Post by Taxigirl on Oct 15, 2003 9:14:55 GMT
KILL BILL
Certificate: 18
certificate_18 Running time: TBC
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Vivica A. Fox, Sonny Chiba, Chiaki Kuriyama, Julie Dreyfus, Gordon Liu
The wait is over. Six years after the modestly successful Jackie Brown, Quentin Tarantino returns to the big screen with his fourth feature. His fifth film will be released in February 2004, as Kill Bill is to be distributed in two parts. The speculation about the picture has been intense, with the big question being whether or not the boy wonder has fulfilled his promise and become a fully-fledged auteur genius. The simple answer is yes, and like his masterpiece Pulp Fiction, Kill Bill is a film that will undoubtedly stand up to several repeat viewings.
This may well be Tarantino's most personal film yet: not because the outlandish plot reflects anything in his own life, but because all the years he spent as a video clerk championing martial arts movies have clearly paid off. There is plenty here for the film geek to love: layer upon layer of spaghetti westerns, kung fu flicks and a soundtrack that re-enforces Tarantino as the master of the art of choosing the right music. It's also an extraordinarily violent film. But it doesn't matter whether you have that film nerd streak or not: this is a hugely accessible piece of cinema.
Uma Thurman stars as The Bride, a skilled assassin who has been left for dead by the other members of her group, in particular Bill (we only see fleeting glimpses of David Carradine). Five years later she wakes from a coma and determines to avenge her attempted assassination. First on her list is Copperhead (Vivica A. Fox), who is bloodily dispensed of in her new suburban home. Then it's time to head East.
Stopping off in Okinawa to obtain a new sword from legendary master Hattori Hanzo (veteran martial arts superstar Sonny Chiba), she proceeds to Tokyo to track down O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), a gang boss so fearsome she has the assorted Yakuza clans in the palm of her hand. Impervious to defeat, The Bride plans a one-woman tactical assault on Ishii's den, slaughtering seemingly hundreds of her hitmen before the main event itself.
While the plot is simplistic, the execution is often breath-taking. Tarantino's trademark humour is in evidence, and the flashback chapters will be familiar from his earlier works. The snappy street dialogue, so memorable in Reservoir Dogs and Pulp Fiction is replaced by a more stark, almost serious, script, but there are certainly many memorable lines destined to go down in movie history.
Boldly borrowing from every source imaginable, the film is simply beautiful on the eye. Tarantino uses manga to tell an important plot point halfway through the film, and the colours, framing and mise-en-scene throughout are simply unlike any other director working in film today. The final twenty minute battle sequence will be one of the year's most talked about cinematic moments, and the choreography of the fight scenes (especially the hand-to-hand and sword fighting scenes) is hugely impressive.
The overall effect is so dazzling that when you leave the cinema it will take you a few minutes to re-adjust. This is far from a simple box of tricks and will leave you much more excited about seeing the next in the series than that the usual summer blockbuster sequel.
Rating: 09/10
CABIN FEVER
Certificate: 15
certificate_15 Running time: 93 mins
Starring: Rider Strong, Jordan Ladd, James DeBello, Cerina Vincent, Joey Kern
A group of high school kids go for a weekend in the forest but their trip is severely blighted when a killer virus starts to take them apart one by one. The premise of Eli Roth's debut film may seem somewhat uninspiring, but thanks to a zippy script, full of frequent laughs, Cabin Fever defies our expectations and is one of the most entertaining horror films of the year.
There seems to be a thankful trend away from the Scream or I Know What You Did Last Summer trend of horror film which has plagued Hollywood for several years. Along with this year's earlier release, the enjoyable Wrong Turn, Cabin Fever is part homage to the wild 70s horror style of The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Both films also have a far more intelligent script than the typical current horror fare. When our five excitable teens turn up in an out of the way town on they way to their weekend hideaway, we meet the usual predictable retinue of toothless mountain men. Roth is smart enough to upset the normal chain of events by making the mountain men actually pretty savvy, with a genuinely-founded dislike for the out-of-towners.
The teens, well played by a cast of newcomers, have more important things to worry about however. No sooner have they settled in, than they are rudely interrupted by a blood-covered lunatic, whom they have no regrets about beating into a pulp and leaving for dead. However, instead of being a murderer on the run, their victim turns out to be suffering from a highly contagious disease which will strip them of their skin in a few short hours.
This is all largely portrayed with a great sense of humour, so that the horror is both shocking and amusing. The kids themselves are given some smart lines, and enough surreal characters turn up at frequent intervals to make it very enjoyable.
While it's not hard to spot the influences, it's also simply pleasing to see a film which is well-made and has an in-built sense of humour check. It goes along nicely as far as pace is concerned, with the audience reaction likely to veer widely from laughter to screams. Be warned however, if you are no fan of blood, then this may not be for you: Cabin Fever is one of the goriest 15 certificates you are likely to see.
Rating: 07/10