LogFAQs > #974474318

Well, was in lockdown all afternoon due to the Canadian Miasma returning. Could not go outside, so I decide... why not watch one of the longest movies on THE LIST? Namely, a certain two-parter I was eager to see.

Kill Bill (2003-04)
Written and directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Lucy Liu, Darryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, Vivica A. Fox, Julie Dreyfus
Previous status: Clips only

"Silly Caucasian girl likes to play with samurai swords."

This was a four-hour trip, that's for sure. There were highs, there were lows, but the satisfaction was most certainly in the swordplay and kick-assery, not in the actual plot. The plot is pretty one-dimensional - The Bride wants revenge on the people who killed her groom-to-be, her friends, and the witnesses (which included a Samuel L. Motherfucking Jackson cameo that flew by me, since the black and white threw me). Tarantino really used his friends to the fullest here, and anyone else who was along for the ride.

The best fight sequence was easily at the end of Volume 1, when The Bride takes on 80ish yakuza thugs at once (after taking out a few others already) and still manages to win (appears that took eight weeks to film, because Tarantino realized just how great it was). Sure, most of the survivors lost an arm or part of a leg, and I'm not sure what was a worse fate for someone Japanese. Traditionally, the samurai would rather die, as Lucy Liu alludes to with the above quote. Japan is big on the honor and Tarantino put a lot of effort into depicting the culture accurately; the only issue I saw was that Gogo was driving on the wrong side of the car for Japan (Sofie, on the other hand, was not - and The Bride actually showed her some mercy as a pawn). Lucy Liu's character Oren Ishii overtaking the yakuza was just BOSS. And how she beheaded a guy who dare mock her was just as cool as I remembered. She commanded an army of rats, which The Bride took care of with her Hanzo steel easily. He had one hell of a reputation, obviously.

There's humor to be found here alongside the badass fight choreography. "My name's Buck, and I'm here to fuck." for instance, when him and his creepo buddy enjoyed raping The Bride in her coma. Both of them got what they deserved. A lot of these people got what they deserved. That said, like Eyeless Elle said about The Bride, "she deserved better than to be bested" by Budd, who also had a lame death. Eyeless Elle also gave Pai Mei a weird comeuppance, for being a racist, sexist prick (I also did not believe his age.... or Vivica's kid, for that matter. BB was closer, but was still obviously 6 y/o, not 4). Eyeless Elle, however, got an amusing comeuppance, with her second eye being plucked out and her looking everywhere for anything, not knowing what to do, as her snake friend slithered toward her. Delicious.

I do gotta say that the best part was the use of lighting and black and white effects during the fight sequences (which helped make the yakuza brawl even better), plus a little split screen in the trailer (that fight was great, too - the self-swirly was hilarious). That made them more memorable and gripping. The Matrix rip-off parts were fine - a fad of the time, since. The use of anime/manga style cut-ins in the Japanese sequences was great. The Bride is a great character - well-rounded and as perfect of an assassin as you can get, but not without weaknesses or traumas. For example, she underestimated Budd, who, opposite of Oren, was hard to find but easy to kill... she just needed to be sneakier than barging in through his trailer door.

Bill was interesting as a villain in that he was unseen for all of Vol. 1, then in Vol. 2 he just shows up right away and we're presumed to know him. He's smarmy, but not a horrible person. He admits he overreacted while The Bride is under the truth serum, where she admits the truth about leaving was for the sake of her unborn daughter. Why didn't he just ask her back then? Seriously. No reason to kill everyone. NONE.

My issue with Volume 2 was that it was a lot talkier than the first, which put more emphasis on badassery; the training montage with Pai Mei felt unnecessarily long as well since it didn't offer as much development as others I've seen. Still, I don't see how Tarantino could've cut four hours into two and a half, possibly even less since [REDACTED] suggested that he split it into two two-hour affairs. It works best as a single entity, and that's why I'm glad I watched them back-to-back.

That said, the ending was kind of disappointing. She hardly even fights Bill, and he just keels over. The end. She got her wish, but was it satisfying for her? But hey, at least her daughter got to come with her. That's a good thing (not sure how the guns didn't wake the kid, though).

Vol 1: 5/5, gold
Vol 2: 4/5

More soon!