Kill Bill - Vol. 2 (DVD) > Reviews > Hell Hath No Fury

Author's product rating:   

Did you enjoy it?	Loved it
Story	Good
Characters / Performances	Outstanding
Special Effects	Outstanding
Soundtrack	Good

Advantages:	Stunning
Disadvantages:	None

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

At the end of the original Kill Bill 'The Bride' had struck two assassins from her death list, the infamous Chinese mob boss
O-Ren Ishii and the strong Vernita Green, pay back for them killing her husband and destroying her wedding day, she has to devour two more of the worlds most deadly fighter and she will finally reach her target. She has come a hell of a long way to get to the crime lord who ordered her love dead, and this time she will Kill Bill. What ensues is a frantic meeting of the minds were strength is everything and loyalty means nothing.

The whole premise of Kill Bill is tragic to its core, it is about a woman, who in one day lost everything that she ever cherished, her husband, friends and unborn child only to be shot in the head and sent into a coma for four years. Whilst in her state of nothingness she was raped and beat by doctors, used as a sex toy by paying strangers and left to wake up destroyed, helpless and almost paralyzed by pain both physical and emotional. The problem I had with the original Kill Bill was that we as an audience saw all these events unfolding but never actually felt the immense grief that The Bride went through, we knew that she had been treated despicably yet I never really felt compelled to follow her story or sympathies with her as she seemed void of emotion. In this, Volume Two we are granted some superb characterization that really gets the story flowing and the audience willing to care. We are given loads of fascinating back-story that makes the Bride a three dimensional character and she is allowed to have an emotional centre even if it doesn't come out all that often. Sure we may not always agree with our heroine's motives or actions, but it really doesn't matter as we are so engaged in her journey, so wrapped up in her fight for vengeance that we don't actually care what she does, we feel she has a right to. Here is were Quentin Tarantino really excels, he builds so many layers onto the character that we instantly trust her and regard her as a real person, there is a wonderful sense of humanity and morality to the role which does truly make this film utterly unique, genuinely enjoyable and oddly moving.

One of the main things that sets this apart from other action movies is the compelling relationship between the good guy and the bad one. I loved that their relationship was so hard to define, we are told from the beginning that 'The Bride' wants to kill Bill but in the end you feel as if they know each other inside out and love one another. This leads me to one of the greatest driving forces of the film, no one can be put in a box! there is no-one who is all good or all bad all the characters are complex which makes the film a thrill to watch as you are constantly discovering new things about the players which instantly makes you view the flick differently. All of the emotional bonds that tie the people together are intricate and everyone has their own motives which means that you truly get both sides of the story. When the two leads (The Bride and the infamous Bill) eventually meet it is like a sugar rush to watch how they react to each other and their witty banter is mostly hilarious but occasionally quite touching. It truly is a meeting of the minds and the film manages to build a really epic sense into the final last minutes that makes it stunningly addictive viewing which is odd as not that much happens. It most certainly isn't one of the most exciting showdowns I have seen on film but for some reason I was on the edge of my seat for the last half hour being happily pulled along by the jaw dropping twists and irresistible acting until the inevitable -surprisingly subtle but hugely affecting- final frame.

Somebody give Uma Thurman an Academy Award, my god this is a truly awesome performance that kept me glued to the screen. The Bride isn't a nice or easy character to portray, I should imagine it was physically demanding but the toll it must of took on her emotionally is ridiculous. I don't think I saw her once slip up, she showed superb dedication to her character and seemed to understand her perfectly. It would have been all to easy to play The Bride as a homicidal maniac with no emotional core but Thurman dodged that huge pit hole with surprising dexterity and even enhances upon the superior script adding layers and meaning to her performance. I very much enjoyed her easy chemistry with her co stars and she was truly confident in front of the lens. Physically she did magnificently running around and beating people up, I don't know if it was her or a stunt double but everything she did was seamless and graceful. One scene I must commend her on was the one in which 'The Bride' literally got buried alive. As someone who gets very claustrophobic I couldn't imagine being in the above situation but Thurman brought a raw quality to the scene and by the end I was literally distraught she played that magnificently well. A very well observed, well rounded performance Thurman truly is more than just a pretty face.

Daryl Hannah has the whole evil cow from hell thing down to perfection, she is a deadlier than deadly assassin and she knows it, I love the breezy confidence and undisputable style that she injects into the role and was impressed by the sense of importance she brought to the character. She managed to make her character truly scary but with elegance to spare and her interaction with Thurman was electrifying, a very enjoyable portrayal of the hard nose assassin from hell! Michael Madson fits his sleazy low life character down to the ground, he radiates grubbiness and although his character doesn't get to do much fighting you really feel that he is capable of protecting himself. It is a performance that will now doubt repel most people with his drunken swagger extraordinarily bad language and mean spirited banter. One of the best performances of this highly accomplished film comes from another person though, it comes from the one, the only Bill (A.K.A David Carradine) he doesn't really get very much screen time but when he eventually does he lit up the screen with professionalism and gathered an unmatchable chemistry with his leading lady, I thought he dealt with the many twists in the plot well, keeping the film well paced and flowing. He brought a lot of emotion to a man seemingly without any and perfectly embodied his pivotal role.

