The One Tarantino Movie Stephen King Called Empty, Narcissistic and 'Blah'
Quentin Tarantino, like most other famous directors, sometimes gets pretty scathing criticisms.
Not everyone has the same taste, besides the fact that even the best are not free from errors. But few criticisms were as scathing, as Stephen King 's opinion on a certain Tarantino movie.
As King explained in detail in the article he wrote for Entertainment Weekly, he strongly disliked Kill Bill (at least part 1 of it), and felt that it had little to no cinematic merit. As he said:
"The blah movie was "Kill Bill." You probably saw some good reviews of it, possibly even in this magazine. Steve says don't you believe it.
Steve says you should remember that movie critics see movies free. Also, they don't have to pay the babysitter or spring 10 bucks for the parking. They're thus apt to rhapsodize over narcissistic stuff like "Kill Bill"…"
King then went on to explain:
""Kill Bill" isn't a benchmark of awfulness like "Mars Attacks!" or "Mommie Dearest"; it's just dully full of itself."
He felt that Uma Turman's performance was the best thing in the movie, but that even she could not save a character "who's a label instead of a human being."
And he found the movie's endless in-jokes tiresome.
He also complained that "The violence is choreographed like an Esther Williams swim routine," and all this pretty spectacle is just isn't especially interesting to watch.
Finally, Stephen King was insulted by a lack of actual ending and the movie just asking the viewers to pay for the tickets again, if they want to see some sort of conclusion.
Sure, the story was not at its intended ending yet, but even multi-part movies usually are supposed to deliver and conclude a distinct sub-story in each installment, while Kill Bill part 1 begins and ends with the Bride just working through her target checklist.
As he concluded:
"All I'm doing here is trying to focus the feelings of vague dissatisfaction you're apt to experience leaving this movie, the sense that you came to be entertained and instead found yourself warming your hands at the bonfire of Quentin Tarantino 's vanities."