Vol. 2

Rating:
Summary: Superb second chapter
Review: A radiant bride-to-be (and mother-to-be) who calls herself Arlene takes a few minutes out of her wedding rehearsal to talk to her former boss (and ex-lover) about the peaceful new life she's planned. She tells him she'll be working in a record store where she'll get to "listen to music all day, talk about music all day. It's really cool. It's going to be a great environment for my little girl to grow up in."

"As opposed to jetting around the world, killing human beings, collecting vast sums of money?" her one-time employer asks.

Yes, Arlene is actually The Bride (Uma Thurman), a.k.a. Black Mamba, one of the Deadly Vipers Assassination Squad (D.I.V.A.S., for short). And, yes, the man with whom she's sharing her future plans is Bill, the enigmatic, shadowy D.I.V.A.S. commander who never showed his face in "Kill Bill, Vol. 1."

Bill, played to diabolical perfection by David Carradine, is visible throughout "Kill Bill, Vol. 2," and that's only one of the many changes between the first and last installments of writer-director Quentin Tarantino's epic saga of revenge and retribution. "Vol. 1," which took place largely in Japan, was a magnificently gory, almost operatic homage to the Hong Kong and Japanese cinema of the 1960s and 1970s; "Vol. 2," set primarily in Texas and Mexico, is considerably more controlled -- although no less stylish -- and moodier, paying tribute to the unconventional Westerns of director Sergio Leone and, in its black-and-white flashback sequences, recalling such late-1940s/early-1950s thrillers as "Gun Crazy" and "The Big Heat."

No one ever accused Tarantino of being shy when it comes to laying out his catalog of influences.

Cinematographer Robert Richardson's all-seeing camera swoops, slithers and moves stealthily around each scene, just like our unstoppable heroine, then throws in some extreme close-ups that feel like a fist between the eyes. Editor Sally Menke and production designers David Wasco and Cao Jui Ping do wonderful work as they recreate everything from "In Cold Blood" to the washed-out-looking, jumpy Chinese chop-socky films of the 1970s.

But far from being merely imitative, "Vol. 2" features a few breakthroughs for its creator as well. A prolonged sequence involving a character who is pummeled, drugged and buried alive is one of the most gripping episodes of Tarantino's career, and The Bride's apprenticeship to merciless martial arts master Pai Mei (Gordon Liu), a deceptively wispy-looking type with a strong chauvinistic streak, is outrageously hilarious. "Your so-called kung fu is really quite pathetic," Pai Mei taunts as The Bride tries -- and fails -- to impress him with her moves. "Like all Yankee women, all you can do is order in restaurants and spend a man's money!"

The finale of "Vol. 1" was a blood-drenched, wickedly hilarious free-for-all, with The Bride dispatching scores of would-be hitmen in a showdown in a Tokyo nightclub, but the last half-hour of "Vol. 2" is a shocker of an entirely different kind, as Tarantino aims for the heart instead of the funnybone. He tried something somewhat similar in the bittersweet wrap-up of "Jackie Brown," with mixed results. He's much more successful this time out, partly because he's created a steadier build-up to the crucial emotional crescendo (set to a marvelously trippy remix of The Zombies' "She's Not There") and partly because the tension Carradine and Thurman generate in the pivotal scene, as bloodlust collides with memories of happier days, is utterly riveting.

Tarantino's cast fills out a classic rogues' gallery, dominated by Carradine's Bill, a psychotic who conceals his sadism beneath a calm, paternalistic exterior. Daryl Hannah's one-eyed Elle Driver and Michael Madsen's Budd, both of whom were briefly seen in "Vol. 1," get ample opportunity to prove their worth as antagonists of The Bride. The face-off with Elle, in particular, is so delightfully demented only Tarantino could have conjured it up.

Was the director wise in turning "Bill" into a double-bill? Absolutely. For one thing, he must have realized he had made an extravaganza that would have been too intense and certainly too emotionally exhausting for most audiences to process in a single four-hour sitting. Also, he obviously knew he had a second half that would be well worth the six-month wait.

"Gargantuan -- always liked that word; so rarely have a chance to use it in a sentence," the icy-hearted Elle murmurs at one point. Try this on for size: The frenzied, funny and unabashedly ultraviolent "Kill Bill" saga represents a gargantuan achievement in action cinema.

Rating:
Summary: Elle and I...
Review: It's hard to say whether Volume 1 or Volume 2 is more enjoyable. Someday in the near future, I hope to own the Complete Kill Bill Special Edition DVD collection. Or maybe Tarantino will edit the whole thing together into one movie as it was originally planned. Anyway, both films can stand by themselves. True, there isn't a fight sequence in this film as monumental as The Bride fighting all of the Crazy 88's, but her fight sequence with Darryl Hannah (entitled provocatively, "Elle and I") will leave a lasting impression.

In the first film, we were left to infer things without getting all the information. We never even actually "saw" Bill. However, we formed certain expectations about him. This film succeeds in confounding those expectations. The film sequence turns out to be surprisingly poignant. Of course, there is great Tarantino dialogue here as well - I didn't think anyone would come up with anything fresh to say on the subject of Superman, but he does. All in all, this is an incredibly fun ride.

Rating:
Summary: Bloody Awful
Review: Kill Bill Vol. 1 was a smart and extremely well-crafted film. The dialogue was engaging, the script was tightly-knit, and the characters were memorable. Vol. 2 continues where the last film left off, but much of the energy and excitement that was present in its predecessor is now absent, replaced with borish conversations and lackluster action sequences. Tarrantino used all his creative talent on Vol. 1 and left nothing for Vol. 2.

One of my favorite things about Kill Bill Vol. 1 was the witty comparison of eastern and western cultures. Tarrantino threw in some wild curveballs for his dedication to eastern cinema and art, including a Japanese band that played American Rock 'N Roll, a deadly assassin donning the cliche Japanese schoolgirl outfit, and even an anime cartoon in the middle of his movie! Vol. 2 was really much different in that it had more of a spaghetti western theme to it. I'm not automatically saying that this idea hurt Vol. 2, but it simply did not seem that as much thought and care were placed into the project. Even the set designs and costumes were below normal Tarrantino quality.

The biggest letdown about Vol. 2 was the poor character development, something that Vol. 1 was exceptionally good at. In Kill Bill Vol. 1 we see that although Vernita Green and O'Ren Ishii are vicious killers, they actually have some compassion and soul in them. For example, we know that Vernita Green really loves her daughter, and O'Ren's sense of honor gives her a noble quality. However, in Vol. 2, we know almost nothing new about Elle Driver, the one-eyed nurse. Instead, we get two chapters focusing on Budd, the least engaging member of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad. Bill turns out to be a boring old man, and not the ruthless murderer that we were led on to believe from Vol. 1. Quite possibly the only good thing that came out of Vol. 2 was the introducing of Pai Mei, the long-browed mentor of the Bride. No Sophie, no Gogo, no Crazy 88's, not even Buck!

In short, what you have here are two different films: Vol. 1 was more of the straight action film, while Vol. 2 tried to develop the plot and wrap up the story. What upset me the most was not that Vol. 2 had so few fight sequences, but that they were such piss poor fight sequences. It wasn't an action film, which is what I paid to go and see! And not only that but Tarrantino could not find creative ways to finish off Budd, Elle Driver, and even Bill. But what can I say, if you enjoyed the first half, you're almost certainly going to have to witness the conclusion for yourself.

2 stars out of 5. Kill Bill Vol. 2 is nothing but a dull blade, whilst its predecessor slashed its way into becoming one of the most memorable movies in recent years. A weak followup in terms of story and overall style.

-the enlightened one