Kill Bill Vol.2
Submitted by DJ FILIBUSTER on Sat, 2005-01-01 08:00.
Let's face it: it's pretty much a given that The Bride (Uma Thurman) will eventually kill Bill. Obviously, the fun of the Kill Bill movies is in the thrill of the chase, the adventure, the wacky and exciting obstacles The Bride encounters and overcomes. In other words, eliminating her former Deadly Viper Assassination Squad cronies one by one: Venita and O-ren are gone, but Budd and Elle still stand in her way. This is going to be good... Right from the beginning, with old-school matinee title treatments and process shots of The Bride driving along, the conclusion of Quentin Tarantino's profoundly loving homage to cinema picks up where Vol.1 left off. Sure, it's a continuation of the same story, but it's different enough in spirit, definitely more cerebral and less over-the-top, although it couldn't stand on its own--it's a sequel in the truest sense.
It's also a cinematic pedestal for which Tarantino has placed Thurman on--she should be pretty amazed that such an epic movie would be written for her. Yet, Tarantino doesn't see the need to focus on Thurman's obvious beauty. He's not afraid to get her down and dirty, which only enhances her role.
In Vol.2, it's the flashbacks that once again help the movie progress. The film opens with a flashback, taking us back to the site of the wedding carnage in Vol.1, right before the bloodbath. It's our first extensive look at David Carradine's Bill, who is the polar opposite of his famous poser Chinese character of Caine from the "Kung Fu" TV series. He's still calm, gentle, and suave (and even plays a bamboo flute), but simultaneously arrogant, sick, and twisted. You get that uneasy feeling that this is a volatile, dangerous man right from the get-go, someone who seems always one step ahead.
A key flashback features Hong Kong veteran Gordon Liu (previously a Crazy 88 in Vol.1) in the chopsocky master-student sequence. Liu plays Pai Mei, an iron-fisted, misogynistic Yankee-hater all made up in silk and sporting long white hair, just like in all those old '70s kung-fu romps. The homage is in full swing once again, right down to the familiar quick camera close-up movements.
All the elements, the flashbacks, the title treatments, the martial arts, the dialogue, the music, the sum of the parts equal a mind-boggling, intricate film. As a whole, the two Bills are pretty audacious (that's a good thing). Not the ultimate of its kind, the only of its kind--it transcends the very idea of "homage." Pure fun. login to post comments
