Post by The Candyman on Aug 5, 2005 16:00:28 GMT -5
Quote: "From here you can get an excellent view of my foot."
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Rating: R
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Although Kill Bill was originally supposed to be one movie, Tarantino decided to split it up into two parts. Whereas the first was his homage to old kung-fu movies, the second is a tribute to Italian spaghetti westerns. And believe me, the difference shows. At times it’s hard to believe that both are parts of the same movie; the styles are so completely different, each one feels like a separate film. Treating them as separate movies: this one is better.
Whereas the first one was basically non-stop action with very little story holding it all together, this one is nearly the exact opposite. If you didn’t like the first one because of all the killing, let me reassure you that only a few people die in the second half, and The Bride is not responsible for all of them. This is where the meat of the story lies. Finally, Tarantino reveals some of the answers to our questions: What is the Bride’s real relationship with Bill? Why did the wedding chapel massacre occur? Where did she learn all those cool moves? How did California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah) lose her eye?
More story means more dialogue, and with Tarantino this is not a bad thing. His script is constructed so that at times the dialogue feels like it’s overdone, perhaps outright funny, but somehow it manages to stay reasonably serious. The dialogue is never too serious or too light, it’s just clever.
David Carradine was the perfect choice for Bill. Whereas in the first one we merely heard his voice, in this volume we actually get to see the guy act, and he’s very good. He plays Bill with such finesse that you can never decide whether you hate the guy or love him. Sure, he’s the villain, but there’s just something about the slow, lazy way he speaks that makes him seem like an almost likeable guy. And that’s part of what makes the movie so fun to watch. Part of me wanted him to die and another part of me didn’t; the result is that no matter what Tarantino did with the ending it would have seemed right, because there was just something about the character that made it hard to discern how I really wanted it to end.
Michael Madsen is also incredible as Budd, Bill’s brother. Even though he knows The Bride is tracking him down to kill him, he never panics. He remains completely calm. His only comment: “That woman deserves her revenge. And we deserve to die.” Naturally, though, he isn’t about to go down without a fight.
Once again, Tarantino moves back and forth through time, taking the audience back to when The Bride was being trained by the martial arts master, Pai Mei. These scenes are some of the most fun to watch, as they depict The Bride getting her butt kicked by an old guy (played by Gordon Liu – maybe you’ll recognize him from the first one). Pai Mei is was my favorite character; he’s the greatest martial arts master in the world, and he knows it. His ego is so big that supposedly “He’ll break your back if you don’t look him in the eye.”
Apart from flashbacks, Tarantino also uses other techniques to really give the film its atmosphere. There are close-ups galore, as well as music borrowed from Sergei Leone (the composer of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly theme) that really give it an old-fashioned movie feel. Also, the blood and gore of the first part is gone. There’s only one particularly graphic part in the entire movie involving an eyeball plucking. In fact, the only really big action scene is between The Bride and California Mountain Snake. The set-up is priceless: two female assassins duking it out in a trailer home…in the middle of the desert. The fact that Tarantino chose to stage it in a claustrophobic setting despite the wide, open surroundings makes it extremely enjoyable.
Most people probably wonder if there’s any redeeming value to the ending of the movie at all, considering the entire plot revolves around revenge. Well, it’s certainly not the most Christian-friendly ending ever (forget any ideas you might have about the point being to portray the bloody consequences of revenge, or to have The Bride repent of her actions), it could have been a lot worse. Honestly, I’m not sure whether I should approve of it or not, but oddly enough, I do. Whereas there was hardly enough information given in the first volume to make me care about The Bride, Tarantino somehow manages to make her appear sympathetic to the audience. I actually cared about this woman whose only goal in life was to seek “bloody satisfaction” on those who left her for dead. Maybe it’s how the movie deals with the cliffhanger that Volume 1 ended on. Maybe it’s that we actually learn her name in this installment (in the first, it was purposefully bleeped out). Whatever the reason, by the end of the movie I wasn’t disappointed. The film delivers a fun action romp and some excellent dialogue and characterization, and the ending doesn’t detract from that. In terms of simply “revenge flicks”, Kill Bill is one of the best.
The heavy sexual content of the first one is gone as well. The profanity is not, and there’s supposedly more in this volume than in the first. However, unlike with the previous installment, most of the time I didn’t feel like the profanity detracted from the movie. It was necessary. That’s how these characters would talk. Perhaps that’s why it seemed to me like there was actually less swearing than in the first one.
Overall, it’s much better than the first one, simply due to the beefed up story line and wittier dialogue. Whereas Volume 1 was all style with very little substance, this one packs plenty of substance in with the incredible directing techniques. It deserves at least an 8/10.
The Bottom Line: Better than the first one. It’s easy to see why many people list Tarantino as their favorite director.
Should I see it? If you’re a Tarantino fan, enjoy old Italian spaghetti westerns, or just want to see if The Bride really does get to Kill Bill, then yes.
