Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Really Surprised!

Absolutely Brilliant!

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

It’s fine. It's literally the definition of a fine movie. You’ve seen it before, you know every beat and outcome before the characters even do. Only question is how much escapism you’re looking for.

Kill Bill Vol. 2 is the more Tarantino-esc of the Kill Bill movies, with less emphasis on action (although Vol. 2 has my favourite action scene from the 2 movies, that being the trailer fight) and this time I greater focus on his trademark dialogue and character building. While the Bride stole the show in Vol. 1, this time it's Bill who's the standout, with the actor having the perfect balance of charm and creepy that makes you buy his history with the Bride.This movie also has one of my favourite Tarantino moments, which makes one inch punching look like the most badass move ever invented by man! Overall, Vol. 2 acts as a very satisfying conclusion to what Vol. 1 set up, and while it may be slower, it's just as memorable, and just as rewatchable.

At the time "Kill Bill" came out, movies were a totally minor thing in my life. I watched them relatively often, but I did not pay any attention to "details". I had no idea who the director was, and the question is whether I knew at all what the director was. Besides Uma Thurman, I think I never heard of other actors back then. I rated movies on a very simple scale - whether it's fun or not. This one was fun for a ten. Fifteen years and several thousand films later, I look at movies from a completely different angle and "fun" is no longer at the top of the criteria that distinguish good movies from bad ones. Now I analyze them in more detail and I still haven't found any flaws in this one.It could be said that Quentin Tarantino's talent is a gift from God, but I think it's far more likely that he sold his soul to the Devil. The lowest rating I have ever given to one of his films is nine, and I'm not a "fanboy". "Kill Bill" is an action thriller, and for me action films are the lowest form of the seventh art. But Tarantino's ability to create an action movie which is also an art film is fascinating. The story is crazy and great, but the least important. Camera work, fight choreography, use of color and sound and feeling for details make this film a masterpiece of cinema. The cast is more than good, and Tarantino manages to get the most out of them. I doubt that any of these actors have ever given a better performance than in this movie. And, of course, music! Music is very diverse, totally unexpected, often even unsuitable for the scenes it follows, yet again in such a perfect (dis)harmony with the divine scenery and crazy choreography, that it all leaves the viewer breathless. For movies like this one even ten is depreciation.10/10

"Kill Bill Vol 2" is different from the first, betting on phenomenal dialogues, screenplay and gratuitously controlled violence, a sequel to the wonderful Kill Bill, with less exaggeration, less reference and a much more cadenced film, preoccupied with telling the beginning and the end, It falls in technical terms, but it wins in terms of script, besides being a much more film with a face of Tarantino, although it is a technical reference, as a technical reference and the exaggerations of the first. (2 more than the first), we are not a journey, forget only the abatements, come here the important is The development of the work, the development of it, except for our protagonist, is completely humanized and badly rememberable of the killer Which it is. Technically the film is much more restrained than the first in all respects, nothing blends cinematographic styles or guiding the film with songs, none of it, but very cool details, with the use of camera, open plans, zoom abuse In And zoom out, the closing of Sergio Leone, as well as its details, a montage of the film leaves a belly, in addition to being much slower in relation to the first, until a soundtrack plunges, because in the second, the Silence and contemplation pattern More the scene than the track itself. A cool thing in the second film is how performances, which gain a notorious quality leap with Michel Madsen and David Carradine, and even the entrepreneur Pai Mei played by Gordon Liu. Finally, "Kill Bill Vol. 2" is much less experimental, even of the two being recorded together, a change of style in the two films is completely notorious, the second is the opposite of an experience, is a film centered, with all as Signatures of Tarantino, is a good movie, Only with less charm.

According to Uma Thurman, Tarantino had her watch three movies to prepare for this film: John Woo's "The Killer," Pam Grier in "Coffy," and Sergio Leone's "A Fistful of Dollars." If that sounds awesome to you, then the Kill Bill films are for you! Part two of what was originally planned as a 4-hour plus epic tale of revenge is even better than the first part. If Vol. 1 was primarily a homage to Asian genre cinema of the 60s and 70s, this installment is more a homage to westerns, particularly spaghetti westerns. Nods to others are certainly present (blaxploitation, rednecksploitation, muscle car movies, etc.), but this is primarily a western, which is wonderfully set up by Michael Madsen's down-on-his-luck international assassin character, Buck. Madsen's character could have simply been another sadistic Mr. Blond sociopath, but Buck has a tragic element to him. He was part of an elite group of international assassins, but he's now living in a trailer in the middle of the desert, working as a bouncer at a run down strip club, and even had to hock his Hattori Hanzo sword. Tarantino manages to give Buck a fair amount of character depth with minimal screen time, which is always a great thing to see. Though I think the action highlight of the film has to be the showdown between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah as the deadly one-eyed Elle Driver. Hannah had largely been absent from any films of note for quite some time, unless you count the Grumpy Old Men films ten years earlier and has sadly been absent from much since then, but she is terrific as Driver. I think a lot of credit also has to go to fight choreographer Yuen Woo Ping for the amazing fight between Thurman and Hannah in buds trailer. Tarantino also gets a lot of credit for selecting some truly bad-ass Ennio Morricone music for their final moments. Tarantino includes in his cast some other cool character actors including Gordon Liu (as a white bearded kung-fu master this time), Sid Haig, and Larry Bishop. And then there is David Carradine as Bill, who finally show his face on screen this time, and who is excellent. I can't imagine anyone else playing this role, even though there were some very cool other actors under consideration to play Bill before Carradine was cast. As with most Tarantino films, this is not a film to suit all tastes, but for those who enjoy Tarantino's aesthetic, this film is a real treat.