Kill Bill Deux
Well, the wait’s finally over and it seemed worth it after all!!!
Post Volume 1, arguably, the longest opening act in the history of cinema, Volume 2 served up Acts Deux and Trois in one convenient sitting…
I enjoyed the good cinematography, though it was excruciatingly slow during the first half and lacked the lustful bloodthirsty action of volume 1… there are a couple of super scenes though – Uma’s duel with Daryl Hannah, it was so much better than watching that other chick flick, you know the one where they mud wrestle and skydive… but a word of advice, if you are of a faint heart, you may want to close your eyes and ears during the duel … and the lonely grave of Paula Schulz, where Uma comes back from the dead, literal Poe-style horror!!!
Volumes 1 and 2 both go to prove that you don’t need a good storyline to make a great movie, you just need good writing and a great screenplay – the loaded references to pop-culture as well as the cunningly crafted take-off on the 70’s martial art flicks… for a brief moment, I was almost expecting Jet Li to pop out of the stonework… the opening scenes were shot pretty much in black and white, giving viewers the flashback feeling and to also provide some explanation of why volume 1 happened in the first place… the cinematography strangely reminiscent of Akira Kurasawa’s panning… I did miss the fantastic hentai set from Volume 1, thought I’d get to see more of that… ah, well…
The second half had the potential to be a fitting finale to volume 1 though Tarantino introduced an emotional twist towards the end that pretty much didn’t behoove this sort of a flick, come on folks, I was expecting action and gore all the way and I mean the really blood splattered kind… That lops points off in my charts…
And lest i forget, a good enough backing sound track … each song, handpicked to background the mood and the melodrama…I was blown listening to a cover version of Santana’s “She’s Not There” sung to a very R&B-ish tune, the outtakes based on the scores from Sergio Leone’s spaghetti westerns and the RZA, as well as Shivaree singing “Goodnight Moon’
Afterthought – David Carradine’s character, Bill reminds me of a lisping Sylvester, out after Tweety… no other noticeable trait, i thought i thaw a puddy tat
All told, if you liked the first one or are searching for the answers as to why she roared and she rampaged, try the second helping, who knows, you may even walk away realizing there really are no good people in QT’s decadent universe… I personally give it a 7.5 on 10…
Cheers…
S