Kill Bill Vol. 2

As the title of the film suggests, this is the second part of the Kill Bill series, and sees The Bride pursue the last two members of the Deadly Vipers before turning her attention to Bill. After the success and enjoyment that the first installment received, the second volume was always going to have a lot to live up to, and in my opinion it just falls short of the mark. It’s very good, but not as good as the first in terms of the engagement in the plot and the intricacies of the way it was presented.

Unlike the first film, Volume 2 takes place pretty much in chronological order. The Bride goes to visit Bill’s brother Buck, who tries to kill her and then calls Elle Driver to sell the Hanzo sword he obtained from The Bride. However, she escapes and confronts Elle, and then moves on to try and find Bill. Apart from a couple of flashbacks to explain the story a bit more, the plot is perfectly linear. However, this isn't necessarily a criticism because it is difficult to see how this film could have been jumbled up. There are a few twists and turns along the way, naturally, and the film is still fairly tongue in cheek. There is one scene where Bill’s daughter (no spoilers) asks to watch Shogun Assassin, which made me laugh. In this respect it is no different from the first volume, but for me it is missing something.

Naturally, things get a little bit more difficult for The Bride during this film as she is buried alive and shot at different points. Her quest for Bill seemed a bit too easy in the first film, and it was good to see that she actually had to struggle to get there in this film. However, when she does get there you are expecting an epic and climactic conclusion. Two films have led up to her facing off against her former lover and the amount of blood that has been spilt just to get to him leaves you expecting something sensational. As it goes, the final ‘battle’ is rather disappointing. I don’t think it was ever going to be as immense as the ending of the first film, and it’s a lot more sentimental. Regardless of her quest for revenge, there is obviously something between The Bride and Bill. There is a chemistry there which comes out perfectly in the interaction between Uma Thurman and the late David Carradine (who was the star of a number of martial arts films).

In terms of the blood and guts element of Kill Bill Vol. 2, there is much more and much less. While the murders that The Bride commits are both much fewer and much less violent, there is a pretty spectacular scene where she pulls out an eye and stamps on it. As with the ‘horrific’ scenes in the first film though, this is much more comical than gruesome. Another (sad) similarity between this and the first installment is the dialogue. During the scene where The Bride and Elle are fighting the conversation between them was so forced it became annoying. There are a few scenes where the dialogue isn't too bad (the scene with Esteban, and the final scene with Bill for example), but when it actually gets down to the fighting I think the delivery could have been a lot better.

David Carradine performs very well in Kill Bill Vol. 2. He makes a couple of appearances in the first film, but really has a major role in the second. He does very well to convey the air of a very powerful man, and despite never coming across as particularly ‘bad’, there is a sense of danger around nearly everything he does. For example, I found myself quite tense when he was making a sandwich in front of The Bride and his daughter and is waving the knife around. He is, in many ways, a very complex character, because although he shot The Bride in the head, he was obviously ‘very sad’, and realises that this is probably worth him being punished for. He could easily have stopped The Bride and had plenty of opportunities to kill her, but holds off. Either out of love or guilt, he realises that she deserves her revenge. This is fantastically put by his brother, played by Michael Madsen. Madsen plays Bill’s brother Budd, who is the bouncer in a strip club. He is a fairly non-descript character, but has a much darker side to him, as we see when he buries her alive. Anyone who has seen Reservoir Dogs will know that Michael Madsen plays ‘insane’ very well, and he does very well in bringing an element of this to Budd in Kill Bill.

Overall, Kill Bill Vol. 2 is a good film, but I didn't think that it was as good as the first film. However, if you have seen the first film then you simply cannot avoid watching it. It is as funny and entertaining as the first film, and brings everything together very nicely. I think that a third instalment has been announced, or at least Tarantino has been reported to be working on it, so it will be interesting to see where they take it from here. Watch the first one before this one, but after watching the first one you should not miss the next part. 

Other Tarantino films:
Reservoir Dogs - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/reservoir-dogs.htmlInglorious Basterds - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/inglorious-basterds.htmlDjango Unchained - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/django-unchained.html
Kill Bill Vol. 1 - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/kill-bill-vol-1.html

Kill Bill Vol. 1

They say that ‘Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned’. Kill Bill is the absolute epitome of this saying. It tells of ‘The Bride’ who is out to get revenge on the people who shot her in the head at her wedding rehearsal. It is directed by Quentin Tarantino and so has many of the hallmarks of a Tarantino film. The first part of Kill Bill sees The Bride wake up from the coma that she was in, track down and kill the first two Deadly Vipers. It is a very good film to watch, and any fan of Tarantino will enjoy it in much the same way that they (hopefully) enjoyed his other films.

The plot of the film is incredibly engaging, and despite the high level of blood and violence, you are always rooting for The Bride (whose name is blanked out whenever it is spoken) to get her revenge. Now Tarantino’s tendency to break the plot up into chapters and jumble the story around a bit makes the first part a bit difficult to follow. We see her pregnant at her wedding where Bill (hence the title of the film) shoots her in the head. Then she wakes up in the hospital as one of the nurses is telling a man the rules for his rather horrifying way of making money on the side. She leaves the hospital (leaving two dead men behind her) and makes off in ‘the pussy wagon’. From here she goes to Japan, gets a samurai sword from the legendary Hattori Hanzo and takes on the Crazy 88s. In the film this is the big climax at the end (and it is an incredible scene), and so it is quite strange to think that this happens before the little knife fight between her and Vernita Green. Naturally, the heroine prevails and then leaves to seek her next victim.

