Kill Bill Volume I

I will watch any movie that is praised by critics.  However, Kill Bill Volume I is a good revenge story that is seriously marred by the movie's many excesses.  Which excesses do I mean?   Crudeness.  Constant violence.  Graphic blood spurting violence.  The protagonist fighting off 35 sword wielding Japanese mobsters and not one of them thinks to use a gun.

It does not speak well for our society that we find this entertaining.  The movie has no sense or morality or the value of human life.  It reduces my desire to see other Quentin Tarantino movies, because he only has one mode of filmmaking, which is to make bloody and excessively violent movies.

The film is meant to be an American version of Asian martial arts pictures.  It switches between many different movie techniques, including animation, to make its story seem artsy.  Its various techniques seem gimmicky to me.

If there is one bright spot, it is David Carradine as the little seen but often heard offscreen villain.

Rating * * 1/2

The movie is not complete without seeing the sequel, so I am just curious enough to watch that as well.