Anyway, saw it tonight and wasn't nearly as impacted as by the first one. (Which I absolutely LOVED, for the record.) Actually, I was somewhat disappointed by it. It still had its great moments, though. (Particularly the Bride/Elle fight and Bill's "Superman" monologue, and really most of the stuff between Bill and the Bride towards the end.)
The pacing/editing wasn't as tight as the first installment, and there was much less "ass kicking" as well. I thought the opening was a little weak compared with that of its predecessor, and at least some of the Pai Mei (aka Yoda) was extraneous, though it did tie into the main plot at the end. What were definitely non-essential and non-plot-oriented were Micheal Madsen's early scenes, before *BEEEEEP* (we do learn it in this one though ) shows up.
The reviewer in my local paper noted that there's such a different tone to the second part that it's difficult to beleive Tarantino ever seriously considered releasing both volumes as one film. I would agree. Much like the two Matrix sequels, the follow-up depends upon its predecessor but then fails to uphold it satisfactorily.
This is all strictly IMHO, of course, and perhaps I'm being a bit too harsh, but these are my first impressions.
-MMoM
[ April 16, 2004, 11:23 PM: Message edited by: The Mighty Monkey of Mim ]
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
It premiers next friday in Sweden, I'll get back to you sometime after that.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I saw this and The Punisher on Thursday night.
I really liked both: for diffrent reasons.
Punisher has some of the strangest surreal moments on any vigilante film ever (like being seranaded by a hitman in a diner) and in contrast, Kill Bill II was pretty tame (considring I expected more of the first movie's strangness). BIll's Superman commentary was great: a whole new perspective. I liked it though.....more as it's own movie than as the second half of the first one.
$$$$$$$$SPOILERS!$$$$$$$$$$
Best part was how she dealt with Daryl Hanna. Biggest let-down was how Bud died....although both those scenes were performed very nicely.
Really, I was most impresed with how Tarintino eeked great acting from both Darly Hannah and David Carridine: both usually have the range of plywood.
As to Punisher: go see it for Travolta's performance as a mobster that has his life dismantled by a vigilante with a brain (as opposed to the prior Punisher movie).
If yo go looking for a fun flick, it'll be good to you but if you want to pick something apart: there's plenty of little things that are pure bullshit (like zero traffic in daytime at a drawbridge in downtown Tampa!- or the lack of any police response to shootouts in office buildings, apartment buildings, beachfront property, upscale nightclubs, etc.)
If you're a fan of the comic, the origin is a bit diffrent but at least one great scene is directly from the War Journal comic.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
I liked that the Russian and that pierced boy is in, I wonder if Soap is there too...
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Well, I liked the second part just as much as the first.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Ambiguity becomes you, Mr. Sizer.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
Which is to say a lot. Honest.
Posted by Nim (Member # 205) on :
Hold on, he might actually mean that he liked the first part, and also the second part. Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
I too thought Volume II wasn't quite as good as Volume I. Not because it had less action and gore, but it just seemed off. I really would have much rather have seen it all as one big long movie, since they might have eliminated such useless parts as the anime sequence showing the entire past of O-ren Ishii and like you mentioned, the parts with Bud at the strip club.
Also, for a final fight, it was rather mundane compared to what we had seen before.
Posted by Bond, James Bond (Member # 1127) on :
I agree. I would have preferred a longer single movie as opposed to a seperate part two. It just didn't have the appeal of the first movie. Granted I went into it with such high expectations because I loved Volume One but it just felt as if we were getting the leftovers.
The build-up to the Bill duel was so huge and ultimately the reality of the fight was mediocre at best.
The live burial was creepy, the alternate take on Superman was inciteful and Tarantino dialogue at it's best, the fight with Elle was excellent, but the movie fell short. I would still recommend it but if your looking for the same kind of over the top martial arts action like the first movie it's not to be found in "Kill Bill: Volume Two".
I also saw "The Punisher" (Kill Bill was sold out Friday night so I had to see it on Sunday) and that was awesome. A very faithful adaptation of the spirit of the comics that completely eliminates the bad stench left by the horrible Dolph Lundgren version. John Travolta is a great bad guy and doesn't go over the top in his "evil guy" delivery as he sometimes tends to do.
The fight against "The Russian" was great and done in a way that made it funny and the very "El Mariache" like assassin was cool as well. I especially liked that there was almost zero CGI in the movie except for one sequence at the very end and in that case the CGI only enhanced the movie.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Two complete bullshit moments in both Kill Bill II and The Punisher.
Surviving double barreled shotgun blasts to the chest from point blank range. Punisher has an obvious kevlar vest that wouldnt have saved him and Uma has....umm..breasts? Yeah. Bud says it's rocksalt, but having been shot in the leg once with rocksalt (and at pretty long distance!) I can attest to more than just the "stinging" bud describes.
