Review #999: 'Kill Bill: Vol. 2' (2004)

While the decision to split Kill Bill, originally intended as a three-hour epic tale of revenge, into two separate movies was greeted by fans with accusations of greed. Whether this is true or whether the full version of Quentin Tarantino's homage to 70's exploitation was simply too much to consume in one sitting, it actually turns out to be a masterstroke. Volumes 1 and 2 incorporate two vastly different styles, both of which allow Tarantino to fully indulge his love for kung-fu movies and spaghetti westerns with ample time and care. These are two different movies, never forgetting that the character linking them together is Uma Thurman's determined The Bride.

Having dispatched O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu) and Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox) in the first film, we first meet The Bride as she drives to her final target - Bill (David Carradine). To even consider this a spoiler would be failing to grasp the movies Tarantino is tipping his hat to, and the director makes a point of this by constantly shifting around the time-line. It's not so much about if she'll achieve her goal, but just how cool it will be when she does. Bill remained off screen for the bulk of Volume 1, seen either stroking his samurai sword and talking menacingly off-camera, but we meet him in his full glory almost instantly in Volume 2, as we are shown an extended version of the events that left The Bride shot in the head and left for dead.

First though, she must face Budd (Michael Madsen) and the one-eyed Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah). Budd is a tough, hard-drinking redneck working as a bouncer when he's not clumsily making margaritas in his trailer, and he is given a generous amount of screen-time and isn't let down by Madsen's gravelly performance. Similar to Tarantino's early films Reservoir Dogs (1992) and Pulp Fiction (1994), Budd's story is given a patient build-up before the burst of inevitable violence, portraying him as a beaten man awaiting his death at the hands of the woman he knows is coming for him. Just when his fate seems sealed, Tarantino slaps us in the face and turns his protagonists fortunes on their head, allowing for some down-time as we flash-back to The Bride's training with the formidable Pai Mei (Gordon Liu).

Pai Mei's chapter is the entire saga's crowning achievement, full of ridiculous crash-zooms and beard stroking that manages to poke fun at the genre, while at the same time warmly embracing and even transcending it. This leads The Bride to her face-off with Elle, which is a scene of such ferocity, humour and sheer bad-assery that it more than makes up for the creeping pace. As Bill, Carradine is a revelation, with Tarantino once again pulling an iconic actor out of obscurity to riff on the type of role they became famous for in the first place to deliver the performance of their career. An early version of the script had The Bride and Bill duelling to a sunset backdrop, but the low-key scrap opted for instead seems more fitting. Towards the climax, it seems that Tarantino is struggling with how to end his epic tale of revenge, but some minor bumps don't derail what is undoubtedly the most Tarantino-y of his catalogue, and certainly his most all-out fun.


Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Daryl Hannah, Gordon Liu, Michael Parks, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #996: 'Kill Bill: Vol. 1' (2003)

Fans of Quentin Tarantino's unique brand of exploitation-cinema-worship were forced to wait six long years for his next movie after his underrated love-letter to blaxploitation, Jackie Brown (1997). The result was intended to be a 3 hour 'roaring rampage of revenge' but instead, thanks to the unenlightened head honchos at Miramax, Kill Bill became Kill Bill: Volume 1, a 110-minute half-movie that forced cinemagoers to pay again to see the following instalment four months later. Despite this money-making scheme that I'm sure Tarantino wanted no part of (he still refers to Kill Bill as one movie), Volume 1 is still quite brilliant.

Taking inspiration from the kung-fu and spaghetti western genre movies Tarantino no doubt indulged in during his time as a video store clerk (although Vol. 1 focuses mainly on the former), Kill Bill is, at times, a montage of shots, scenes and music from other movies from the 1970's. Yet Tarantino doesn't so much simply copy these films but play on our genre expectations while making it fun to test your own knowledge as a cinephile in the process. The tale is one of revenge, and a simple one at that. Tarantino has no qualms in staging Kill Bill as a one-by-one ticking-off of the bastards who wrongs our heroine, known simply as The Bride (Uma Thurman), who even carries a list of her targets and boldly strikes out their names as they fall.

