanese anime, etc. i realize that’s what he’s known for, but the blend in kill bill didn’t tickle my fancy all that much.

visually, this movie is stunning. the fight scenes are incredible and the camera work is amazing. a lot of people have criticized the excessive use of blood and gore in kill bill, but i thought it was executed (pun definitely intended) rather well. besides that, though, there is nothing else left to be desired.