Alien (1979)

Alien (1979)

Starring: Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, and John Hurt.

Directed By: Ridley Scott

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Kill Bill: Vol. 2 (2004)

Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, and Michael Madsen.

Directed By: Quentin Tarantino

Plot: The Bride is back, and she's after the rest of the people who contributed to the massacre that put her in a coma for four years.  The next person on her list is Budd, who seems easy enough to kill, having supposedly gotten rusty in the last four years.  Unfortunately, her plan to ambush him is foiled when he shots her in the chest with rock salt and buries her alive.  With no weapons, limited room to move, and a rapidly decreasing supply of air, things look dire for our heroine. However, she remembers the hardships and trials she had to endure in order to become as well trained as she is, and finds the strength to escape.  Luckily for her, Budd called in Ellie Driver, the next person on the list, so now she can kill two birds with one stone.  But they have her sword, and they outnumber her two to one.  Will she be able to overcome one final obstacle before confronting Bill?

Characters: Like the last film, this film contains a great selection of characters, all with unique and memorable personalities.  Unlike the last film, which focused more on making the Bride look badass, this installment concentrates on delving deeper into her character.  It doesn't go too in depth in that she isn't mysterious anymore, but the scenes where she's training with Pai Mei help the audience appreciate the hard work it took for her to get to this point.  The audience gets to see a bit more of her relationship with Bill and why she was able to fall for him in the first place.  When she's being buried alive, instead of staying still and silent, she freaks out and starts crying, which is what a normal person would do.  Scenes like this humanize her, and the audience cares for her more as a result.  Another character who gets significant;y expanded upon is Bill himself, who turns the charm up to eleven in this film.  Despite a significant age difference, it's not too hard to imagine why the Bride fell for him in the first place.  He has this fascinating mix of power and weakness, not looking or sounding intimidating at first glance, but the way he says does everything with a chilling amount of confidence makes him a great antagonist.  Another great performance is Daryl Hannah as Elle Driver, who really emphasizes the sadistic nature of the character.  She almost feels like an evil version of the Bride, pulling off her kills through deception and trickery, rather than combat.  Like Bill, she has a lot of confidence that makes her very entertaining to watch, but she also adds an extra bit of craziness to make her more unique.

Writing: Once again, Tarantino adds a lot of influences from both samurai and western films from the 1970s, though this one emphasizes the western aspects a bit more, due to the fact that a big chunk of the movie takes place in Texas.  The movie also adds aspects of Chinese culture, especially during the scenes with Pei Mei.  It's really cool seeing all these different cultures blend into one cohesive mix, while not feeling too jumbled.  The same level of tongue-in-cheek humor continues in this film, with quotable lines, like when Elle Driver says, "And now I'm gonna kill you too, with your own sword, no less, which in the very near future, will become... my sword."  Unfortunately, none of these moments are quite as memorable as the "Silly rabbit" or "My name is Buck" scenes in Vol. 1,  but they're still pretty good in their own right.  One thing that this film much better than the previous installment, however, is pacing.  This film feels like more of a complete story, since it reviews all of the events that lead up to this moment in greater detail, which creates a better character journey for our heroine.  This might not create as many iconic scenes as the first one, but it leads to a much better story.  I do wish that the in depth information had been present in the first film so both parts could feel like more of a whole.  The scenes flow together more cohesively than Vol. 1, with the longer events, such as the scenes in Texas, being spaced out with flashbacks.  It also helps that it has a much more concrete ending than the first one.  As it stands, this film feels like a much better sequel, in terms of story.