Both revenge-seekers are back in top form before too long -minutes for Punisher and less than an hour for Uma -she was even bleeding through her leather outfit but still managed to... ...fuck it.
Just a movie, after all. (deep breaths-happy thoughts)
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: ....but having been shot in the leg once with rocksalt (and at pretty long distance!) I can attest to more than just the "stinging" bud describes.
Wait, WHAT? You've got to expand on this one. I'm sure I'm not the only one interested in why you got shot!
B.J.
Posted by Cartman (Member # 256) on :
Or wether his leg was really the target. B)
Posted by Toadkiller (Member # 425) on :
Oh come on, do we really have any doubt why he got shot?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
Waaaay back in the day, I ran off (with friends) from *reform school* so I could attend both the Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden concerts that week.
Yes, Bon Jovi...the shame of it.
The school was in a BFE area called The Redlands (kinda far southwest of Miami) and we had to cross many farmer's fields to get to the local gas station and call my friend's sister to pick us up. Crossing one of these fields we were shot at by some yokel (there were occasional Klan rallys not far from the school and i've always attributedit to some klansman).
I've been told it was just Rocksalt but it ripped a hole in my pantsleg, gave me a pretty deep gash on my calf. I might've only been graze4d by buckshot or something- I dont really know.
My pal Todd got nailed in the shoulder but was only scraped up, so mabe its not lethal, but Uma got two barrells point blank in her chest!
I'd have been out for the count.
That's the only time I've ever actually been stot at (though only one of three times I've had a gun drawn on me).
Posted by Pensive's Wetness (Member # 1203) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: Waaaay back in the day, I ran off (with friends) from *reform school* so I could attend both the Bon Jovi and Iron Maiden concerts that week.
Yes, Bon Jovi...the shame of it.
Just shows your age, that's all really. Maybe some leg action too, but that's up to you. Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I was ....um....fourteen, I think.
Posted by Topher (Member # 71) on :
And you're how old now?
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
I'll be 31 on July fourth.
....so...old.
Posted by B.J. (Member # 858) on :
You're a year OLDER than me? Yet another example of how you can't tell a person's age online...
B.J.
Posted by Captain Mike XLVII (Member # 709) on :
quote:Originally posted by B.J.: Yet another example of how you can't tell a person's age online...
B.J.
this is probably one of the least illegal cases of online age revelation i've ever been involved in.
Posted by Mucus (Member # 24) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jason Abbadon: I'll be 31 on July fourth.
What?? He's almost 31?
Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
Jason, give us back our threads.
Posted by Jason Abbadon (Member # 882) on :
quote:Originally posted by Nim the Fanciful: Jason, give us back our threads.
You're saying I stole your clothes now?
Such accusations!
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
Well I've read a few of the first couple of comments in this thread. I just came home from seeing it. I was NOT disappointed! I was excited and thrilled and AGAIN loved every single SECOND of Kill Bill vol. 2 - just as I did Kill Bill vol. 1.
Just everything. So cool.
I was worried about how Elle Driver's bit would turn out as the character just seemed like some ditsy blonde in the first one (although sadistic still now that you look back). The Darryl Hanna (Elle) bit was really well done. I really didn't know what was going to happen from one minute to the next - in every bit.
There were lots of cool bits - yes it didn't have the... "FULL ON KICK BUTT" of the first movie - but if it was a clone of the first movie I would have been VERY disappointed.
The spirit of the first movie is kept - of course - and the homages that are peppered throughout the movie were laugh-out-loud funny. And the soundtrack is fantastic.
Loved it completely.
5 stars!
Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
Saw it tonight. It was good, very clean.
$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ I thought it was a bit illogical that Uma's chest showed no scarring from the rocksalt treatment, and she showed her whole upper chest when sitting in Bill's couch.
The Elle-fight was good, loved all the bits with the White Lotus master. At one point, it did look like Thurman did a high-freeze kick, in the "training"-scene.
I was a bit disappointed that Bill never got to fully show his mettle, at first I thought he faked the last "slump down and die"-bit. My friend thought that Carradine probably didn't "have it" anymore, but if they could make Uma's stough look passable, then damn!
A pity Madsen never got to take the sword out of his golf-bag and use it himself, but hey, who are we kidding? Madsen with a sword?
The end credits showed a lot of the first movie's action, it really felt like Tarantino had meant for it to be one whole movie. And I would've preferred that, actually. I've gone through the "LOTR" full-lengthers and all their extra material, it's all downhill from here. I'm as broken in as a Saigon hooker on July 4th, 1975.
By the way, I stayed through the end credits, must've been 15 minutes, the easter egg was fun I guess.
