A Review by Phil Calabro
*** #8 - TOP 10 IN 2004 ***
2004, Miramax/A Band Apart/Universal, Dir. Quentin Tarantino - Starring Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu, Michael Parks, Bo Svenson, Jeannie Epper, Stephanie L. Moore, Caitlin Keats, Christopher Allen Nelson, Samuel L. Jackson
Let the record show my critical resume of Quentin Tarantino: I was repulsed by the overly-cruel and senseless 'Reservoir Dogs', I was never struck by the so-called brillance of 'Pulp Fiction', I liked 'Jackie Brown' to a degree, and found 'Kill Bill Volume 1' to be a tad overstylized and incoherent. Certainly, we were given the plotline of the first installment of this series, but once it was finished, you realized that nothing monumental was accomplished other than the fact that eighty-eight Asian mafiosos were slaughtered by one nameless bride. Unsatisfied moviegoers will complain about a lack of violence, film critics who are and aren't impressed by Tarantino's former works will learn to love this. Uma Thurman does kick a sufficient amount of ass in this round, but a lot of time is covered to expose her inner weakness - her feelings for Bill and how they were soon transformed into total revenge. Revenge, the theme of these movies, is really analyzed this time around, and the tangents some people will cross to plot against their cohorts.
The Bride (Thurman) has finished knocking off O-Ren Ishi (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) off her hit list, and all that's left is Bill's chauvinistic younger brother Budd (Madsen), also known as Sidewinder, and the cyclopic assassin Elle Driver (Hannah), or California Mountain Snake. At first, we're given a full account of what happened on the Bride's wedding day, and how she got in contact with Bill before the wildfire began. Then we watch as she travels around the country searching for Budd, who has been warned by Bill that she is coming after him. But in the meantime, Elle is coming towards Budd hoping to collect the winnings of a bet she makes - that Budd would kill the Bride before she arrives. The chaos ensues as she slowly but surely makes her way to killing Bill.
Uma Thurman sizzles as the Bride in every minute of this movie. Not because she's attractive, but because she finally gets to open up emotionally about her death wish for Bill - not as much pugnacity, but dialogue. She will whip out his Hattori Hanzo authentic sword every now and then for an old-fashionable slicefest, but it's a bit more respectful to the character than making her look like a bad interpretation of women's lib. David Carradine does no more than play himself, but it works miraculously. He has the same soft-spoken tone from 'Kung Fu', not to mention the ruthlessness of a kung-fu master. Although he doesn't have enough screentime in the first half of this movie, he dominates the finale with a very artistic edge. Daryl Hannah gets a big encore as the cruel dominatrix-like killer Elle. She darkens the scene once she steps up, the rational stereotype of the evil woman, as ELO would quaintly put. With her striking beauty and cold heart, Hannah creates a great contrast.
Tarantino is described as being a 'groundbreaking' director with 'innovative features' - all which I call style. Now he makes 'Kill Bill', a series that could be composed of nothing but style and still be raved about by critics. But for some reason, he recognizes that there should be a soul to our characters. In particular, he gives Thurman plenty of occasions in which she reveals how she mastered the arts of swordfighting - from the cruel teachings of Pai Mei (played by the brilliant martial arts star Gordon Liu, a veteran). Although it's a tad flamboyant in its depiction, it shows the mental breakdown of the Bride. When the time came to fight the ones who betrayed her, the anger pent up inside of her explodes. She realizes that the one who betrayed her is Bill - but the one who helped her learn the ways of dealing with her anger...was also Bill. A conflict begins between the opposing sides of her emotions.
Sure, it's stylized, but it's got plenty of substance. Tarantino has won me over through Kill Bill Volume 2, not by the fact that he knows a lot about swords, but he can give a good cross-analysis of human emotions. Uma Thurman is striking as the Bride, and has a whole pack of excellent villains to deal with - it's to date Tarantino's best work, and one of the year's best as well.
