League of Movies (Fourth Edition | Week 04): Kill Bill

This week in the League of Movies the challenge is to talk about a movie with a femme fatale and the first film that came to my mind was Quentin Tarantino's cult classic, Kill Bill, a story that is told in two parts (vol 1 and its sequel, vol 2). It was originally supposed to be one film, but it ended up being far too long.

Kill Bill is a revenge story about a woman, who we know as The Bride, played by the wonderful Uma Thurman, who wakes up from a coma of 4 years after Bill, her crazy ex-boyfriend, and leader of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad, tries to murder her on her wedding day, an event which caused her to have a miscarriage and to lose the man she was going to marry.

The Bride swears revenge and she starts her journey to kill the Assassination Squad (she used to be a member, meaning she is also an assassin), and as the title suggests, to kill Bill, their leader, and ex-boyfriend.

These 2 films are movies that do not rely on the story but on the style Tarantino is able to provide to the action scenes. The fights are amazing and like out of a comic book, it's a great popcorn movie and it's one of the most distinct movies I've ever seen, taking a lot from the martial arts genre and mixing it with amazing choreography and interesting shots.

Uma Thurman is amazing in this role, one might argue it's her most iconic one, as The Bride is not only beautiful, but also lethal and hungry for revenge. Even though little by little we learn about her past and her relationship with Bill, something that I always liked about her was that her motivation was greatly focused on the child she lost, the baby she never had.

This protagonist is also a feminist icon, as she is able to defeat a man who previously controlled her and wanted her to be his property.

The major flaw in this movie would be that the plot is lackluster, but it's a great action popcorn movie and its cinematographic merits are very impressive! I had a lot of fun watching it and it became the turning point in Tarantino's career, also giving him a unique style that he'd use in his latter films.

Kill Bill is a throwback to cheesy Asian martial arts movies, it's a lot of fun and the protagonist is one of the most iconic femme fatales, showing that women can also be very dangerous, beautiful and powerful.