Kill Bill: Volume Two

[pete]

spoimlers

hey pete, I really like that chapter where you're teaching the Bride

thanks, but I liked that chapter when I was chopping sushi the best.

Pete, you ALWAYS chop sushi

with you I just can't win.

[Ravi]

I didn't read any reviews before seeing Volume Two, but I had a feeling that it would not be the hyperviolent film Volume One was.  People who liked Volume One only for the comic violence would be disappointed in this installment.

About B-movies not being good movies.  That is usually true, but certain genres like westerns and kung fu movies have their ardent followers, so they do have a place in people's hearts.  I know that a lot of these films are not creative with plot.  How many kung fu films are about the protagonist avenging his master's death, for example?  But we don't always have logical reasons for liking movies, and we often like movies we know are not exactly (to use a cliche) Citizen Kane.

[El Duderino]

i just got back from my second viewing of this movie. QT is so good at everything he does. Daryl Hannah was the shit, Michael Madsen was brilliant, and I agree with Ebert, David Carradine deserves an oscar nod. i reccomend this movie to everyone.

[RegularKarate]

The movie was great

People who say that it doesn't work as two films aren't paying enough attention because it works great, but I'll be interested in seeing it put into one... they'll have to cut some scenes out and rearrange it nicely... can't just tape the two together back to front.

People who say QT hasn't grown as a filmmaker since RD haven't seen or payed attention to Jackie Brown (while I love KB, JB is still his best film).

The problem with most critic's reviews of this film is that this is one of the films that beats out critical opinion with it's energy and attitude.  The bullshit formula that most film-critics use to decide whether or not they like a film doesn't fit this one very well.

[Sleuth]

spoimlers

hey pete, I really like that chapter where you're teaching the Bride

thanks, but I liked that chapter when I was chopping sushi the best.

Pete, you ALWAYS chop sushi

with you I just can't win.

Actually my original intent was that you were an Asian who was condescending and always critiquing somebody's fighting styles (and is funny   ) but if you make swords too, that's cool

[AntiDumbFrogQuestion]

And come on, if all of these people knew she was coming after them, HOW DIFFICULT WOULD IT HAVE BEEN TO KILL HER? REALLY?

********Mmm, mmm, some SPOILERS for Breakfast*************




I think the not seeking her out to kill her thing A) caused the Bride to have to go through more effort just to get SERVED mofackey...you know the whole 'I want her to suffer' thing...and
B) You could tell Bill still had feelings for her. He felt 'Sad' after he had put a bullet in her, which he didn't think he could, because he's a fucking 'natural born killer' for chrissake. But alas, he was in error. And being the Big Boss Man still, he did want to see Beatrix again, but make her earn his way to him. That's what I was led to believe.
C) Although this goes more with the themes of Tarantino's movies, you always had the 'Honor among theives' thread going (in this case among assassins), which is why death wasn't exactly an act of 'let's do this shit and get it done with'. And then there was Elle who wanted her to suffer for takin the man she wanted. And Vernita probably wanted to catch her off guard. O-Ren tried to 'Tear the Bitch Apart' and failed. Budd was sympathetic to Elle's wishes and was a lil sadistic himself. Bill had a moral conflict.

*** BIG FIGHT SCENE SPOILER****

I also liked how Tarantino brought his 'creation of a myth, bringing that myth back to earth' theme to Vol. II.  Like in Jackie Brown, we see Pam Grier as A Goddess almost, walkin' all sexy like w/ power, only to find out she has to get to her shitty Job on time (or so says the 'Trivia track'). With Elle, she had gained such an elevated status as an opponent, the audience had NO idea that Elle could have her other 'ojo' plucked out.  Yet Uma did the same thing in Volume I to a random Crazy 88. In other words, despite her status, Elle was just another human being as fragile as that nameless guy in a suit. Same with the simplicity of the Bill fight when everyone was expecting boom whack kapow MothaFUCKAAAAAAAAAH!
Diggable.



******END ALL SPOILERS********

[socketlevel]

loved the film, but the Uma Thurman name reveal sucked shit.  i was expecting something more then that.  he should have even just never given away the name.  i don't know i remember reading on here how it was clever and funny.  just came across a little too clever and not at all funny.

-sl-

[grand theft sparrow]

Definitely.  Why give the name reveal to Elle?  It should have been Bill or even B.B. (which I just got why she was named such) who brought it out.

But other than that, QT's outdone himself as a director with Vol. 2.  Though they both work separately, if he cuts them together, then Pulp Fiction may finally be toppled as my favorite of his flicks.