Uma Thurman plays The Bride, and also wrote some of the script in what is her second collaboration with Tarantino. She is very good in this film and comes across (shockingly, given the nature of her mission) very convincingly as a woman out for revenge. She is very sinister and very cold, but if I have one criticism of her in Kill Bill then it will be that her delivery of her lines is quite poor. It never seems natural when she says that she has ‘unfinished business’, and some of the script writing isn't astounding. However, as ever with Tarantino I feel that this is intended and meticulously planned. Uma Thurman is incredibly believable in the role. The image of her in the yellow motorbike suit has become iconic and represents one of the best (and most incredulous) fight scenes I have seen.

As with every Tarantino film, the blood flows in plentiful supply. A woman on a murderous revenge-fuelled rampage directed by Tarantino is bound to be over the top, but Tarantino makes it very amusing in Kill Bill. For example, in the scene where O-Ren Ishii cuts the head off Boss Tanaka, the blood spurts up in a fountain-like manner, about two seconds after it should. However, this helps to make Kill Bill less dark and lightens the tone of the film quite a lot. I remember watching it for the first time with my flatmate, and we were laughing our heads off. Throughout Kill Bill the violence is very comical, and the gore is more amusing than disgusting.

The best part about Tarantino’s non-linear plot is that he re-arranges it in a manner that works perfectly in terms of suspense. The scene where Vernita and The Bride are having a cup of coffee and reminiscing is particularly tense, because all the time there is the lingering worry that something could spark off any moment. By leaving the big fight in Japan until the end of the film there is much more of a desire for Volume 2. For me, Kill Bill Vol. 1 marks the start of Tarantino’s move towards more comical films. The films before Kill Bill (Reservoir Dogs, Pulp Fiction and Jackie Brown) all seem much more realistic and gritty, whereas Kill Bill is a very tongue-in-cheek film, which comes across as Tarantino’s idea of ‘a bit of fun’. It says a lot that his idea of a fun film is equally enjoyable as his earlier films.

Kill Bill Vol. 1 is a classic Tarantino film, and is a thoroughly enjoyable film. It is very different to his other films, but in many ways, very similar. I found that it was very watchable, and I enjoyed the light atmosphere around it. The best thing about it though is that it makes you want to find out what happens in the second part. Usually I am quite skeptical about films split into two parts, but Kill Bill pulls it off perfectly. Definitely one to watch if you get the opportunity.

Other Tarantino films:

Reservoir Dogs - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/reservoir-dogs.html

Inglorious Basterds - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/inglorious-basterds.html

Django Unchained - http://mattsthoughtsonmovies.blogspot.co.uk/2013/01/django-unchained.html

Reservoir Dogs

One of my favourite types of film is the good old gangster film. Reservoir Dogs was one of the those films that people told me I needed to watch, but I had just never go round to it. Then I came across it in a shop for under £5 and thought it was too good an offer to pass up. So I watched it, and found myself amazed that I hadn't seen it before. It was incredible.

Some of my favourite films ever have been directed by Quentin Tarantino, and Reservoir Dogs joins the list of fantastic films he's directed. This was his first film, and shows so many of his characteristics, most notably, the violence and the story which does not take place in the order of time.

The film itself depicts the events around a diamond heist which goes wrong. We don't actually see the robbery itself, but the assembly of the team of men and the aftermath of the robbery are the focal points of the film. One character, Joe, is assembling six different men to do this robbery for him. These men don't use their real names, and none of them actually know each other. However, something goes wrong and Mr Orange gets shot. The rest of the film explains how the team was assembled, and then the attempts of four of the men to work out who it was that tipped off the police about their robbery.

The casting in this film is brilliant. Tarantino himself makes an appearance as ever portraying Mr Blue, but the rest of the cast includes Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Steve Buscemi, Harvey Keitel and Lawrence Tierney. It's a great collection of actors who all work so very well in their roles. I thought Tim Roth, who spends most of the film lying on the floor surrounded by an expanding pool of blood, was brilliant, and Michael Madsen was entrancing as the psychotic Mr Blonde. For the majority of the film Tim Roth is in a state of pain, and he portrays this, as well as his fear of dying so exceptionally well it is astounding. Michael Madsen is also terrifying and his dancing in the build up to the stand-out moment is horrifying in the light of what he is about to do.

Every great film has a stand out moment which everyone will recognise. Star Wars has "No, I am your father", Pulp Fiction has the image of Samuel L Jackson and John Travolta with the guns. In the case of Reservoir Dogs it's the infamous 'ear scene'. Michael Madsen is so convincingly psychotic that I was a little bit scared of what he would do to the policeman he's captured, and I was right to be. Cutting off his ear with a razor blade and then talking into it, asking if he can hear? Terrifying.

The shoot-outs in this film are epic. At the end of the movie, Joe, his son, and Mr White are all pointing guns at each other, and all three end up being shot. The relationship between Mr White and Mr Orange was brilliant. Mr Orange is 'just a kid' whereas Mr White is older and more experienced. There's clearly a bit of father-son chemistry between the two after Mr Orange has been shot, to the extent that Mr White 'bonded' with him, and told him his real name, which was forbidden. Also, Mr Orange reveals that he is the mole to Mr White just before the end. This clearly impacts on Mr White, and understandably affects Mr White who has thrown away everything in defence of this kid, who turns out to be a traitor.

After the robbery, Mr Pink takes the diamonds and stores them in a 'safe' location. At the end of the film we see him take the diamonds and sneak out after everyone has been shot. It is assumed that he makes off with them and successfully avoids capture. However, this is not the case, and if you turn the sound up really loud after he walks out you can hear him being captured.

Reservoir Dogs will be popular with any one who likes Tarantino, like gangster films, likes a twist in a movie, and doesn't mind a bit of violence. It's definitely not a quiet night in film, but it's well worth watching it.