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah
Director: Quentin Tarantino
Rating: R
---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Although Kill Bill was originally supposed to be one movie, Tarantino decided to split it up into two parts. Whereas the first was his homage to old kung-fu movies, the second is a tribute to Italian spaghetti westerns. And believe me, the difference shows. At times it’s hard to believe that both are parts of the same movie; the styles are so completely different, each one feels like a separate film. Treating them as separate movies: this one is better.
Whereas the first one was basically non-stop action with very little story holding it all together, this one is nearly the exact opposite. If you didn’t like the first one because of all the killing, let me reassure you that only a few people die in the second half, and The Bride is not responsible for all of them. This is where the meat of the story lies. Finally, Tarantino reveals some of the answers to our questions: What is the Bride’s real relationship with Bill? Why did the wedding chapel massacre occur? Where did she learn all those cool moves? How did California Mountain Snake (Daryl Hannah) lose her eye?
More story means more dialogue, and with Tarantino this is not a bad thing. His script is constructed so that at times the dialogue feels like it’s overdone, perhaps outright funny, but somehow it manages to stay reasonably serious. The dialogue is never too serious or too light, it’s just clever.
David Carradine was the perfect choice for Bill. Whereas in the first one we merely heard his voice, in this volume we actually get to see the guy act, and he’s very good. He plays Bill with such finesse that you can never decide whether you hate the guy or love him. Sure, he’s the villain, but there’s just something about the slow, lazy way he speaks that makes him seem like an almost likeable guy. And that’s part of what makes the movie so fun to watch. Part of me wanted him to die and another part of me didn’t; the result is that no matter what Tarantino did with the ending it would have seemed right, because there was just something about the character that made it hard to discern how I really wanted it to end.
Michael Madsen is also incredible as Budd, Bill’s brother. Even though he knows The Bride is tracking him down to kill him, he never panics. He remains completely calm. His only comment: “That woman deserves her revenge. And we deserve to die.” Naturally, though, he isn’t about to go down without a fight.
Once again, Tarantino moves back and forth through time, taking the audience back to when The Bride was being trained by the martial arts master, Pai Mei. These scenes are some of the most fun to watch, as they depict The Bride getting her butt kicked by an old guy (played by Gordon Liu – maybe you’ll recognize him from the first one). Pai Mei is was my favorite character; he’s the greatest martial arts master in the world, and he knows it. His ego is so big that supposedly “He’ll break your back if you don’t look him in the eye.”
Apart from flashbacks, Tarantino also uses other techniques to really give the film its atmosphere. There are close-ups galore, as well as music borrowed from Sergei Leone (the composer of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly theme) that really give it an old-fashioned movie feel. Also, the blood and gore of the first part is gone. There’s only one particularly graphic part in the entire movie involving an eyeball plucking. In fact, the only really big action scene is between The Bride and California Mountain Snake. The set-up is priceless: two female assassins duking it out in a trailer home…in the middle of the desert. The fact that Tarantino chose to stage it in a claustrophobic setting despite the wide, open surroundings makes it extremely enjoyable.
Most people probably wonder if there’s any redeeming value to the ending of the movie at all, considering the entire plot revolves around revenge. Well, it’s certainly not the most Christian-friendly ending ever (forget any ideas you might have about the point being to portray the bloody consequences of revenge, or to have The Bride repent of her actions), it could have been a lot worse. Honestly, I’m not sure whether I should approve of it or not, but oddly enough, I do. Whereas there was hardly enough information given in the first volume to make me care about The Bride, Tarantino somehow manages to make her appear sympathetic to the audience. I actually cared about this woman whose only goal in life was to seek “bloody satisfaction” on those who left her for dead. Maybe it’s how the movie deals with the cliffhanger that Volume 1 ended on. Maybe it’s that we actually learn her name in this installment (in the first, it was purposefully bleeped out). Whatever the reason, by the end of the movie I wasn’t disappointed. The film delivers a fun action romp and some excellent dialogue and characterization, and the ending doesn’t detract from that. In terms of simply “revenge flicks”, Kill Bill is one of the best.
The heavy sexual content of the first one is gone as well. The profanity is not, and there’s supposedly more in this volume than in the first. However, unlike with the previous installment, most of the time I didn’t feel like the profanity detracted from the movie. It was necessary. That’s how these characters would talk. Perhaps that’s why it seemed to me like there was actually less swearing than in the first one.
Overall, it’s much better than the first one, simply due to the beefed up story line and wittier dialogue. Whereas Volume 1 was all style with very little substance, this one packs plenty of substance in with the incredible directing techniques. It deserves at least an 8/10.
The Bottom Line: Better than the first one. It’s easy to see why many people list Tarantino as their favorite director.
Should I see it? If you’re a Tarantino fan, enjoy old Italian spaghetti westerns, or just want to see if The Bride really does get to Kill Bill, then yes.