Kill Bill Vol. 2
Anyway, I saw a 12:30 showing of this flick this afternoon. It seemed like it was practically sold out which I was surprised about. I was happy that I arrived plenty early to make sure I got a seat that was good and centery. So I sat there and watched 'The Twenty' (dumb theater programming where they hyped the end of Friends. NBC voice dude said 'There's nothing harder than having to say goodbye to Friends...' Nothing? Really? Nothing?!) Then they ran a commercial for the Marines right after. Dopes.
I had high hopes for KBV2 and secretly hoped it would be the first 5 cookay flick here. But alas nay. I definitely liked this movie alot. But mainly because of the, Flip! Smash! Recenter! Freeze! Quick dialogue. Ha! Thrust! Crash! Kasnap! Grunt! Spring back up! Stare! Ya! Coolio! Quentin's karate is no joke. Some scenes were fantastic. The style shifts were coolio. There was alot of funny. Uma was strong again and most of the acting was top notch top notch. Surprisingly I got the biggest kick out of Darryl Hannah who showed some serious weirdo energy. I usually get nothing from Darryl but in this flick her one eye was furious and sneering. I was like, "Wow look at Darryl's eye!" I settled into this flick happily eating bootleged peanut M&Ms out of the king size bag I bought at Eckerd's..
Alot of this movie is solid. The sound in this movie was great. Certain shots and scenes made my mouth hang open. It's funny and loose. But about halfway through the movie I noticed something was missing. Something that the first movie had throughout. Momentum. V2 unspools with flashbacks and forward back and forth. Scene to scene. Shot to shot it's all good. But I didn't feel it moving. I wasn't gripped by the shirt and yanked into the film head first. I was aware I was watching a movie. The zippy prefab gloss was removed from the Viper Squad and missed. This movie is more gritty and dirty and dirt road. Less primary color and more earth and sky. I was watching and liking but I didn't feel like it was careening to the final showdown. Building till she got her revenge. And wasn't that what this was all about? The killing of the Bill? I didn't hate Bill. I didn't want him dead. He shot the woman carrying his baby while she was in a chapel getting ready to get married. Fine. That's bad news. But give me more to hate him! She hates him! I wanna hate too! Me too! Rage and outrage for me too! Don't forget me!
In the first film her revenge was heartless. Mindless. Clear. Rage drove her through that movie like a truck with a stuck accelerator. This time around emotions blurred the lines. Turns out Bill is sort of sensitive. And has a goodness to him. He's likeable to the point where I was wondering if him and Uma were going to get back together in the end. So that sort of defanged things to a degree and slowed everything down. I enjoyed myself anyway- but down one rung. When the new Chapter cards went up on the screen I felt tingles of psychedness because I really dug all the stories and Quentin and his tricks and passions. But in the end this movie came off feeling a little flat. The dialogue didn't click in and make up for the lack of action with mental oomph. Once in a while during a conversation I was kinda struck with... is this dialogue actually... bad? I guess when push came to shove I really savored the sugary taste of V1 and admired the crunchy taste of V2- but a side of me keeps feeling like these two flavors would have tasted better if it was served as one big movie swirl in the friggin first place.
Three Good Things About This Movie
- The Texas funeral was one of the best things I've seen.
- Darryl was great and funny and the fight scene between her and Uma gave me
whiplash.
- The training sessions with the old chinese dude was way funny. I could have
seen that being a whole movie in itself... almost.
Three Bad Things.
- I got sorta bored and eyerolly at the end.
- I was never really convinced by any of the characters.
- The dart at the end was a dumb unnecessary misfire.
Not to be down on it too much. I am psyched to see it again and watch it like a geek rewinding scenes and moments and digging into extras. But it didn't fly off the rails as I had hoped. I found V2 to be almost too respectable in a way. I was treated like an honored guest. And as the credits rolled I realized I felt surprisingly clean and spiffy sitting upright in my seat... when in my heart I knew I'd rather be slumped way down, all disheveled and breathing hard --feeling like I was just beaten to a pulp.