Bill's Been Killed

I went to see Kill Bill Volume 2 today, after I visited with a friend of mine (and lent my copies of Interstella 5555 and Read or Die to another friend to be shown for NU’s Anime Club). I initially wanted to see Volume 1 again before seeing Volume 2, but I decided to just see the movie anyway. I really liked Volume 1 and now I can say that I like Volume 2 at least as much as the first film, maybe even more.

(WARNING: Spoilers May Be Ahead)

This one is a little less violent (although there is one scene that is not for the squeamish), but very good still. The fight between Uma Thurman and Daryl Hannah is a little short, but amazing. It’s the best one-on-one fight in either movie. I kept yelling out “OOH!” “Ouch!” and “Damn!” as the other 10 people in the theater also laughed and enjoyed themselves. While the violence is down somewhat, the drama is increased. The scene where Uma gets buried alive is creepy. The sound for the scene is amazing, as you can almost feel as the coffin is lowered and the dirt is piled on top, even as the screen is completely black.

The revelation of the movie is David Carradine, though. He was great, plain and simple. You hate Bill, but at the same time you can sense a lot of good in him. The scenes with him, Uma, and their daughter are both sweet and kind of sinister at the same time (such as when he makes him and his daughter sandwiches). I also enjoyed the character of Pai Mei (played by Gordon Liu) who is the priest who trained Uma and Daryl Hannah’s characters in martial arts. He’s both a parody of and a homage to the old Chinese master in many an old-school kung-fu film. Uma also puts in another great performance as well. I can’t wait until both films are out on DVD so I can watch one after the other and see how it feels to watch it as a whole.