Movie Review : Kill Bill Vol. 2 (2004) starring Uma Thurman, Michael Madsen and David Carradine. Directed by Quentin Tarantino.
Plot Shot : "The Bride" is back (again) for revenge (again). She has defeated two bosses but now must make it through the underground cave levels and the lava pits to get to King Koopa, Donkey Kong and finally Bowser. Wait, umm that isn't right, well does it really matter? Two hours of blood and guts ensue...
Overview : Ok if you read my review of "Kill Bill Vol. 1" (lovingly located
HERE) you know that even though I thought it was entertaining I had some issues with the movie. My first and biggest issue is the fact that an asshole (that I actually think is pretty talented) directed it. I loved "Resevoir Dogs" and liked "Pulp Fiction" a lot but thought that "Jackie Brown" was pure, utter horseshit. I do think that Tarantino is hyped up way too much for his own good. In interviews he extols his own virtues like he is a Scorcese, Coppola or Lumet, to which he is not even close. Studios know that arthouse movie viewers who hate John Woo (who basically has directed many movies like "Kill Bill" although in Hong Kong) would love anything directed by Tarantino because it is cool to like him in their pathetic orange tinted glasses wearing circles.
The "Kill Bill" movies were released through Walt Fucking Disney Studios, what the fuck? If this was anyone but Quentin Tarantino's flick Disney would have dropped it in favor of another direct-to-video piece of shit sequel of one of their classic movies. If Q-Dawg decides to direct porn than all the artsy fuckers that ride his jock will talk about how artistic and revolutionary his cumshots look. "Ooh look at the way he shot this, the cum just jumps off the screen". It is fucking ridiculous that Quentin Tarantino could write a totally banal, trite and stupid but entertaining fucking movie, copy every fucking Hong Kong cinema flick's action scenes and be called original. A big "FUCK YOU" to anyone who says this movie is anything more than just a slash and kill gorefest. I know I should be objective but I know I am not going to like movies about dancing so I don't go see shit like "Dirty Dancing" or any J-Lo movies, so every movie watcher has his / her own prejudices which I think must be explained before expressing an opinion.
That being said, I liked this movie. Makes no sense huh? Trick question, it makes sense asshole. I was entertained throughout the entire flick, however I don't think it was anything different than 9,465,247 other "revenge" flicks out there. The hook is, I like revenge flicks, I think they are entertaining and I don't always go to the movies looking for gold. Sometimes I want an entertaining turd, and that is just what "Kill Bill Vol. 2" was, a piece of shit, but an entertaining one. The Master of Dialogue Quentin Tarantino is way off the mark in these movies. Most of the acting and dialogue is pretty shoddy at best, I know most of this is probably due to Tarantino coaching his actors to deliver their lines like he is directing a "B" movie. That is just what this series is, a huge A-list actor "B" movie. When it comes down to it the good parts of the entire experience were the action sequences, the bad parts were the long dialogue exchanges. This volume could not match the frenetic pace of the first but instead went the opposite route in favor of long scenes of dialogue and sparse action. Sadly the movie suffers because of this and becomes at times excruciatingly boring. I think the movie would have best been served if presented as one entire movie instead of being sliced in two. That way some of the longer boring scenes could be chopped a little bit but I am not the filmmaking genius that Tarantino is, according to Ebert, sad pathetic virgins that use words like "neoclassical style" and Tarantino himself.
Characters : Once again Uma Thurman does a great job at kicking the booty but unlike last volume she is given the chance to showcase some acting skills. Sure most of the dialogue she has is pretty laughable but in some scenes towards the end she is quite good. David Carradine has a much more expanded role in Volume 2 and didn't fail to deliver the goods. Michael Madsen is the shit, great actor period. I have seen him in some of the shittiest direct-to-cable movies and he is always well above the material, that is the case here. He is able to deliver his lines with such sincerity and underlying threat that he was perfectly cast for the role. Sadly his confrontation with The Bride aka "BEEP" doesn't live up to it's billing. Darryl Hannah had the worst lines of the movie and well the worst fight of both flicks.
Direction : Well what can I say about Quentin's directorial effort? It was good, I guess. There isn't much to set the film up stylistically from many other movies. Also if I hear one more person say or see them type that the flashback style is Tarantino-esque I am going to shove a Hanzo sword up their ass, try likening the flashback method to Akira Kurosawa who used it in 1950's "Rashomon". Just a bit before the Q-man huh? Face it people Quentin isn't as revolutionary as you may want him to be so you can sound cool when you discuss movies. This movie is a perfect example of this, he borrows little bits and pieces from other Hong Kong flicks and pastes them together to make an interesting but not-at-all original movie.
Problems : Need I say more? I liked it but I could have as easily watched any other revenge flick and liked it as much. The premise and execution of "Kill Bill" is not original. The same weekend "Bill" opened "The Punisher" debuted on the big screen. For those who don't know, The Punisher avenges the death of his family by killing those responsible. Sound familiar? One movie is from the mind of Quentin Tarantino and one from the pages of a comic book. There are so many good and bad revenge flicks out there, why should this one be considered a great movie, because Quentin Tarantino drilled his name into the consciousness of America long ago.
Sequel Worthy : This movie may hit or miss, the first volume made $69 million and the sum of both volumes budgets was $55 million. It's not going to draw in many newer viewers and might lose some of it lustre from the first go-round. It is pretty safe to say that this movie will make a nice profit for the studios but I honestly doubt that Tarantino will make a sequel to this movie. "Kill Bill" was supposedly an experiment by Tarantino on how to make an action movie. Who knows what he will do now, maybe it will be the long awaited "Vega Brothers" movie, maybe it WILL be porn, who knows? Actually the next movie on Q-man slate is "Inglorious Bastards" which seems to be a total rip-off of "The Dirty Dozen". Quentin himself described it as a Sergio Leone inspired Western, "but set in Nazi-occupied France instead of the Old West". So this will give him a shot to rip off "The Man With No Name" trilogy, good for him, why be original? Oh yeah I forgot to mention my new film "Kill Jill" about a man ("The Groom") who is left for dead on his wedding day by his former boss, Jill. I can see the artsy crowd's pants rising in appreciation of my idea.
To DVD or not to DVD : The Volume 1 DVD is disappointing folks left and right, there were really no special features but the good news is that there will be a boxed set with a shitload of extras coming probably around the time Volume 2 is ready for home viewing. At the time I reviewed the original I was considering buying the DVD but after seeing the conclusion I am backing away from that assertion. I liked it but there are so many other movies that I liked that I would prefer to spend my money on...like Quentin's porn, "Pulp Friction Dance". It really is very revolutionary, the cumshot is in black & white, well actually it's just white on black.
Final Thoughts : "Ehhh", that's my final impression of the "Kill Bill" fiasco, it was entertaining but not mind blowing. It was just "Ehhh". 'Nuff Said!!!
G.P.A. :
2 out of 4 Skulls
Afterglow : After Master Yuen Woo Ping announced he would not be playing Pai Mei, Quentin Tarantino actually considered playing the role himself.
Recommendations : Better movies with similar styles / themes; "Hard Boiled" and "The Killer" with Chow Yun-Fat directed by John Woo. "Ichi The Killer" directed by Takashi Mike. "Battle Royale" directed by Kinji Fukasaku. "Versus" directed by Ryuhei Kitamura.