BEFORE: I'm trying to integrate myself back into my old routine, which is difficult after a vacation that was almost two weeks long. After a week on the cruise ship my body had become accustomed to life at sea, including eating 6 or 7 times a day, waking up at a normal human time, and moving in a way that took the rocking of the ship into account. After 10 days it seemed like that would be my new life, and then I had to readjust back to reality. My life right now involves trying to clear both DVRs again, sorting through and posting a lot of vacation photos, and getting ready for work on Monday. I can still sort of feel the motion of the ship when I'm sitting down, though.
Many actors carry over from "Kill Bill: Vol. 1" so linking is easy. Where I go next after this film, though, is a little bit up in the air. More on that later.
THE PLOT: The murderous Bride continues her quest of vengeance against her former boss and lover Bill, the reclusive bouncer Budd, and the treacherous, one-eyed Elle.
AFTER: I think I like this one a little better than "Kill Bill: Vol. 1", partly because there's less of an emphasis on the Japanese stuff. There's a flashback to the Bride's training, but that resembles the classic Chinese kung fu movies more than, say, manga stuff. And the flashback means we're still not dealing with a linear storyline - but Vol. 2 is more straightforward in its presentation, at least.
And though the Bride is still metaphorically crossing people off of her hit list, at least here it didn't show her literally crossing off their names, which, come on, really treated the audience as if they were dumb. We can understand the concept of a hit list - thanks, Quentin. That structure, in itself, comes across as rather simplistic - Bride checks the next name, Bride tracks down that person, they have a fight, Bride wins, Bride crosses them off. Listen to They Might Be Giants' track "Particle Man", you get the same idea.
That being said, there were some twists here that shook up the routine a little bit, in Vol. 2 it stopped being that simple. The biggest surprises came when she finally made it to Bill himself - for a while there it looked like they might work things out, but then the film wouldn't really live up to its title, now, would it?
To use another musical metaphor, the two films together remind me of a double-album of sorts. Back in the day a rock band might put out a double album (two records with four sides - kids, ask your parents) and some double albums were regarded as masterpieces, but others were seen as overblown and pretentious. They lead one to speculate whether some tracks could have been eliminated to create a single LP (1 record with two sides) that would be a shorter but more solid work. The best example of many is the Beatles' 1967 work (commonly referred to as the "White Album") - which can be stripped down based on personal preference to form a killer mix. Most people would cut the rambling incoherent "Revolution No. 9", and then probably "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill" and "Wild Honey Pie". You'll probably want to keep "Back in the U.S.S.R.", "Blackbird", "Dear Prudence" and "While My Guitar Gently Weeps", but then it comes down to personal preference, and the debatable qualities of songs like "Sexy Sadie" and "Why Don't We Do It in the Road?"
(see also: George Harrison's "All Things Must Pass", Pink Floyd's "The Wall" and Guns 'N Roses' "Use Your Illusion" I + II)
Without second guessing Tarantino, this leads me to wonder how much padding there is in "Kill Bill" - before separating the story into two films, how long would it have been as a single film? And then how much of the story was added after the decision was made to split the story into two parts? A little research tells me that the whole thing was screened at Cannes before it was bifurcated, and the running time was over four hours. So, I've got to support the decision, it's just unfortunate that most of the filler ended up in Vol. 1, at least in my opinion.
I can understand wanting to pay homage to the martial arts films of the 1960's and 70's - but did it have to be done with the same schlockiness, the same cheezy effects that were in use at the time? The two best franchises, "Star Wars" and "Indiana Jones" films, both had their origin in George Lucas' love of old serials from the 1930's, like "Flash Gordon" - but they were made with the modern special effects of their own time. (then "Star Wars" was remade with the effects of the new millennium) Would they have been as successful if they still had the jump-cuts, lame effects and continuity mistakes of the old serials?
As a comic-book geek, I've got to take issue with Bill's (and, by extension, Tarantino's) take on Superman. In an extended soliloquy, Bill refers to Superman as unique because he IS the hero, and the hero is him. Unlike other superheroes who were mere mortals who gained powers and put on a costume, he started with powers, and then chose to walk among mortals in disguise. So, if anything, Superman is the real identity and Clark Kent is the costume. I've heard this theory before, but there are at least two problems with it. First off, he was raised as Clark Kent, not as Superman - so he's really got this dual heritage where he's both Kryptonian AND human. He's not fully one or the other. Secondly, this doesn't make him unique - I've heard the same theory about Batman, how Bruce Wayne is really the disquise. And what about Wonder Woman? She's really an Amazonian warrior, and Diana Prince is the assumed identity. And what about Thor, Hercules, and countless others?
Now, as for what I'm going to cross off MY hit-list next, I had a plan set up, but then I realized two things. First, that this film is about assassins/hit-men, and I've got a whole chain about them ready to go, and the second concerns someone who made a cameo in this film, and I've got a few of his films lined up as well. Do I stick with my original plan, or shake up the line-up yet again? I suppose it doesn't really matter, both roads are going to end up in the same place about three weeks from now. I'm going to reflect on the matter and make a decision later today.
Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Michael Parks, Chia Hui Liu (all carrying over from "Kill Bill: Vol. 1"), Bo Svenson, Helen Kim, Larry Bishop (son of Joey), and a cameo from Samuel L. Jackson (last seen in "Changing Lanes")
RATING: 6 out of 10 coffin nails
No comments:
Post a Comment