‘Dully Full of Itself’: Stephen King Hated This Classic 2003 Tarantino Movie
Let the battle between a celebrated director and a celebrated author ensue!
Stephen King is most often dubbed as the King of Horror, but that never stops the world-famous author from sharing his honest opinion about everything and anything. Others write “hot take” before saying something controversial, but not King: when this man wants to take shots at Quentin Tarantino, he writes a column about it, plain and simple.
And yes, King did take a shot at one of Tarantino’s most celebrated action movies.
Stephen King Hated This Tarantino Classic
Some days, the King of Horror wakes up and chooses violence. That’s exactly what happened when he decided to write a column for EW: in his article, the author goes over several movies to destroy them, but he specifically targets Quentin Tarantino’s 2003 Kill Bill: Vol. 1 as he muses about why you should never trust movie critics.
“[Movie critics are] apt to rhapsodize over narcissistic stuff like Kill Bill, which announces itself as Quentin Tarantino’s Fourth Film, ain’t we la-di-da. Kill Bill isn’t a benchmark of awfulness <...>; it’s just dully full of itself. Uma Thurman tries hard, and she’s the best thing in the movie, but in the end she’s stuck playing a woman who’s a label instead of a human being,” Stephen King wrote.
What’s Wrong With Tarantino’s Kill Bill?
The Kill Bill movies are rarely treated as cinematic masterpieces, but they are prime examples of Quentin Tarantino’s exercise in violent action scenes. On Rotten Tomatoes, the first movie boasts an 85% Critic Score and a Certified Fresh status — but it’s not good enough for Stephen King, and the author is eager to explain why.
“The movie’s litany of in-jokes is so tiresome. There’s not even an ending you can hang your hat on; we’re just told to stay tuned for more — more karate kicks and throws, more falsetto birdy-sounding battle cries. <...> You came to be entertained and instead found yourself warming your hands at the bonfire of Quentin Tarantino’s vanities,” the King of Horror quipped.
Talk about controversial opinions! We’re not sure just what the famous director did to induce such disregard from the horror author, but Stephen King dispatched his movie quite violently, The Bride-style. But honestly, we can see that it’s not personal: after all, King is just as ruthless when it comes to his own books and their adaptations.
Source: Stephen King via EW