Production: This film has many of the same production values as the first.  The cinematography was amazing in this film.  One particularly great moment is when the Bride is buried inside the coffin.  The camera moves very little, and focuses mostly on the Bride from one side, with the top and bottom of the screen being blacked out.  This creates a very claustrophobic feeling to the scene, and makes the audience worry about how she's going to possibly escape.  The visuals are once again very impressive, with great action scenes and gore effects.  However, this time, the action feels a bit grittier and real, at least when compared to the first one.  There isn't any more blood spewing from limbs or cartoonish deaths.  There are still people doing near impossible feats (such as jumping to absurd heights while in combat), but it feels a bit more serious this time around.  Also, like I mentioned earlier, there aren't as many ionic moments in this film, and that applies to the action.  None of the fights compare to the Bride vs the Crazy 88 in the Showdown at the House of Blue Leaves, but it doesn't seem like it wants to.  I think that Tarantino wanted to focus on the character development in this film, which meant that it couldn't be distracted by a bunch of flashy action scenes.  Similarly, the music is also pretty good, but not as good as the first one.  There are some great tracks, and many of them take inspiration from Mexican culture, like Tu Mirà, which is a beautifully powerful song.  However, none are quite as memorable as the sultry Bang Bang or the repetitive Twisted Nerve.  

Trivia:

• In the original script, Pai Mei was supposed to have his lips move in Cantonese, but speak English, in order to replicate the poor dubbing of old Asian films.  Tarantino would've provided the voice.
• The scene in the Mexican brothel was filmed in an actual Mexican brothel and all of the female extras were real prostitutes who worked there. 
• Robert Rodriguez scored this film for $1.  In return, Tarantino directed a scene in Rodriguez's Sin City for $1.
• Ricardo Montalban was originally going to play Esteban, but Michael Parks impressed Tarantino so much during the test readings that he got the part instead.

Final Verdict: Kill Bill: Vol. 2 presents an interesting conundrum for me.  On the one hand, it gives a much deeper and complex look at the characters and highlights their struggles.  But on the other hand, it's less of a spectacle and has far less iconic moments than the first installment.  So I've come to this conclusion; it's just as good as the first, but in different ways.  Where it lacks in spectacle it gains in a better story, and that just about evens the two films out.  I would recommend you watch the two films as they were intended; back-to-back, so that you can get the action out of your system first, then get invested in the characters in the second half.  But no matter how you watch them, they're still great movies, and I highly recommend them.

  

Next time, we'll find out that in space, no one can hear you scream.

Stay Tuned

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Kill Bill: Vol. 1 (2003)

Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, and David Carradine.

Directed By: Quintin Tarantino

Plot: After spending years as an assassin for the organization known as the Deadly Viper Organization Squad, a woman known as the Bride decides to quit that life and settle down in marriage.  Unfortunately for the Bride, Bill, the leader of the squad, decides to have her, her fiance, and her unborn child murdered at the alter.  But miraculously, she survives in a coma for four years, and she's ready for revenge.  After escaping the hospital, she makes a list of all the people who tried to kill her on that bloody wedding day.  First on her list is O-Ren Ishii, a half-Japanese, half-Chinese American who now runs the Tokyo Yakuza.  Will the Bride succeed in her quest for revenge and make her way to Bill, or will she fail before she even begins?

Characters: If there's one thing that Tarantino is known for, it's creating memorable characters, and this film is no exception.  Each one gets a moment to shine in their own unique way, whether  it's through funny dialogue or exciting action sequences.  Uma Thurman was an awesome choice to play the Bride, pulling off the subtleties of the character with ease.  She could have easily have been a flat character, focusing only on her quest for revenge, and while that's in the forefront, she's much more layered then that.  She has a sense of humor, she can still be impressed, and despite her experience as a fighter, she's not perfect, and can still be overpowered.  Despite being fully willing to kill and torture her enemies, she remains honorable, and is able to tell the difference between people who deserve death and those who don't.  Lucy Liu is also fantastic, only this time, she's the opposite side of the coin, O-Ren Ishii.  Unlike the Bride, this character has no remorse for anyone, including her closest allies.  While this character trait has the potential to alienate the audience, the back story she's given, as well as Liu's charisma make her a very interesting character.  Her dialogue with Thurman is really fascinating, showing that these two warriors have great respect for each other and that they are evenly matched.  Finally, there's David Carradine, who gives a captivating performance as the titular Bill.  His suave persona and calm demeanor make him very entertaining, despite the audience never seeing his face and learning little to nothing about him.