A massacre at a wedding chapel instigated by Bill (David Carradine) and his Deadly Viper Assassination Squad sees everyone inside murdered apart from The Bride, who is shot in the head and put into a coma. Waking up four years later, she quickly sets about gaining her revenge on Bill and his four cronies - Vernita Green (Vivica A. Fox), O-Ren Ishii (Lucy Liu), Budd (Michael Madsen), and the one-eyed Elle Driver (Daryl Hannah). Travelling to Okinawa in Japan, she approaches legendary samurai sword-maker Hattori Hanzo (genre legend Sonny Chiba) and talks him out of her retirement to forge her weapon of death.

Told in chapter form, scenes are either extremely talky or outlandishly action-packed. The quieter moments bristle with Tarantino's now-iconic dialogue, while the extended climax, taking place in a two-floor restaurant that is quickly turned into a blood bath, displays the directors then-unseen eye for action. As The Bride takes on O-Ren's gang (dubbed the Crazy 88) and her Meteor hammer-wielding bodyguard Gogo (Chiaki Kuriyama) she hacks and slices her way through them all in a moment that evokes The Matrix Revolutions of the same year, only with real people and an eye for action cinema. Its all backed by another terrific Tarantino soundtrack that is routinely pillaged by TV shows too lazy to find their own music. The ending leaves you hanging without feeling ripped off, and eager to see the final three names crossed off the list.


Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Uma Thurman, Lucy Liu, Vivica A. Fox, Daryl Hannah, David Carradine, Michael Madsen, Sonny Chiba, Julie Dreyfus, Chiaki Kuriyama
Country: USA

Rating: ****

Tom Gillespie

Review #960: 'The Hateful Eight' (2015)

For his eighth feature (as the film's introduction reminds us), film-maker and cinephile Quentin Tarantino capitalises on the critical and commercial success of Django Unchained (2012) and delivers another western set in the South, where racial tensions are high. Set post-Civil War, as opposed to in Django where the slave trade was very much in full swing, The Hateful Eight lumps eight characters of dubious moral fibre in the same shack while a raging blizzard whistles outside. Evoking memories of his breakthrough feature Reservoir Dogs (1992), Tarantino's latest ultimately suffers from stretching a wafer-thin plot over a three hour plus running-time.

Peppering the movie with chapter titles a la Inglorious Basterds (2009), the film begins with a magnificent long take as the credits flicker on screen to the sound of Italian legend Ennio Morrecone's beautiful score. Grizzled bounty hunter John Ruth (Kurt Russell) is transporting notorious criminal Daisy Domegue (Jennifer Jason Leigh) to the town of Red Rock to collect his reward and see her hang. Fellow bounty hunter and war veteran Major Marquis Warren (Samuel L. Jackson) hitches a ride, and they also pick up former Lost-Causer Chris Mannix (Walton Goggins), who is on his way to Red Rock to be sworn in as sheriff. The three men discuss their past and future, but find each other hard to trust.

As a wailing blizzard approaches, Ruth's stagecoach pulls up at Minnie's Haberdashery, a cosy rest-stop which has been apparently left in the temporary care of Mexican Bob (Demian Bichir). This instantly arouses Warren's suspicions, who has frequented the place before and knows the owners well. Also resting at the haberdashery is eccentric British hangman Oswaldo Mobray (Tim Roth), the shady loner Joe Gage (Michael Madsen), and former Confederate general Sandy Smithers (Bruce Dern). Locked up together with no hope of moving on until the storm passes, the eight naturally talk and size each other up, with the events of the Civil War still firmly in everyone's mind. This being a Tarantino movie, it isn't long until guns are fired and blood is shed.

The dialogue crackles in the way that only Tarantino can deliver during the opening half, but an absence of humour and some twists and revelations that hardly come as a surprise throughout the second act tests the patience. Similar to Django, conversations go on longer than required, and unnecessary narrative devices - such as the sudden introductions of a narrator that comes and goes without reason - distract from a central story that needs to be more complex and unpredictable to justify the lengthy running time. Still, there's much to savour. Tarantino has always made inspired casting choices, and the ensemble - Russell, Leigh and Goggins in particular - are sublime. Filmed in 70mm Panavision to Morrecone's score, the film captures the glorious wide-wide screen beauty of the great westerns of the 50's and 60's. Sporadically thrilling but ultimately frustrating, The Hateful Eight ultimately fails to reward the audience for their time.


