Kill Bill vol 2
The Bride continues on her path of revenge. Having dispatched O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green (Vivica Fox) in Vol. 1, The Bride, whose name we learn about halfway through for no apparent reason, sets out to get Budd (Michael Madsen), Elle (Daryl Hannah), and Bill (David Carradine). She does. No surprise there. The end.
While I suppose Vol 2 is the more, um…. what’s the word?… complete? polished? developed? film, I really liked Vol 1 better. Vol 2 has a much, much slower pace, with a lot more story and character back story. It also doesn’t have the visual style that Vol 1 has. Not that the fight scenes were the be all and end all, but there really wasn’t that much fighting in Vol 2. The best fight scene, IMO, is the deleted scene with David Carradine fighting some thugs.
Some of the things just didn’t fit. The whole thing with The Bride’s name just confuses me. It’s revealed in a totally offhand, inconsequential way that only makes one think, what was the big deal in bleeping out her name for a whole movie and a half? However, I do have to say that Daryl Hannah really surprised me at how good she was. She really carried off an air of total evil very well indeed, and I honestly didn’t recognize her at all in Vol 1. The buried alive sequence didn’t work for me. It sounds funny, but I just didn’t believe it. And the “she lived happily ever after” ending was weak. Vol 1 is the better movie.
Rating: C; would watch again.