Writing: One of the most intriguing aspects of this film is the homages it makes to old samurai films from the 1970s.  This is shown through the simple story of revenge, the gratuitous violence, and the use of Japanese locations, characters, and culture.  It even verges on parody at some points, like when hordes of expendable soldiers wielding katanas suddenly appear.  The story also has some influence from westerns, such as the main character being a gritty anti-hero with no name.  This film also has a good amount of humor that ranges from chuckle worthy to hilarious.  One of my favorite jokes is when the Bride and O-Ren say "silly rabbit, trix are for kids".  The fact that the actors play it completely straight makes it even more hilarious.  The way it's structured is also very enjoyable.  It jumps between different time periods, especially in the first half.  At one moment we're following the story in the correct order, when the next we'll follow a story in the past.  This leads the audience to constantly guess what's going to happen, which adds to the entertainment.  It's also a great way to get through exposition, instead of through long stretches expository dialogue.  The audience gets to experience these events with the characters.  However, the story becomes a lot more linear during the second half, once the Bride travels to Japan.  This isn't necessarily bad thing however, since at that point the story can focus on the main events of the plot.  Unfortunately, this does make the film feel weirdly paced.  The story is comprised of five chapters, but the first half contains three of them, making the second half feel more dragged out.  Also, since this is the first of a two part story, the film feels incomplete and somewhat unsatisfying.  When a movie is split into two parts, making the first part feel like a complete story while also setting up the next installment can be a near impossible task, and this film unfortunately doesn't quite meet that challenge.

Production: If I could describe this film in one phrase, it would be "visually stunning".  All of the actions scenes are memorable, with the last third of the film being one big action sequence.  The blood and gore effects look pretty cheesy, but that just adds to the homages to the old samurai films, and fits right in with the slightly tongue-in-cheek tone.  It's reminiscent of grindhouse films that inspired the film.  The fight choreography is spectacular, with a unique variety of fighting styles, ranging from hand-to-hand combat to sword fighting.  The colors are vibrant, with bright yellow, deep blues, and blood reds all contrasting with each other.  However, some of the color choices are...interesting, to say the least.  There are some portions of the film that are in black in white or in silhouette for seemingly no reason.  Despite the seemingly random nature of these choices, it still looks amazing.  One of the more curious sequences is during O-Ren's backstory, which is done entirely using anime (Japanese animation).  While this also feels somewhat out of place, it looks as good as the rest of the film, if not better.  Like most anime, the movement is very fluid, and the action is even more over-the-top then when the film is in live-action.  The sets and costumes are well made and inventive, giving a slightly heightened reality feel to the world.  The soundtrack is just as crazy and inventive as the rest of the film.  It uses elements from westerns, Jappanese culture, and 70s action movies to create a unique sounding score.  My favorite musical moments would have to be "Ironside" (whenever the Bride spots and enemy) and "Twisted Nerve" (the tune that Elle Driver whistles in the hospital).  These pieces add a bit of flair to their respective scenes, and make the movie as a whole feel more unique.

Trivia:

• The shot where the Bride slices a baseball with a katana was done for real on set by Uma Thurman's stunt double.
• The script for the film was first given to Uma Thurman by Quintin Tarantino for her 30th birthday.
• All of the music was taken from other musical sources, such as TV show themes and popular songs.
• Thurman and Tarantino came up with the film during the filming of Pulp Fiction.  

Final Verdict: Despite a few pacing issues, Kill Bill was a blast to watch from beginning to end.  It had memorable characters, smart writing, and amazing action.  The blending of Japanese culture with western style makes this film an unique experience, and will no doubt make it a classic for many years to come.  I would only not recommend it if you aren't comfortable with violence.  Otherwise, this is a must watch for anyone.  I can't wait to review the second installment.

In fact, why wait?  Next time, we'll take a look at the conclusion to the Bride's revenge.

Stay Tuned