Directed by: Quentin Tarantino
Starring: Samuel L. Jackson, Kurt Russell, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Walton Goggins, Demián Bichir, Tim Roth, Michael Madsen, Bruce Dern
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie

Review #37: 'Wyatt Earp' (1994)

Being one of the most popular figures of the mystical Old West, Wyatt Earp has been dramatised a countless number of times on the big screen and on television. His notoriety as a no-nonsense lawman, his friendship with the drunken and dying Doc Holliday, and his participation in the legendary gunfight at the O.K. Corrall, has made him the stuff of legend. Of all the portraits, this 1994 epic, directed by Lawrence Kasdan is possibly the most accurate and detailed, following Earp's childhood amongst his many siblings, through to his old age heading to strike lucky during the Gold Rush. It's just a pity that for all it's trying and accuracy, the film isn't at all very good.

The film begins on the Earp farm where the young Wyatt is taught the words of wisdom by his father Nicholas (Gene Hackman) - 'blood is thicker than water' - which stays with Wyatt throughout his life. It's clear that his family are important, and he and his brothers are soon grown up and are making a living out on their own. Wyatt is refereeing bare-knuckle boxing matches and is soon making enemies. He romances an old flame who dies tragically, causing the recently-married Wyatt to lose his ways and becomes a drunkard, stealing from good Samaritans who offer him food and shelter. After a visit from his father in prison, he changes his ways and finds himself appointed Deputy Marshal in Wichita, after bravely shooting down a violent drunk when the cowardly sheriff watches. As his reputation as a good lawman grows, he is offered a job in Dodge City along with his brothers Virgil (Michael Madsen) and Morgan (Linden Ashby), where his reputation starts to take a turn for the worse.

After the huge success of Dances With Wolves (1990), this film seems to take a similar approach - epic, sweeping storytelling as opposed to the more action-packed angle usually taken when filming an Earp biography. Yet the majority of the film is handled with such a ham-fisted and amateurish approach by Kasdan that the film is nowhere as good as it should be. Kasdan, whose films have mainly consisted of Kevin Kline vehicles, had directed a very young Costner before in a western in the very enjoyable Silverado (1985). It's a strange performance by Costner, who in the first half seems to be sleepwalking his way through his role, delivering his lines like a nervous primary school kid finding himself cast in the lead role. The second half, when he becomes the more Republican, violent Earp, is very good. He can do brooding very well, and even though Wyatt Earp is portrayed as a complete bastard, with Costner playing him he remains an engaging character.

Even with all the star actors on show - Madsen, Hackman, Bill Pullman, Tom Sizemore, Jim Caviezel, Jeff Fahey, Isabella Rossellini, Catherine O'Hara, and the excellent Dennis Quaid as Doc Holliday, the film does begin to drag. I almost feel bad saying that, as I have a lot of respect for a director when he takes his time to develop a good story and fully-realised characters, and clocking up a long-running time. But around the 2 hour 30 mark, I found myself wanting the film to end. After the infamous O.K. Corral gunfight (which is refreshingly low-key), the film carries on for another 40 minutes as Earp begins his vendetta against the 'cowboy' gang. In a better directors hands, the last segment could have been a way to portray Earp's fall from grace and his descent into blind blood-lust. But instead it just becomes a long, drawn-out manhunt.

Perhaps I'm being harsh, but I feel this was a missed opportunity. Personally, the definitive Wyatt Earp film is John Ford's magnificent My Darling Clementine (1946), and although it may not have the historical accuracy of this, it is a typically mystical, moving, and surprisingly dark masterpiece, featuring a great Henry Fonda performance.


Directed by: Lawrence Kasdan
Starring: Kevin Costner, Dennis Quaid, Gene Hackman, Linden Ashby, Michael Madsen, Bill Pullman, Jeff Fahey, Catherine O'Hara, Isabella Rossellini
Country: USA

Rating: ***

Tom Gillespie