Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004)

"That woman deserves her revenge... and we deserve to die."

Kill Bill is Quentin Tarantino’s first [well second if you count From Dusk till Dawn (1996)] tribute to the films of a “grindhouse” cinema. This film is a revenge story that’s jam-packed full of references to different films from all across the scope of cinema: different genres, cultures and styles. Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004) continues the story of the Bride on her quest to, well, kill... Bill. Where Volume 1 is questions, Volume 2 is fortunately answers.

If you remember (all the way back to yesterday) my biggest problem with Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003) is that its story doesn't work on its own as a film. Well Volume 2 totally fixed that. This film starts by introducing a frame story of the Bride on her final drive to Bill's home. This changes the story so that the bride is narrating and explaining everything she's been through as she's on her way to her anticipated final destination. This makes me question why we didn't start with a frame in the beginning of the first film, then we could have cut back to it for a cliffhanger at the ending, but who am I to tell Tarantino how to order his films right? Maybe the frame opening to this film is the actual opening to the first film if we saw both films back to back? *cough*don't hold your breath*cough* Well whatever the reason, this makes this film work right from the beginning better than the way the last one ended. (Yay!)

I also want to mention how much I love the Bill character in this film. In the hands of most other directors, he would have stayed an aloof mystery as he was in the first film, but nope instead the character comes in (really not until) the ending and becomes one of the coolest and most interesting characters of the entire movie(s). Now I'm sure some of this coolness is thanks impart to the awesomeness of the late David Caradine, but still this should be proof that you can have an awesome antagonist even with only a little actual screen time.

Volume 1 has a great soundtrack, but personally I really like Volume 2's better. The Spanish style guitar, (some of which provided by director Robert Rodriguez) really is the cherry on top for this film. And the credit sequence is just plain cool. It' really makes me wish these were released together as one film, because no matter how hard your butt hurts that credit sequence with the full curtain call and the amazing music rolls, would make it totally worth it.

I admit this is nitpicky, but I noticed that if you watch this film on it's own the Pai Mei flashback really sticks out because the first film is very decidedly "asian" in feel, and this film is much more "western," thanks in part, mostly to the settings (Texas, California desert, etc.) The Pai Mei scenes will work as a nice connector between the otherwise very different "in feel" films but as it is now it kinda seems out of place. Don't get me wrong, I love the Pai Mei scenes, and I think they're introduced in a really, really great way (during the buried alive sequence) just an observation.

I liked the fight scenes in the first film, this film somehow manages to plus them! As would be natural, in one film the fight scenes in the first half pale in comparison to the second half, the fights in this film are far more interesting, clever and unique in my opinion. I love how the Pai Mei sequence is a direct throwback to Shaw Brothers kung-fu films, and I love how the fight with Elle in Budd's trailer is very "Jackie Chan-esque" in that they use a lot of the surroundings in the trailer to fight and I love the gag in the first part where Elle can't even pull out her Hanzo sword without hitting a trailer wall. And I know its short and abrupt but the climactic fight with Bill is really awesome to me, I love how they talk for ever and ever and then it's over in almost a flash. Very cool.

I think the "buried alive" sequence is possibly the most suspenseful piece of film in the last decade (or two!) I absolutely love how it goes completely dark for quite a while and all you can hear is the sounds of being buried alive, and then when she turns on the flashlight underground, the frame is suddenly black and white. Super clever, stylish and effective all in one!

But what I really love in this film is the story. Everything I thought was lacking in the first, improves tenfold in this. I love how the film basically builds its own modern mythology with these characters (specifically the Bride) and I love how the story pays off in the end. I really like how the reveal (not a twist because the audience already knew) to the Bride that her daughter is still alive almost completely unhinges the story we were following, and suddenly her revenge takes a backseat to her daughter. Then she goes to talk to Bill and realizes he's still kind of an a-hole and that he does in fact deserve to die for what he did, still.

Kill Bill: Volume 2 (2004) is everything I was missing in Volume 1, and then some. 5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!

Check out this original minimalist poster design I did for this film, click through to buy prints/posters etc. OR check out other movie posters I designed here. :)

Want more Tarantino goodness? Check back all month for my Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained (2012).

