| Gangs of New York |  |
 |
V for Vendetta |
 |
Kill Bill: Vol. I (2003)
|
Quentin Tarantino kicks off his kill-crazy rampage of revenge with one of mainstream cinema’s most brutally credible knife fights. The encounter between Uma Thurman’s vengeful Bride and Vivica A. Fox, as Pasadena-housewife and retired super-assassin Vernita Green, begins with a moment of recognition – cued by a few telltale bars of Quincy Jones’ “Theme from Ironside” – and a nearly deadly punch. It takes a minute for the knives to come out, but once they do, a kind of deadly elegance enters the widescreen frame, though we’re fully aware that nothing would prevent either combatant from delivering a gory carving knife coup de grâce. Still, the battle is interrupted: first by the tragicomic appearances of Vernita’s unbelievably mature four-year-old daughter, and then by a coffee break. As they sip and discuss the situation, the doctor’s wife and the Bride credibly mix 21st century urban slang and quasi-medieval rhetoric like a pair of South Central ronin. It is only then that we learn the shocking consequences of bringing a gun to a knife fight. Also, though it’s so well staged and edited you might think Thurman and Fox were doing everything themselves, major props are due stuntwomen Zoë Bell (“Grindhouse”) and Angela Meryl. Knife battles don’t get any more thrilling.
 |
 |
 Gangs of New York |
 V for Vendetta |