But what happened to Michael Jai White? He was in the Vol. 1 teaser.  How much shit did Quentin cut out of the movie?

[Finn]

#1 at the box office with 25.6 mil!

[cine]

#1 at the box office with 25.6 mil!

http://www.xixax.com/viewtopic.php?p=135979#135979

[Gold Trumpet]

Really enjoyable.  I'll say that. The steady pacing through out this film at least makes me appreciate the first one more, making me desire to see it again and just enjoy it for the action that is missing in Volume 2 cause I really dug the characters and environment here.

That said, its obvious to me Tarantino is still miles away from his best work, Pulp Fiction. I don't think Pulp Fiction was a great artistic work, but it was significant in that Tarantino, even from Reservoir Dogs, broke completely from having a protagonist to really care about. You may identify with certain people in Pulp Fiction, but dramatically, none are written to get your sympathy. Tarantino, the director, is the protagonist. His swirling camera and quotation after quotation of this movie, that genre, this music and such is what one really identifies with. I think this is the main movement he started, the director as rock star who can quotes film similar to the way Godard did but keep his identity solely American in that they are still entertainment films. After Pulp, Jackie Brown tried to have a plot and failed in my eyes. Tarantino was pushing his style button too much.

Now, with Kill Bill, there is a return of sorts for Tarantino. He does play with a genre, but Kill Bill is not the ultimate achievement that Pulp Fiction is. Kill Bill is entirely predictable...Pulp Fiction isn't. This is a worthy comment because the genres behind both films produce films that are predictable. My main complaint of Kill Bill is that Tarantino did little to really spin the kung fu genre into an entirely unique film like Pulp Fiction, but just added explosive elements to gloss it up. So there is so much cheesiness and predictability and buffoonery that hinders many kung fu films from being anything more and Tarantino accepts it without expanding it. No, I'm not asking for a straight dramatic work, but something more unique. The thing most unique is the difference of tone between each volume and how that off suits each other and made me really yearn to see the other more because both offer what the other is missing (action, storyline). Thing is, the storylines of Kill Bill vol 2 hardly satisfy the way Pulp Fiction did with its portrait of characters. Tarantino feels like he is sketching here where he delved with Pulp. With Vol 1, the action scenes are done with excellence, but the best of kung fu is neglected. Tarantino has to be all style to hide the lack of fighting talent in Hollywood actors. If he used professional fighters, he still could have been stylistic, but the fighting scenes would have cemented in the best quality of the genre. I've seen Vol 1 twice now and many of the fighting scenes are already beginning to drag a little.

But, hey, both volumes are a lot of fun. I enjoyed them and loved how detailed Tarantino is in each scene and how Tarantino is so good with his film making that him filming a lunch of actors talking would be the price of admission. Its just most of the praise I feel is undeserving considering what Tarantino has achieved in the past.

And P.S. JB, you win. I see both volumes as one film now.

[Myxo]

I don't even really like Reservoir Dogs anymore.

Reservoir Dogs and Hard Eight are pretty much the same to me. They're both fantastic debut films, but neither of them hold a candle to later work.

Edit: Oh, and anyone who loved the sequence with Uma and Pai Mei must rent this film. In fact, if you loved Kill Bill at all, you've gotta go find this film.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0078243/

Sometimes known as "36th Chamber of Shaolin" or "The Master Killer".

[Ravi]

I loved how the Pai Mei sequence was shot like an old kung fu film, with the grainy look and sloppy zooms.

[Gloria]

I loved this movie.  Thankfully, there was a great audience and no cell phones when I saw it, which just added to the experience.  

*Spoilers*

The eyeball part was awesome.  Especially when the entire audience simultaniously jumps and gasps and then goes "Ewwww"!!  I agree with everyone who said the burying alive scene was great.  It did a great job of having the audience know what it sounds like to be buried alive.  There was some great comedic moments in this as well.  "You're about as useful as an asshole right here."  Classic.  I, personally, loved the superhero analogy and the daughter/mother movie night.  Great, great, great.

*End Spoilers*

I can't wait to see both movies back to back.

[TENOCH]

If you don't dont like this film, then you dont get Tarantino. It would have been a failure if he kept the the same pace from Vol. I. I was expecting more of the same from the first. But was surprise to get an almost totally different movie. Carradine is the man. Uma is a visual gift to this world. Madsen was Madsen. This film to me is a collection of what I loved about past Tarantino films and scripts perfected and all rolled into one great film. Thank You Quentin for this film treasure that I will enjoy for years to come.