Kill Bill, Vol.1 & Vol.2
5 Movies Like John Wick
That moment when the list becomes ‘5 movies like John Wick but kinda sorta 6 movies if we’re being honest’. Kill Bill tells the story of the Bride (Uma Thurman), a former assassin trying to flee her past, whose attempt at a normal life comes to an abrupt halt when her old crew storms the wedding chapel. Her fiancee murdered, her baby lost, she has nothing to live for other than sweet revenge.
Though the movies were filmed as one, and had Quentin Tarantino had his way, would have been released as such, the combined runtime of over four hours would have tested the limit of even the most devout action buff. In fairness, there seems to be a divide between the two tonally, whether intentional or not, where the first feels more like a Japanese samurai film, compared to the western standoff themes prevalent in the second. It’s not a one-to-one comparison, and conventions bleed from one into the other, but they feel comfortable as separate entities, at least to the layman.
Thurman’s performance is a tour de force of emotion and whimsy, capturing the absurdity of Tarantino’s style, while also carrying a gravitas that feels real and tangible. She is surrounded by a cast of larger than life personalities that each interlock the story wonderfully, like bosses in a video game. The plot never really develops much further from the basic premise, but it doesn’t necessarily have to. Its ‘full steam ahead’ attitude is very much part of its charm, and some characters are given just that little bit of extra information to satiate your curiosity, but rarely more than that.