Anyway, loved the Kill Bill project. 5 eyeballs out of 5.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
It's a fantasy based on Kung Fu movies where people fly!
Scaring doesn't matter.
I thought if was pretty good. The two together work pretty well. The first sets up the action and the second draws the characters more deeply.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
What was the Easter-egg?? I was going to stay ALL the way - but when the black-and-white credits started i left... are you referring to the lines through the character's names and the question mark through Elle's?
Oh and Bud's character seemed VERY sympathetic... we we first see him I was thinking - is she going to kill this burnt out bum?? Or maybe have sympathy etc. Then boom! he shoots her - and he turned into one of the worst of the lot.
Actually they were all sadistic and wrong. Just in different ways. Like I said, I thought Elle's bit might have been a let down, a bit week - but she was an ABSOLUTE EVIL BITCH!
Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
AndrewAre: "are you referring to the lines through the character's names and the question mark through Elle's?"
No, I'm talking about the very end, there's an outtake from the "House of Blue Leaves"-shoot.
I thought the Bill-"fight" was more of a letdown than Elle's, they boxed chinese for damn near three minutes!
Jay: "Scaring doesn't matter."
Um, did you see Uma during the fight with Elle at all? She had all kinds of injuries from their early fisticuffs. They do pay close attention to these details, they just seemed to've missed the "rocksalt to tits" one. :.)
The only other explanation would be that there's a time lapse of about ten months for her to heal, between the Elle-fight and her conversation with the "mexpimp-who-she-should've-shot-on-general-fucking-principle".
The end credits were funny, when at last they came to Bill's name, they just showed his body on the lawn, like "Yeah, he ain't going nowhere...". Nice, black humor.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
And after all the blows to the head no one has bruising.
What I�m saying is that it doesn�t matter.
This movie has as much to do with reality and continuity as Pai Mei standing on Beatrix Kiddo�s sword has to do with actual physics.
Suspend your disbelief, put the continuity bug away and enjoy.
Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
Didn't you read my last line? I am enjoying! Don't worry about it.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
Excellent.
Let us continue in love and understanding. Posted by The359 (Member # 37) on :
OK, now you two kiss and make up...
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
I refuse to kiss a turnip.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
quote:Originally posted by Jay the Obscure: This movie has as much to do with reality and continuity as Pai Mei standing on Beatrix Kiddo�s sword has to do with actual physics.
And Pai Mei being 1000 years old? Didn't Bill say that whole thing with the 5 punch-exploding heart thing he did back when the Shaolin monk didn't recognise his gesture of nodding his head back in 'one double-oh eight'??
Oh and the out take - should have stayed! Can you give us a description!?!
Posted by Nim the Fanciful (Member # 205) on :
You will kiss a turnip and you will like it.
AndrewR: Well it's funnier if you get to watch it yourself, maybe when the DVD comes out, but I can say this; it's the scene of her eye-gouging one of the 88:ers. It's not that big an outtake or anything, just a nice comment by Uma.
$$$$$$$$$$$ I must confess to be a bit of a cretin, when she dropped Elle's eye on the carpet, I was like "Step on it! Step on it! Yaaay!!"
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
That was SOOOOOO squishy - biggest potential for gross-outedness in many a movie for a while! It was great - yet disgusting and the image stuck with me for a while after that scene leaving me giggling well into the next
LOVE these movies.
Hopefully there will be a boxed set come out when KB:vol2 comes out and I'll get both then. These movies are 'keepers'.
Posted by The_Tom (Member # 38) on :
Tarantino's reportedly going to release an all-in-one re-edit of both films at Cannes. Hopefully that'll turn up on DVD.
Posted by Jay the Obscure (Member # 19) on :
Well, look who the cat dragged in.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
I am normally all for (properly labeled) special editions of films, given proper warning. But Miramax is planning something like 7 or 8 different versions of Kill Bill. Which is, you know, kind of excessive. I am all for extra bonus things, so I'll probably buy one of the Better Than Your Neighbor Editions, but still.
Posted by AndrewR (Member # 44) on :
7 or 8!?! Of just the one volume?
of both - that's 3 or four of each.
Can be explained:
Vol 1: 1. Rental 2. Retail 3. Retail special ed.
Vol 2: 4. Rental 5. Retail 6. Retail special ed.
Vol 1 & Vol 2
7. Individual boxed set
possibly
8. Edited together Kill Bill. Vol.s 1 and 2.
Posted by Sol System (Member # 30) on :
![[Roll Eyes]](rolleyes.gif)
![[Razz]](tongue.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)
) shows up.![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Confused]](confused.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
Yet another example of how you can't tell a person's age online...![[Smile]](smile.gif)