Both the Kill Bills are very heavily stylized but personally I much preferred the overall look of this one, it is less wacky but much more stylish with a lot of class, this volume truly is 'The Grow Up' one. We are first introduced with an enchanting alternative history that is presented all in black and white which really helps enhance the ominous mood. After that we get the now infamous scene were Thurman drives along in the car telling the audience about her life and her future plans, I don't know why but this struck me as very Hitchcockish (A very good thing). I have always loved black and white, I think it adds a sense of drama that colours could never, Tarantino knows what works visually and here he gets the tone just right. Colours here are less for show and more to evoke emotions or feelings. There are a lot of duller colours which sets the audience up with a thrilling finally, were a bold colour pallet is used to trigger the audience for a death match. Overall the lighting is perfect often forming shadows which again help to build the mega atmosphere that envelopes the whole production, the previously mentioned coffin scene (still shaking!) is clever as the only light source is a torch which makes it truly edge of your seat stuff.

I am going to shock the world and say that I think this is Quentin Tarantino's most accomplished movie, it has all his trademark quirkiness and all the beautifully formed characters that fans will be used to, but Kill Bill volume two is a lot deeper, it feel like a true epic and he directs it very much like someone would a thriller. Sure there is gore but it is not the overpowering factor in the film (unlike the first Bill) there is a lot of tension throughout and the whole story is very intriguing. I loved that he wasn't afraid to experiment with time, he managed to frequently switch timelines but keep the film from becoming disjointed (not a mean feet) and he really paced the whole film out well. The main thing I enjoyed was the way he set up the confrontation between Bill and his beautiful enemy, It stopped being a straight action film and became a truly touching, involving finale that took me by surprise with its powerful sentimentality. The screenplay that Quentin also wrote is masterful, it perfectly mixes high octane action sequences with true, raw emotion weaving one of the most memorable and imaginative action adventures of all time. The characterization id leaps and bounds ahead of the original and a wonderful sense of foreboding is created throughout.

There was decidedly less fight sequences in this compared to the blood soaked original, but what fighting there was seemed somehow more effecting than anything in the first installment. The confrontations seemed to be a lot less frantic and more epic and I thought the fighting styles were greatly improved. Every death is inventive and there is something strangely satisfying about seeing someone stabbed, shot, buried and mauled yet still come back for more 'The Bride' truly brings new meaning to the word hard. I have to admit that I found her training in the Chinese orientated bit a little bit over the top, but apart from that I thought that all the physical stunts were believable and devilishly creative.

Overall, I was stunned by Kill Bill volume 2, after watching the first installment and not being blown away I wasn't expecting much. This is much more mature than the original and works as a breath of fresh air in the crowded action genre, it has the exciting action but mixes it masterfully with raw emotion to make a touching epic that more than surpassed my expectations. A real fun film that is well acted .

DVD Special Features:

Featurette - 1. The Making Of Kill Bill - Volume 2
2. CHINGON Performance from the KILL BILL VOL 2 Premiere
Deleted Scene: Damoe

You Can Buy Kill Bill Volume 2 From Amazon For:

£7.97 ASIN:B0002849JI

Quotes:

Elle Driver: [to Budd, as he is dying] Now in these last agonizing minutes of life you have left, let me answer the question you asked earlier more thoroughly. Right at this moment, the biggest "R" I feel is Regret. Regret that maybe the greatest warrior I have ever known, met her end at the hands of a bushwhackin, scrub, alky piece of s**t like you. That woman deserved better.

Bill: I suppose the traditional way to conclude this is, we cross Hanzo swords. Well, it just so happens, this hacienda comes with its very own private beach. And this private beach just so happens to look particularly beautiful bathed in moonlight. And there just so happens to be a full moon out tonight. So, swordfighter, if you want to sword fight, that's where I suggest. But if you wanna be old school about it - and you know I'm all about old school - then we can wait till dawn, and slice each other up at sunrise, like a couple real-life, honest-to-goodness samurais.

The Bride: Looked dead, didn't I? But I wasn't. But it wasn't from lack of trying, I can tell you that. Actually, Bill's last bullet put me in a coma - A coma I was to lie in for four years. When I woke up, I went on what the movie advertisements refer to as a 'roaring rampage of revenge.' I roared. And I rampaged. And I got bloody satisfaction. I've killed a hell of a lot of people to get to this point, but I have only one more. The last one. The one I'm driving to right now. The only one left. And when I arrive at my destination, I am gonna kill Bill.

Thankyou You All For Reading
 

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