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Kill Bill Volume 2 (2004)
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It’s so great to see someone loved by such a wide audience point Americans to the wonderful world of Asian cinema. Tarantino manages to reach a vast audience that includes action fans and indie film fans alike, and uses this force for good. In Kill Bill Volumes one and two, Tarantino nods to Asian directors like Kenji Misumi, whose film Shogun Assassin was the main influence for the Tokyo bloodbath in volume one, and many other Asian filmmakers including Kinji Fukasaku (Battle Royale) and Takashi Miike (Ichi the Killer). Along with the Asian references are many classic western ones, including a Charles Bronson poster in the background of one scene; the casting of David Carradine, famous for his Asian and western roles (and he plays the bamboo flute, no less!); and a healthy dose of Mexican music.
If you haven't seen the first volume, the story begins with The Bride and the wedding party in a Texas chapel, getting shot up by Bill and his gang. The Bride (pregnant) gets shot in the head, but lives and goes into a coma, to awake four years later with a vengence and makes the list (seen in the picture to the left). It's not absolutely imperative that you see the first to comprehend what's going on in the second, but it's much better as a whole - being that it is one story.
Tarantino didn’t even try to outdo fight scenes from volume one like the Tokyo fight scene at the House of Blue Leaves mentioned above, but gave us a lot more of the storyline and character development. I didn’t find myself cringing near as much as I did in the first, which was cartoonishly bloody but still made me cringe, nonetheless. But there are a couple parts that are just so plain nasty that they elicited from me some cringes as well as some laughs at their absurdity.
The character development is this film is delivered more through actions that dialogue, since it’s filled with classic Tarantino one-liners, but it’s not devoid of in-depth conversations. The audience gets to see how different characters changed (or weren’t affected) since the chapel massacre. For instance, we see how Budd (Sidewinder) played by Michael Madsen, leads a pathetic life due to being rapt with guilt. He hasn’t touched his most prized sword since, he works as a bouncer in a strip club and takes degrading verbal blows from his superior, and spends most of his time lounging in his trailer home. He even states that he deserves to die after what they did. At the opposite spectrum is Elle Driver (California Mountain Snake), played by Daryl Hannah, who is itching for a sword fight with The Bride and seems to have no remorse whatsoever. Then there’s Bill, a loveable character whose sentiments aren’t so black and white. We also get to see the character who teaches the other characters their exquisite moves, martial arts master Pai Mei, modeled after the classic master figure, but not so archetypal that he isn’t loved by the audience, in fact, he may be one of the most loved characters in the film.
Tarantino’s exuberant passion for doing what he does bursts from every scene of this, so that you’re left with the crux of the human condition, it has it’s funny moments, reverent moments, painful moments, touching moments, and since it is a revenge movie, vengeful moments. He touches on the heart of these qualities while delivering a fascinatingly entertaining film. After seeing what he does with his Asian influences and his impeccable taste in them, I cannot wait to see the upcoming film presented by Tarantino, and produced and directed by Zhang Yimou, Hero (check out the trailer) - a film that wouldn't have made it to a theatre near me without the "Tarantino" name on it - and hope these films bring a lot of deserving Asian films into the spotlight.
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