Go back to Tarantino's first film with Reservoir Dogs (1992), check out the first script he wrote (but didn't direct) True Romance (1993), The smash hit that really put him on the map Pulp Fiction (1994), another film written by him but in the hands of another director From Dusk till Dawn (1996), his blaxploitation-influenced crime film Jackie Brown (1997) or the first half of this story Kill Bill: Volume 1 (2003). I got films planned all month, so be sure to check back!



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film (and 8 other Tarantino hits from his 20 year career) in this new set (now on Blu-ray) through these links:

Reservoir Dogs (1992)

"Are you gonna bark all day, little doggie, or are you gonna bite?"

Reservoir Dogs (1992) is Quentin Tarantino's breakout hit, a stylish heist movie. The story revolves around a diamond robbery with an undercover cop and the madness that follows.

I love the camerawork in Reservoir Dogs it's very simple and effective and one of the things that really sets this film apart from other indie or low budget films.

I also like how simple and stylish the film is. The 70s music is a very nice and memorable touch. Costumes are again simple and stylish and yet it's something probably all the actors just had. And the color names are a great idea (a la The Taking of Pelham One Two Three [1974]) that also just adds an extra level of cool to the film. Indie filmmakers could (and do) learn a lot from this film.

I've seen this film many times, one of the things I often find myself asking at the end is "what the hell was the point of Mr. Blue?!" And to this day I think the film could be just as good without him, he doesn't do anything at all. It's possible he's there just to add to the death count or to show that how dangerous theft and robbery is or that it isn't always profitable (though you'd think the end would show that?) But really he's just kind of there. In a film like this with many characters, why add one more who doesn't do anything?

One of my favorite things about this movie is how simple the idea for the story is. It's a heist film (like you've seen a million times before) except with two main differences, it's told out of order (non-chronological) and with out ever showing the actual heist.

The non-linear storytelling (a precedent for most Tarantino films that follow) is really ingeniously done. I've heard many people use this film as an example of a non 3-act film but that's completely wrong. This film actually still follows the 3-act storytelling structure, it just does it without going in order. The scenes are revealed in a chapter by chapter method basing each chapter around a different main character's story specifically, and then the layout of these chapters (which comes first) is setup in the order so that for the first half of the film the viewer is trying to figure out who the undercover mole is, and the second half of the film explains how that came to be and then the conclusion. This is a really well thought out way to tell a story and I think it just works perfectly.

The film has a really great ensemble cast. Tarantino chose a selection of great actors who were almost unknowns at the time each of them (except Harvey Keitel of course) had a couple hits each but were on the cusp of really blowing up. I particularly really enjoy the performances of Michael Madsen as the cool but hard to nail down Mr. Blonde, Harvey Keitel as the robber with a heart Mr. White, Steve Buscemi as the comically freaked out Mr. Pink and Tim Roth who has the very difficult but convincing role of Mr. Orange. There's some really great performances in this movie. And I like how each of the character's is written so that they really seem like real people. They have strong enough personalities (and actors) that you really don't have any problem telling them apart, even though they're dressed the same and don't have real names.

And lastly I want to mention that this movie just has a lot of really interesting and simple little things it does. For example, I like how the music that's playing dies down when Mr. Blonde goes outside the warehouse to get a can of gasoline from his car and then climbs up again as he returns. And I love how during the "commode story" seamlessly cuts between 3 (or so) times this story is being told and then ends in a literal showing of the events in the story that really makes you feel the suspense of the scene.

Reservoir Dogs (1992) is a stylish well thought-out film that borrows from a lot of movies you've seen before, but puts them together in a way so genius you're going to wish you thought of it. And it's an amazing example of how you can make a great film and tell a simple story on a small independent budget. 5/5 Stars.

Happy watching!

Check out this original minimalist poster design I did for this film, click through to buy prints/posters etc. OR check out other movie posters I designed here. :)

Want more Tarantino goodness? Check back all month for my Tribute to Tarantino in honor of his latest film Django Unchained.



Like this blog? You can support it by buying this film (and 8 other Tarantino hits from his 20 year career) in this new set (now on Blu-ray) through these links: