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KILL
BILL: VOLUME 2
AKA:
Kill Bill: Vol. Two
Year:
2003 Reviewer: Pat
King
When
Quentin Tarantino announced he would make a Kung Fu revenge
epic in excess of three hours, Miramax were unimpressed. A
compromise was reached that it would be released in two parts
making it much more commercially appealing to the studio. 'Kill
Bill: Volume 1' came as a disappointment to many Tarantino
fans, owing to a lack of character depth and poor dialogue. It
certainly seemed a far cry from his previous works 'Reservoir
Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction' and the underrated 'Jackie Brown'. 'Kill
Bill: Volume 2' is the continuation of the overrated 'Kill
Bill: Volume 1' in which Beatrix Kiddo (Uma Thurman) exacts
her revenge on the remaining targets on her hit list. Drawing
inspiration more from the Sergio Leone Spaghetti Westerns as
opposed to the Japanese chambara films, and a return to his
trademark style, it promised to be a return to a more tried
and tested ground that he had tread so very well before.
'Kill
Bill: Volume 2' was referred to by Tarantino himself as the
part which would flesh out all the characters. For the most
part this is true. Especially in the case of Bill (David
Carradine). A lot of effort has been put into making his
character despicable while at the same time strangely
likeable. However as the story is followed from the point of
view of Beatrix Kiddo, it could be argued that the
characterisation for this character is paramount. Here arises
a problem. While in volume 1 the audience roots for her being
the wronged party. However, through the frequent flashbacks it
becomes evident that her character lacks any real personality.
This may have been a brave conscious decision on Tarantino's
part, but ultimately it serves to become the films undoing.
This results in having a lead protagonist which we no longer
care about, taking revenge on a character who despite all his
wrongdoings (lest us not forget that Beatrix herself is a cold
blooded killer), has a personality, is eloquent and boasts
charisma, making him much more interesting. As a result the
ending becomes an anti-climax emotionally. Tarantino attempts
to entice the audience into empathising with her in the
closing moments but there is no empathy to be had.
Not
only is the ending an emotional anti-climax, it also fails to
deliver a fitting action set piece. Originally there was
supposed to be a swordfight on the beach under the moonlight,
but when filming over ran Harvey Weinstein insisted for it to
be cut back. What now remains is barely 15 seconds of
uninspired choreography and a brief dialogue reference to the
duel that was originally scripted.
Tarantino
tries to re-instate his trademark snappy dialogue which was
woefully absent from volume 1. The result is a mixed bag. At
it's worst it is weak and self-indulgent, but even at it's
best it doesn't even compare to the dialogue present in
'Reservoir Dogs', 'Pulp Fiction', 'Jackie Brown', 'True
Romance' or 'From Dusk Till Dawn', all of which Tarantino
boasts writing credits for.
The
stand out sequence in volume 2 has to be the flashback with
Pai Mei (Liu Chia Hui). Fans of the Shaw Brothers classics
will be familiar with Lo Lieh's representation of the same
character in 'Executioners
From Shaolin' and 'Fists
of the White Lotus', the latter of which Liu Chia Hui
played the lead. It is fitting then that in his more
distinguished years he should play the same character he
fought in 'Fists of the White Lotus', more that twenty years
later. It is quite a show stealing performance as Liu does a
fine job playing the larger than life character of Pai Mei.
There is a downside to this sequence however and that is the
presence of Uma Thurman. Liu is very restrained in the fight
the two characters engage in. Despite this Uma still looks
unconvincing as a martial artist affecting the credibility of
the sequence in question. This is no fault of Uma's as she is
clearly the wrong choice for an on screen martial artist in
spite of her best efforts. But having said that it would be
difficult to find a western actress who could pull it off
convincingly.
Over
the course of volume 1 and 2, I can't help but find Uma
Thurman's performance somewhat lacking. This could of course
be partially down to the poor dialogue she is faced with but
David Carradine on the other hand is sublime as Bill. Samuel
L. Jackson has a small almost non-existent cameo but even for
those few moments he owns the screen. A mention must also go
to the excellent performances from Bo Svenson, Larry Bishop
and last, but by no means least, Michael Parks.
This
is the first film from Tarantino to feature an original music
score courtesy of Robert Rodriguez. And a fine score it is
too, which complements the Ennio Morricone score with which it
is juxtaposed.
'Kill
Bill: Volume 1' was inferior to all three of Tarantino's
previous directorial efforts. However it was still a pretty
entertaining revenge flick. 'Kill Bill: Volume 2' on the other
hand came across as fairly gratuitous. It probably would have
been best to add a proper ending to volume 1 as much of volume
2 was unnecessary.
After
a seven year absence behind the camera there were high
expectations for Tarantino's 'Kill Bill' project. Expectations
that he was unable to live up to. On it's release 'Kill Bill:
Volume 1' was Tarantino's weakest film. Now that honour goes
to 'Kill Bill: Volume 2'. One might wonder if this dog has had
his day, only time will tell.
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