Tuesday, April 20, 2004

Thoughts On Kill Bill: Vol. 2

Thoughts On Kill Bill: Vol. 2

This is in no way a review. I can't do reviews because I either don't study the film as hard as a reviewer might during the showing or I can't express into words what I really thought of it. But there are a few things I'd like to say about it.

First off, Vol. 2 is very unlike Vol. 1. For me this works. Some will not like Vol. 2 because they were expecting Vol. 1. Vol. 1 is full of action and teases with background. Volume 2 is reverse, it is a lot of background, a lot of dialog and little action. It is its own story and I enjoyed it as such.

Vol. 2 is different because both titles were filmed together and then split into two. I'm willing to bet if the two are watched together, the viewer would sense the formula these two titles originally represented as one entity and then appreciate the whole series. But even as separate flicks viewed months a part, I still think Vol. 2 is a great story.

Tarantino has recently (probably due to the success of the first two) talked about making a Vol. 3. There is a particular thread in the movie that he could develop that would turn the tables on the Bride (Uma's character) and she would be on the receiving end of someone else's revenge run (isn't there a word for this?).

If you haven't noticed, the main fighters in the movies are mostly female. If you don't count the Crazy 88s who were just grunts working for O-Ren Ishii, Taratino has put a twist into the Kung Fu genre by dominating the stories with literal femme fatales. It just makes an already interesting story even more interesting. The Bride gets to show her soft side in Vol. 2 which is in contrast to the rampage she's be on through the two movies. Just another interesting twist.

In the fictional Dune novels (particuarly God Emperor of Dune, book 4) written by Frank Herbert, he theorizes that women would make better warriors, being deliverers of life and having an appreciation of it that a man could not. The theory goes on to say that women would be more motivated to defend their own and their country but with men, the concentration is just on destruction with no consideration for the preservation of any life. Men would fight because they feel the need to do, in a blind rage and not really in defense of anything, because they feel compelled to and women fight out of self defense.

It also points out that women are better equipped psychologically to deal with post-war life than men because when the war ends, a female soldier could return home, disable the rage required for warfare and not turn violently on the population (family and friends) with no enemy left to fight. Since it's in a man's nature to fight, it's not so easy to turn it off in any environment.

It's an interesting theory and one that sounds logical to me which is why I can accept and actually enjoy the many female warriors in the Kill Bill series.

Here's my review: They're great movies. A+. 2 thumbs up. A must see. Don't miss it. One in the hand is worth two in the bush or something.