SYNOPSIS: The Bride wakes up after a long coma. The baby that she carried before entering the coma is gone. The only thing on her mind is to have revenge on the assassination team that betrayed her – a team she was once part of.

BOTTOM LINE: A great deal of blood is shed in this picture, however, miraculously, it never loses its' heart. Thurman gives the performance of her career as The Bride (we don't learn her real name), a female assassin who chooses a future of love instead of death and almost pays for her choice with her life. For her compatriots, the wedding day massacre of The Bride, her family and her unborn baby was just another day's work. You see, no one leaves Bill's (Carradine) employ alive.

Unfortunately for them, she survives and awakens from her coma with only one thing on her mind – revenge. With nothing and no one to live for, she exacts her vengeance with clear-headed precision, making sure her enemies not only pay for their crimes against her, but suffer as well. Thurman manages to keep her quest honorable and heart-wrenching even amongst the gallons of blood and mulitude of severed limbs. The violence at points is exceedingly over-the-top, but that's the style Tarantino is going for and you'll either find it deeply disturbing or absurdly amusing. There is no middle ground.

Despite all the blood, KILL BILL is a well-crafted story with classic themes and memorable characters. Thankfully, it doesn't take itself too seriously, which makes it more fun than a film filled with murder and mayhem should be. Hannah, Liu and Fox give equally strong turns as the unlucky ladies who lose their lives to the Bride. Each is taken out in a highly imaginative way that enables the filmmakers to weave together vastly different visual styles that serve as chapters in the Bride's epic saga to kill Bill. Personally, I can't wait to see what happens next though I'm sure there are many who would disagree. This is definitely not a feel-good film that everyone will enjoy. To each his own.