After the longest six-year wait, Quentin Tarantino has finally produced his fourth feature (or at least the first half of it), Kill Bill. And it totally delivers in every way it can. It's a rip-roaring revenge picture, with Uma Thurman's wronged bride exacting her bloody revenge on those who put her in a coma and killed her husband-to-be. The film lacks the distinct snappy dialouge that has marked Tarantino's past films but doesn't suffer from it. It does have an abundance of style, though, from The Bride's glorious yellow tracksuit to the stunning battle at the House of Blue Leaves (in particular a showdown with Lucy Liu's O-Ren Ishii in a snowy garden). Loaded with over-the-top violence (the characters seem to have garden hoses for veins) some very sick humor (that still will provoke laughter) and a marvellous lead performance from Thurman (it's abundantly clear why Tarantino waited for years to have her play the part), Kill Bill may be just an action movie, but it's one of the most enjoyable, thrilling, funny and tense cinematic rides in a long time. Its only fault? The four-month wait for volume 2.
*****