KILL BILL VOL. 2
Rating: 4/5 stars
REVIEW BY JOHN ULMER (Copyright, 2004)
Notes: I gave the original "Kill Bill" 5/5 stars and named it the
second best film of 2002. Here is my review of the second installment,
originally intended as one whole film, KILL BILL VOL. 2:
--
The opening credits of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill Vol. 1" roar
across the screen with a vengeance, indicating a second installment
that may very well be superior in many ways to that of its first. For
about the first forty minutes or so, this theory seemed to hold
steadfast, but as the clock kept ticking and the dialogue kept on
rambling I found myself just a bit under whelmed by a film that,
although a fine motion picture, is entirely different from its
predecessor -- and not necessarily in a very good way.
I estimated that about forty rather unnecessary minutes could (and
should) have been cut by the editor. There's the totally nonessential
twenty minutes spent introducing us to Budd (Michael Madsen), a hit
man who works for Bill (David Carradine), who in turn is being
targeted by hate-filled Bride (Uma Thurman). The flaw of this setup is
that it is superfluous and unneeded -- Budd is presented to the
audience as a loser, working at a deserted strip joint in Texas, fired
from his job and living the life of a bum.
Perhaps Quentin should have saved these scenes for the supposed
director's cut of the films being released to DVD some time this year
(or next). They don't exactly click with the entirety of his movie --
they simply slow it down. It is as if Quentin is paying his respects
to "The Matrix Reloaded" with way far too much empty dialogue. It was
great in "Pulp Fiction" because it *wasn't* empty, but here it is, to
be frank, rather meaningless. One of many things I loved about the
first film was its supremely fast pace with non-stop action -- but in
a good way. It was a no-holds-barred revenge story with references
ranging from Hideo Gasha to Sergio Leone to Brian DePalma in many
literal ways. The first installment was very campy and just good ol'
fun -- Quentin best described it as doing for '70s grind house cinema
what "Raiders of the Lost Ark" did for the serials of the '30s and
'40s. The second installment is just plain different -- not much of an
homage, all of the gratuitous style is gone. Also gone is much of the
enthusiasm -- hard to explain in a review but very apparent to the
viewers.
I also didn't appreciate the ending very much. Throughout the first
installment of the series (now rumored to be a trilogy, completed in
fifteen years) the goals of The Bride were most important -- nothing
stood in her way. From start to finish it was a brutal, stylish ride
designed for the movie buff within us all. We didn't feel the need to
sympathize with her because she was not a particularly sympathetic
character. Many people complained about this. It seems that Quentin
has heard their cries -- the audiences who complained about lack of
character progression and Tarantinoesque dialogue need not worry --
"Volume 2" has plenty of it. And in my own opinion far too much.
"Volume 2" has too many long gaps that break the non-stop action --
perhaps to compensate for lack of actual storyline. It's a revenge
movie. No need for long scenes with metaphorical speeches. When The
Bride finally comes face-to-face with her final foe, Quentin puts the
story on hold, completely throwing off the audience in a very negative
way. Bill's dialogue to The Bride about superhero comic books was
embarrassingly Tarantino -- he hinted at his love for comic books in
the screenplay for "True Romance," and here it seems oddly out of
place.
Quentin tries to make us sympathize with The Bride, as a last-ditch
effort at empathy. I didn't need to feel any empathy. In the first
film, The Bride told one of the assassins on her hit list that what
she lacked was compassion and sympathy. Quentin tries, at the very
last moment, to make us feel something for The Bride. This doesn't
work for a number of reasons -- mainly because her motives are not
just. We all have revenge fantasies but someone could kill your entire
family and it doesn't mean that you should do the same in return.
Quentin tries to justify the means and that is where he messes up.
He also tries to fill in a lot of plot connections between "Volume 1"
and "2." For the most part, perhaps the first volume is more fun
because of its frantic chronology. Not everything truly makes sense
but especially considering the last words spoken by Bill, we feel
everything will be explained. Well, good news and bad news: it's
explained, but not very well. Quentin tries to dump everything on the
audience at once. It creates a "Matrix Revolutions" effect. Chances
are, if you found the first installment to be silly, violent, stupid,
and unexplainable, you'll enjoy "Volume 2" much more. For me, Quentin
tried to resolve too many open points in the story and also tried to
make us find sympathy in one of cinema's most unsympathetic
characters.
As a story it's rather thin to begin with -- perhaps why Tarantino
tries to compensate by adding very long and pointless scenes. The
Bride continues her "roaring rampage of revenge" after murdering O-Ren
Ishii (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox). Her next targets
are Budd, Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) and finally "the man" himself,
Bill.
As a whole, "Kill Bill Volume 2" is very good. As a sequel to one of
the best films of 2003, it is a rather lackluster affair, very
different from the original but mostly in rather unfortunate ways. As
a whole its predecessor is far superior -- I left "Volume 2" feeling a
bit under whelmed and disappointed. Had Tarantino chosen to delete
forty minutes of unnecessary balderdash and kept up the style and pace
and brutality of the first film, I feel as though I might have left
feeling very pleased. Instead I left telling myself that it was, at
the very least, a good conclusion to the story -- which may still be
open for yet another installment in fifteen years, according to
Tarantino, who wants to make it his "Dollars" trilogy. And so we
wait...
- John Ulmer
http://www.wiredonmovies.com
e-mail: webmaster@wiredonmovies.com
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