Kill Bill Volume 2 - Spoiler filled discussion

In a really random and ironic twist, I actually went and caught Kill Bill Volume 2 at a matinee today. Much, much better than the first one. I don't know if I'll pay to see it again (on DVD or otherwise) but I'm glad I saw it.

Highlights:

- The extended prologue of the Wedding Chapel Massacre
- The Pai Mei training sequence (awesome!)
- The showdown with Daryl Hannah

The sequential chapters worked much better this time around, and I loved how QT brought it all together. Points off for things done a little too crudely for my tastes, but I can't say I was surprised.

I gave the first movie a 3/10, and was pretty annoyed with the whole fleecing scheme to make viewers pay twice for one movie, but I was just in the mood for a Tarantino style movie and the reviews were great so I said what the hell and caught a matinee with a friend.

I must say I got my money's worth.

Possibly most surprising, and equally impressive is how well Kill Bill 2 stands on its own. You really don't need KB1. The best version of this story would probably be to have the last half hour of KB1 as the opening to KB2.

(Re-posted from my other thread because I didn't know that Kai Lord had already started a Kill Bill spoiler thread)

My absolute favorite sequence in this movie were the ones where the Bride (a.k.a. Beatrix) recieves her martial arts training from the Chinese martial arts master Pei Mei. Quentin Tarentino obviously wanted this scene to feel like a 1970s kung-fu flick, and he absolutely nailed it IMHO. I'd be willing to pay admission again just to see this sequence for a second time.

Michael Madsen and Daryl Hannah both do great jobs in this movie as ex-assassins who are on the Bride's hit list. Madsen's character, Bud, has pretty much given up on life and is haunted by the sins of his past. He lives in a run-down trailer and works as a bouncer in a sleazy strip bar, taking crap from his boss and his coworkers despite the fact that he used to be a member of an elite team of assassins. Hannah's character, on the other hand, is as cold and calculating a killer as they come. She kills without mercy or remorse, and when I found out that she poisoned Pei Mei, it made it all the more satisfying when the Bride ripped her other eye out.

This movie really belongs to David Carradine as Bill (fans of the old Kung-Fu TV series will recognize this guy instantly). He gets so many great scenes in this movie that I'll have to see the movie a few more times before I can remember them all. His analogy where he compares the Bride to Superman is one of my favorite movie monologues of all time.

The music in this film deserves mention, too. I loved the music in Volume 1, and Volume 2 is just as easily as good.

So, I was very happy with Kill Bill Volume 2. This movie is a lot less action-driven than Volume 1 was, but makes up for it with excellent dialogue and characterization. The fight scenes, though not as commonplace as they were in the first volume, are very satisfying (especially the training sequences with Pei Mei). I can't wait until this movie comes out on DVD so that I can watch Volume 1 and Volume 2 back-to-back.

Dark Jezter said:

The fight scenes, though not as commonplace as they were in the first volume, are very satisfying (especially the training sequences with Pei Mei).

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Totally! I thought the Daryl Hannah fight was going to be one of the low points but it turned out to probably have the best rock 'em sock 'em intensity of all the showdowns. I loved how Uma kept her from drawing her sword in that small trailer.

And the Pai Mei stuff was just awesome. Every crazy zoom, flick of the beard, and proverb. Incredibly entertaining. And the sparring between Uma and Pae Mei was fantastic.

My friend thought the final scene between Uma and Bill was anticlimactic, but I was actually glad they didn't try and one up the other fights with something even more outrageous. The ending was swift, but very poetic. Nicely done.

Don't forget B.B.'s squished fish.

"Daddy, you stomped mommy?"

Speaking of squished things, don't forget Daryl's eye oozing through Uma's bare toes! Ewwwwwwww.

Kai Lord said:

Totally! I thought the Daryl Hannah fight was going to be one of the low points but it turned out to probably have the best rock 'em sock 'em intensity of all the showdowns. I loved how Uma kept her from drawing her sword in that small trailer.

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My thoughts exactly. The Daryl Hannah fight scene, rather than being a carefully-choreographed fight with lots of wire-work, instead turned out to be a down-and-out brawl between two women who hate each other. I liked it!

My friend thought the final scene between Uma and Bill was anticlimactic, but I was actually glad they didn't try and one up the other fights with something even more outrageous. The ending was swift, but very poetic. Nicely done.

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Once again, I agree. I'll admit that I wasn't expecting the Bride to use the "five-step heart exploding punch" or whetever it was called, and the final exchange between Bill and the Bride was very well-done.

Jist got home from seeing the movie and I truely enjoyed it. It had some wonderfully disturbing scenes in it. Elle's eye being stepped on by The Bride. The Bride practicing to punch through the wood. The Bride being buried alive. That last one especially got to me because I have a fear of being buried alive. I really thought they captured that feeling unlike any other movie.

I really loved the fight between Elle and The Bride. I think that was the best fight over all. Just for the beating the two of them took.

I really want to be able to see the two parts back to back.

I liked Budd a lot.

Bill worked well as the criminal mastermind.

And Esteban worked quite well too.

All in all, I think it was great. (Nine on a ten point scale).

The only ten of ten movie I've seen recently is Return of the King (and Passion is off the scale, over ten).

Got back from the movie a couple hours ago, and I have to say I was somewhat dissappointed. Not that it was a bad movie, but I liked the first movie alot and had high expectations for this one... but it just didn't seem to deliver.

There was a little too much talking and not enough fighting. Yes there were some good exchanges, like the whole truth serum / superman story scene, but other parts seemed superfluous. The music didn't sound as cool to me either, plus they only played her 'psycho' music once.

And yes the ending was anti-climactic, which I suppose is it's biggest flaw. The five point punch thing was telegraphed from the moment it was mentioned earlier in the movie. Now I'm sure David Carridine isn't up to a fight like the one that ended the first movie, so I don't know how else they could have done it. But it definately wasn't as fulfilling as the whole Crazy 88's/Lucy Lui ending.

Hmmm... this is sounding negative. :\ I did like the movie, it was worth seeing, but I guess my expectations were too high.

By the way I saw a new commercial for the movie when I got home that showed a scene not in the movie. It showed Bill in a white chinese style shirt? How could Quentin have cut out stuff? I mean it was originally one movie, made two... with this one over two hours, and he still cut out scenes that are in the commercial?

The lurkeR said:

By the way I saw a new commercial for the movie when I got home that showed a scene not in the movie. It showed Bill in a white chinese style shirt? How could Quentin have cut out stuff? I mean it was originally one movie, made two... with this one over two hours, and he still cut out scenes that are in the commercial?

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From what I've heard, there was a fight scene between Bill and another martial artist played by Michael Jai White, but it was cut entirely. Hopefully it'll appear as a deleted scene on a Kill Bill Special Edition DVD someday.