Kill Bill, Vol. 2

Before looking at part two of Quentin Tarantino’s latest, a quick catch-up is in order for those who haven’t seen Kill Bill, Vol. 1 (now available on DVD).

Bill (David Carradine) is the founder and head of the Deadly Viper Assassination Squad (DiVAS), a group of highly trained murderers. Each has a code-name for a different species of poisonous snake: O’Ren-Ishii (Lucy Lui) is dubbed Cottonmouth, Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah) is California Mountain Snake, Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) is Copperhead, Bill’s brother Budd (Michael Madsen) is Sidewinder.

The most talented member of DiVAS is also Bill’s lover. The woman code-named Black Mamba (Uma Thurman) sees her life change instantly when she learns she is pregnant with his child. No longer wishing to take lives or put her own in danger, she slips away from the Viper Squad and moves to a small town, where she meets a well-balanced guy who asks her to marry him.

She says yes, only to learn that escape from the squad — from Bill — is not so simple. Bill and the Vipers strike during the wedding rehearsal, killing everyone in their sight. Incredibly, The Bride, who is left for dead, survives. After a long, often nightmarish recovery, she sets out to exact vengeance on her former colleagues. Bill will be the last to die.

What she does not know is that her daughter is alive.

Which brings us to Kill Bill, Vol. 2. SPOILER ALERT: THE FOLLOWING REVEALS THE BASIC PLOT OF THE FILM. The Bride continues working through her list towards Bill. END SPOILER ALERT.

Last year, I described Vol. 1 as an adrenaline rush somehow transformed into a 90-minute movie. The 136-minute Vol. 2 is a more grounded affair. Those who enjoyed the kinetic whoosh of Vol. 1, but missed the quirky conversations that made Tarantino famous will find them here. Well, sorta. The Bride and Bill enjoy two conversations, one at the beginning of the film and the other at the end. Numerous characters get the chance to render an opinion or share a story. To his credit, Tarantino makes sure that as many players as possible get their moment in the spotlight.

But the words are less memorable. Tarantino buffs can quote entire passages from his previous films, but they will have to look harder here to find material worth committing to memory. There’s a monologue about superheroes and their alter egos that is reminiscent of pop-culture reference heavy exchanges from earlier Tarantino films, but the observations made are more pedestrian than one would hope for.

I understand that Tarantino maintains that his goal here is simply to make a Shaw Brothers-style martial arts revenge flick like the ones he grew up watching in grind-house theaters in the ’70s. Still, I miss those big, juicy conversations about junk culture minutiae.

While Vol. 2 is far more down to earth than its predecessor (I’m tempted to use a qualified version of the term “laid-back,” but that just doesn’t work), there are enough fight scenes to satisfy action fans. The battles are fierce, sharp, beautifully choreographed and occasionally otherworldly. As should come as no surprise, there are sadistic moments as well. If you are squeamish, avert your eyes when you see the fight between Uma Thurman and Darryl Hannah reach the hand-to-hand level, and keep them averted until you hear the theater audience groan.

The music, while not quite as flashy as in Vol. 1, is still remarkably effective and well-placed. Credit RZA and Robert Rodriguez for the score. Though I loved hearing the ambulance-sirens-to-orchestra sample of Quincy Jones’ melodramatic “Theme from Ironside” make a return appearance, my favorite music moment comes late in the film, when The Bride walks through a quiet house late at night. A soothing song begins, with the vocals sounding electronically stretched out. After a few lines are sung, a smooth transition is made to “She’s Not There” by the Zombies, my all-time favorite band. Colin Blunstone’s vocals and Rod Argent’s keyboards also sound electronically stretched, making the gorgeous song seem even more ethereal. The soundtrack switches between the two songs twice, allowing enough time to savor the pairing.

Visuals in the film continue the pop culture referencing. For the most part, Vol. 2 moves from the look of martial arts films to that of the western, particularly the Sergio Leone variety. Cinematographer Robert Richardson, working with footage shot mostly in Texas, California and Mexico, plays close-ups of faces against sprawling landscapes in a fashion that would make Leone proud. He is also effective with other styles; from the grainy look of a martial arts flashback to the B&W nourish tone when The Bride drives down the road addressing the camera directly as rear-screen projections create faux vistas. Film references abound on the sets, from the obvious (a poster for the 1974 Charles Bronson film Mr. Majestyk) to the are-you-kidding-me? (the name on a tombstone in one scene is a nod to The Wicked Dreams of Paula Schultz, a horrible 1968 comedy starring the Hogan’s Heroes guys), so keep your eyes peeled.

Aside from the fights, the pacing this time is laconic, which generally works, though a flashback of The Bride becoming the student of Chinese kung-fu master Pei Mei (Hong Kong movie legend Gordon Liu) had me impatiently checking my watch.

As for the acting, it succeeds in context. The supporting cast, including Michael Parks (Then Came Bronson) as Esteban Vihaio and Bo Svenson (Part 2 Walking Tall) as Rev. Harmony, emote appropriately for their broadly drawn roles. Michael Madsen as Budd and Darryl Hannah as Elle Driver are both convincing, if a little stiff. As B.B., young Perla Honey-Jardine is fine, despite the fact that no child on earth would ever react the way she does.

The whole show, of course, belongs to Uma Thurman and David Carradine. Carradine, legendary for his wooden acting, is wonderful, wrapping his arms around the Bill character and presenting a man just as evil and deadly as expected, but also possessed of a tender side and a sense of humor. As for Uma, she is a marvel, adapting to every shift in tone perfectly, absolutely perfectly. I can’t imagine anyone else in the role.

At the end of Kill Bill, Vol. 2, I felt a bit let down. Yes, I enjoyed the film a lot and recommend it to you, with the aforementioned reservations. However, the lack of substance was regretful. I realize that this time he didn’t intend to make a film of substance. I realize that Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 are collectively only his fourth film. But his last movie, the tragically underrated Jackie Brown, showed that Quentin Tarantino is capable of both style and substance. Give it a second viewing and see why I can’t fully surrender to this one.