“Revenge is a dish best served cold.”

This tag line follows the new film “Kill Bill.” However, the fourth film by director Quentin Tarantino is anything but cold; it’s no doubt the hottest action movie around, if not the hottest ever.

The film boasts deep, saturated colors, breathtaking action and flat-out fun. Tarantino’s love for film is present in every frame. Even if you can’t pick up the trillions of references to past kung-fu B flicks (don’t worry, neither could I), you will still be moved – maybe disturbed, but definitely moved. “Kill Bill” is a movie that America will be talking about for quite some time.

The story is plain and simple: An ex-assassin dubbed The Bride (Uma Thurman) is shot at the altar by a group of assassins she used to run with, the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Their leader, Bill, holds a gun to The Bride’s temple, then tells her, “This is me at my most masochistic,” before firing a bullet into her head. Classic Tarantino.

The bullet doesn’t kill The Bride, but she does lose her unborn child. She awakens from a coma and swears to get revenge on Bill and take out everyone behind the bloody incident. One by one, we witness the unstoppable Bride mow down hundreds of goons on her quest to get Bill.

Tarantino fans know that the filmmaker doesn’t tell his stories conventionally. Like “Pulp Fiction,” “Bill” is told in chapters, which move the narrative from past to present in extremely creative ways.

The film’s only setback is its separation into two volumes. Just when I was completely immersed in the narrative, the film comes to a grinding halt and the credits appear. I understand that the extreme violence in this film could be a little much for a three-hour picture, but cutting a film in two reduces its dramatic impact. It not only hurts the impact on the audience’s experience, but it doesn’t help having to shell out twice the price to see a full feature film.

Back to the violence – this has to be one of the most violent movies ever. We see eyes ripped out of their sockets, tongues stretched to their snapping points and heads ripped from their bodies. That’s not to mention the blood that pours out of these empty orifices at fire-hose strength. The story behind how this film got rated R is a movie in itself.

But there is still an underlying theme hidden beyond all of this blood and gore. The role of the female has grown throughout Tarantino’s work, and one can’t help but think of gender issues when watching a film about a woman hell-bent on murdering a man, especially one who kills in the name of masochism itself. One could easily argue that Uma Thurman is swinging a pretty phallic sword throughout this movie – just look at Lucy Liu’s eyes light up when she realizes just how phallic it is.

Through blood soaked symoblism and empty eye sockets, Tarantino has once again given us something special. It’s just too bad that we’ll have to wait for February to see just how good all of “Kill Bill” really is.