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This topic comprises 2 pages: 1 2
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Topic: KILL BILL VOL. 2
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Brian Michael Weidemann
Expert cat molester
Posts: 944
From: Costa Mesa, CA United States
Registered: Feb 2004
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posted 04-16-2004 05:30 AM
I enjoyed it just as much as Volume One. The action and fight sequences weren't as extended this time, though. This one tugs on the heartstrings a bit more.
And with some back story needing to be filled in, and unanswered questions answered, and whatnot, I expected a little slower pace and more talking, anyway. So, it's not as RE-watchable: once you find out some answers, some scenes would probably just be boring at a second viewing. I don't have a desire to see it again immediately ... even though I'm going to, when we run it at midnight this weekend in the IMAX auditorium. (It's good that now I know all the killer parts at which to witness audience reaction. That should be fun.)
I love the film style homages, especially all the footage in Pai Mei's parts of the story. I liked his character a lot. (Everyone on our projection staff now wants to grow their goatees out really, really long; just so they can stroke it when they say cool stuff. Well, maybe not EVERYone. ![[Razz]](tongue.gif) )
I'll say I most likely will get the big, double feature, extra-super-deluxe, director's cut, collector's edition DVD when it comes out ... which, by my estimation, will be coincidentally released during ... hmmm, yeah ... it just may be the Christmas season. Fancy that.
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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 04-16-2004 10:58 PM
OK, finally saw it at Regal Perimeter Point 10 in Atlanta. Same auditorium where i saw Walking Tall and the same annoying slight jittery and flickering problem with the picture that was very obvious in the B&W opening scenes, but not obvious to the casual moviegoer in the color parts. The manager claims the movie looked fine to him in a prior showing. It's a shame because ROTK looked very good in this same hall.
Verdict? I thought Vol1 was an A and Vol2 a B. If you take out 20 minutes from Vol2 and combine it with 98% of Vol1, you will have an A grade for a nearly 200 minute movie. I agree with those who said that Vol2 did not flow as well as Vol1, and by flow, I don't mean the slow pacing. The buildup was not as effective for me. While the fight with Hannah rocked, and there were some interesting scenes with Madsen, i found their segments to be a tad off compared to the VOl1 segments. We really don't learn anything more about their psychology despite the increased screen time.
Biggest reason for the lower grade - the awful child actress who played the daughter. If you saw the tv ad and said "what the f***? is that really all there is to the daughter's scenes?" Well, yeah. The final slow sequence with Bill has some good verbal interaction, but the overall quality of the final chapter was ruined for me by the girl who played the daughter. I just hated her every utterance.
Madsen does a good job with his decent but not great dialogue. Hannah who is normally bad shines in this movie with a very fun performance.
David Carradine was majestic and earned his right to a comeback with this movie. Just be warned, he has virtually no action scenes. They should have not deleted the michael jai white scenes with Carradine. He pulls off the final scene very well.
Pei Mei scenes were the liveliest parts of the movie. Richardson did some great old style HK style camera work in the Pei Mei scenes.
By the way, I loved both parts of Full Metal Jacket. I just think some people couldn't handle the split structure of that movie. Kill Bill is like that as was the entertaining From Dusk Till Dawn. But KB2 has a bigger problem. It is coming out 6 months later and the viewers will expect a dose of what made vol 1 tick and justifiably so. So even though the change of pace is refreshing, it didn't work for me as well as it would have if it were part of one movie because the time lapse has made me wanting more of the same vol1 ingredients mixed in.
Also the editing wasn't as good in Vol2. Tension wasn't built as much as it should have in certain scenes. Even the Ironside theme doesn't work as effectively as it did in Vol 1.
Overall, a good movie, but it is essential that you view this as a continuation of the first movie instead of as a self contained movie with its own dose of action.
EDITED TO REMOVE MY HARSH COMMENTS ON THE GIRL WITH AN ANALOGY to the 12 Monkeys recasting of a boy who was replaced eventually. Reason? I saw the movie again and I think the reason I judged her too harshly was some of her initial lines, the way she said MOMMY. She was actually pretty decent during the fish story scene. I raise my grade to a B+ with the potential of an A if they just reedited this movie. The Madsen bar scenes are still too long and are more DVD extra worthy. Also a lot of the scenes have one extra pause too long(typical example : after she gets up for air after the paula schulz scene, the camera just lingers on too long. Or the pregnancy test scene).
[ 05-16-2004, 03:06 AM: Message edited by: Pravin Ratnam ]
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Dave Williams
Wet nipple scene
Posts: 1836
From: Salt Lake City, UT, USA
Registered: Jan 2000
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posted 04-17-2004 10:14 AM
IF anything, VOL 2 is a better film than VOL 1. I think the crowd only looking for blood and action are never into films that have story and plot. No offence intended, but that's why so many action films truly suck, because they have not one ounce of story or charachter development.
Yes this film flows differently than the first one. Since it is actually one continuous film, could you really sit through three hours of non stop action and no story? All of you would have gotten bored, left the movie to go theater hopping, or started macking on your significant other in the back of the theater.
It was a superior film. On it's own, better than the first, but put the two together, and you have a very great piece of work.
When the DVD special edition comes out, it will contain both films as one movie as they were handed to Mirmax by QT. Excited about that.
Ciao
Dave
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Pravin Ratnam
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 844
From: Atlanta, GA,USA
Registered: Sep 2002
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posted 04-17-2004 12:25 PM
With the exception of Bill, I doubt you can say this movie has any more depth for the supporting characters. Hattari Hanzo, Oren ishii and Vernita Green were more interesting to me than the supporting characters in Vol2. What you find about Madsen and Hannah is essentially what you already know about them in Vol1 , well except for the nice little relevation about how Hannah's character got to look the way she is. Uma's dialogue was no less inferior in Vol 1(the wicked life speech, the "square" reference with Vernita, the hanzo conversation) despite all the talk about Vol 2 having much better dialogue. Hell, vernita's daughter has a better screen presence than the Bride's daughter in VOl 2. Vol 2 had more dialogue but I can't really remember too much of it other than the stuff by Bill. While I was glad nothing much was going to be cut out because of the split, now I regret that. Menke should have edited Vol2 tighter. Considering what was kept in, I wonder how irrelevant Quentin found the Michael Jai White scenes to delete them?
But it will be fun to speculate after a few weeks, how one would rearrange and redit the chapters for one's personal taste to make the combined movie a better movie.
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