Kill Bill - Volume 2

Miramax Films
Written/Directed by Quentin Tarantino
Starring Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, and David Carradine as "Bill"

"How does one truly describe perfection?" That is how my review of Kill Bill - Volume 1 began. Having waited to see it on DVD after hearing so much about it during its theatrical run, I was not disappointed. It quickly found its way to the top of my list of favorite movies (see the review). Unfortunately, I do not feel that Kill Bill - Volume 2 delivered the same impact.

Don't get me wrong; I am a huge Tarantino fan. I have always felt his method of direction, story telling ability, and use of dialog/action/violence was more than entertaining, actually being closer to true visceral art. On that level, Kill Bill - Volume 2 works. However, in my humble opinion, there are numerous flaws. Some of these include the following:

1) The film does not exactly open where Volume 1 left off. Q.T. spends time having The Bride (Uma Thurman) explain to the audience what is going on and what has gone on before. This, to me, was unneccesary and catered to the idiot quotient of the mass audience. I must admit that I am something of an elitist when it comes to many things, movies being one of those, i.e. in this instance: if you have not seen Volume 1, do not go to see Volume 2. If you have seen Volume 1, you should not be in need of a recap. If you are, you are a friggin' idiot and should kill yourself before you procreate and curse the earth with more little idiots running around. Pay attention the first time, dumbass.

2) The font used in all of the credits for Volume 2 was different than that used in Volume 1. Perhaps a miniscule issue, if any, to anyone else, but it serves to further separate Volume 2 from Volume 1. This was an error. This is why Q.T. needs to hire me, dammit, to ensure continuity in little things like this.........

3) Too many events and characters were actually explained. This, just like my first point, is unneccesary. Sometimes, it is better to leave some items, events/characters unexplained. It adds to the mythos and also allows the audience to form their own opinions and theories as to what happened, etc.

4) The scenes in which The Bride extracts her justified revenge on the characters of Budd (Michael Madsen) and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) occured to quickly. Each could have been written differently and been dragged out a bit, adding to the suspense of the overall storyline. For example: One scene features Bill paying Budd a visit at his rundown mobile home in the badlands of what appears to be New Mexico or Texas to warn him of The Bride's coming. In this scene, Bill asks if Budd has kept up with his sword skills, referring to the Hatori Hanzo katana (Japanese sword used by samurai) that Bill gave him as a gift. Budd laughs and says he hocked the sword years ago, when in reality, the sword is sitting in his closet (to be found by The Bride during her fight with Elle Driver in the very same mobile home). Q.T. could have added to the action by having Budd actually bringing this out in his own final confrontation with The Bride, adding to the element of surprise as well as drama considering that Budd is actually Bill's brother. Oh well. Just my own thoughts. The confrontation with Elle could have been staged elsewhere, perhaps pitting The Bride against her - using Budd's Hanzo sword - in order to not only kill Elle but also to retrieve her own specially made Hanzo sword from Elle (purchased from Budd in a transaction after Budd had buried the Bride alive, assuming she was dead).

5) The final confrontation with Bill was, for lack of a better term, anticlimactic. It could have been staged so much better, with a lot more emotion and a lot more at stake, namely the life of The Bride's own child whom she did not know was still alive and in Bill's care.

Overall, I was very disappointed in Volume 2. It even seemed that the editing of music to enhance the scenes was lackluster when compared to Volume 1. Honestly, I do not feel Volume 2 worked as its own film. The studios should not have pressured Q.T. to split the film into two volumes. Again, it was a decision based on assuming that the average person is afflicted with ADD and unable to sit through a 3 hour film. Studios need to stop catering to the lowest common denominator and start focusing on those of us who can actually put 2 plus 2 together and who may actually be capable of enjoying a film regardless of its length. I don't think Volume 2 fails due to too much of what Q.T. did (despite some of the notes above that refer to storyline issues), but rather fell victim to the studio heads making a bad choice. Capule review? Wait for the DVD. Don't waste your hard-earned cash seeing Kill Bill - Volume 2 in the theatre. Thankfully, we had free passes.

Posted by Sean at May 10, 2004 03:06 PM