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Kill Bill Volume 2 See DVD Features Review After The Film Review Below Uma Thurman is back and she still wants to kill Bill. Anyone who saw Kill Bill Volume 1 remembers The Bride (Thurman), and her unborn child, were left for dead after she ditched her life as a professional assassin, but her former gang found her and interrupted her wedding by shooting up the place. After waking up from a coma, The Bride started a vengeful path to justice that could only end with her ultimate showdown against Bill (David Carradine), where one of them will have to die. However, we learned something that The Bride never did. The unborn baby lived, was delivered, and Bill has been raising her on his own. That's going to be a big surprise for The Bride when she shows up to kill Bill. Will The Bride get her revenge and her child? Writer/director Quentin Tarantino originally made the two movies as one huge epic, but Miramax convinced him to split Kill Bill into two separate volumes. Now, I understand that they should have left Tarantino alone and released Kill Bill as one long movie. Where Kill Bill Vol. 1 had amazing energy and a fight scene for the ages, Kill Bill Vol. 2 falls short of the standard set by the first one. While this might have been OK if Kill Bill Vol. 2 was the last hour and a half of an epic Kill Bill, it hurts this sequel because the movie fails to stand on its own, tell its own story and have its own climax. While Lord of the Rings was three movies that followed the same story throughout all three installments, each one had its own arc, its own climax, and its own tale that came to an end at the conclusion of the movie even though we know the characters had not achieved their final triumph. Tarantino could have done this if he had the chance, but Miramax didn't give him an opportunity. At the least, we can understand what he is trying to do. Tarantino shows more skill in this average movie than some directors could show in their best work. He ties the music, myth and story together in a style that jumps off the screen and makes a strong impression on you. Tarantino uses various tactics to set the mood in each part of the movie, such as his lush, black and white introduction or the Japanese b-movie themes present in scenes where we learn about The Bride's ancient training, but Kill Bill Vol. 2 ultimately lets us down by failing to live up to itself.
The big showdown between Bill and The Bride is a huge disappointment. After
a couple of action packed sequences leading up to the big moment, including
a cool fight between The Bride and Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah), Bill's battle
is anti-climactic. It doesn't come close to
Kill Bill Vol.
1's showdown between The Bride, The The music is cool, but not as good as the first one. The dialogue is campy and fun, but not quite as good as the first one. The fighting is cool, but not as good as the first one (and what happened to the over-the-top bloodshed?). When Miramax releases the Director's Cut of Kill Bill as one epic movie as envisioned by Tarantino, I'll be in line to buy it (see DVD Features review for more on this). Until then, this is a film you want to see if you saw Kill Bill Vol. 1, but don't rush out if you didn't. 2 ½ Waffles (Out Of 4) DVD Features Kill Bill Vol. 2 is short on spectacular DVD material, especially my dreamed of director's cut of Kill Bill with both parts put together as one long movie. Recently, Tarantino told the Associated Press he hopes to release a version of this in theaters in the fall as the possible opening salvo in an Occar campaign for Uma Thurman. However, with Harvey Wienstein on the verge of MAYBE leaving Miramax, this could be in jeopardy. Maybe a Christmas DVD release of Kill Bill: The Director's Cut? I hope so. Behind-The-Scenes Feature - Tarantino takes us through his thought process while creating Kill Bill, drools over David Carradine, and tells us plenty of stuff we already know. Must see for the hard core fans, mildly intersting for the rest of us. CHINGON Performance - Robert Rodriguez and his band perform at the Kill Bill Volume 2 premiere. Nice music, not an invigorating performance, nothing shocking here. This doesn't give us any new knowledge about movie premieres, and you can probably hear music that is just as nice by going to your local park in the summer time. Deleted Scene - Yes, one deleted scene. In two movies and over 4 hours of storytelling, Tarantino and the gang at Miramax have unearthed ONE scene that wasn't used in the movie. But it's a cool scene as Bill takes on Damoe's protege. DVD Features: D Copyright 2004 - WaffleMovies.com |
